After every Muslim terrorist attack in the post-9/11 West, the demagogues immediately demonize Islam – a religion of 1.6 billion people – as the perpetrator.
By Fakhruddin Ahmed
The recent terrorist attacks in Paris have highlighted the high degree of alienation and non-assimilation among Western Europe's immigrant population. The terrorists sprang from France and Belgium's disaffected immigrant communities. The root cause of the estrangement can be traced back to the colonial history of the Western European nations.
France's restive immigrant population is mostly from its former North African colonies - the so-called Maghreb nations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. For hundreds of years France was the colonial ruler of these North African Arabs. Some festering vestiges of the unequal relationship, and consequent resentment, still linger among the descendents of the former masters and their subjects.
As a nation of immigrants with little colonial history, America is in an enviable position to avoid the scourge of home-grown terrorism. Immigrants have found it far easier to integrate into the American melting pot than to assimilate in Europe. America has always been a shining beacon, and a haven for the world's persecuted. That noble tradition is now under attack.
Congressional Republicans and the party's presidential candidates are against accepting any more of the 4.1 million refugees fleeing the civil war and ISIS-triggered carnage in Syria. Thirty one governors, all but one Republican, oppose resettling Syrian refugee in their states. Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, children of Cuban refugees themselves, want to shut the door on all Syrian refugees.
The butchery in Paris mandates a closer look at the vetting process of the Syrian refugees. While not foolproof, the current vetting regime - which involves the FBI, the State Department, Homeland and other security agencies, and takes 18 to 24 months to complete - has been so thorough that only about 1800 Syrian refugees have been granted asylum in the last five years. Of those only 2% are males of fighting age; the rest are women, children and elderly.
Compared to Germany, this is a drop in the bucket. The German Federal Department for Migration and Refugees reported in October that 103,708 Syrians filed for asylum in 2015, of which 57,000 have been already accepted, and the most of the others will be, soon. The success rate for Syrian asylum-seekers in Germany is 93.2%. Germany will spend around 6.6 billion caring for the 800,000 refugees and migrants expected to enter the country by the end of 2015.
Despite the Paris massacre, President Hollande has reiterated France's pledge to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees in the next two years. Yet, President Obama's commitment to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees next year has been met with a firestorm of opposition from the Republicans. While the Republicans reflexively oppose immigration - last year they demanded the cessation of African immigration because of the Ebola scare - this time their subliminal messages target the Muslims.
According to a Public Religion Research Institute poll, 76% of Republicans, and 42% of Democrats believe that American and Islamic values are at odds. Former Governor Jeb Bush and Senator Ted Cruz want to allow Christian, and bar Muslim Syrian refugees from entering the US. Donald Trump would consider closing some US mosques. This is music to the ears of ISIS, who have been striving hard to drive a wedge between Muslim and non-Muslim Americans.
After every Muslim terrorist attack in the post-9/11 West, the demagogues immediately demonize Islam - a religion of 1.6 billion people - as the perpetrator. The subsequent clampdown feeds the terrorists' narrative that there is no room for Muslims in the secular West that has purportedly declared war on Islam. ISIS's explicit aim is to eliminate the so-called "grayzone" - the western acceptance of Muslims.
Muslim Americans have thrown in their lot with America. Their fate is intertwined with America's. That is why it is not only hurtful to them, but also counterproductive for America to think of Muslim Americans as fifth columnists, which they are not. They are as patriotic as any other group of Americans, and serve America as teachers, physicians, engineers, lawyers, businesspeople, government workers and in the armed forces. They would do anything to thwart attack by ISIS or its clone on America.
Polls have consistently shown that Americans who know Muslim Americans have a favorable opinion of them. Muslim Americans must do more to interact with ordinary Americans, and by demonstrating that they are true patriots mitigate the fear factor.
America, too, must consider the possibility that notwithstanding its wholly altruistic intentions, invasion, occupation and bombing of Muslim nations may result in blowback. Muslim terrorism was unknown in America before the US-led Gulf War I in 1991. Perhaps, if we don't fight them there, we won't have to fight them here!
Republicans have been demanding strong leadership from President Obama against ISIS while opposing his "stay-the-course," "reduce-ISIS-controlled-territory," "no-American-boots-on-the ground" military strategy, and hamstringing his humane Syrian refugee policy. It is imperative that the world's military leader also be its moral leader. If America refuses to admit more Syrian refugees simply because they are predominantly Muslim, it will cede the global moral leadership to Angela Merkel's Germany.
Fakhruddin Ahmed, D.Phil., is a Rhodes Scholar. He lives in West Windsor.
Follow The Times of Trenton on Twitter @TimesofTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.