With the revised Travel Ban now in effect, I believe it is important to share my thoughts on the ban as a whole. A few months back I wrote an argumentative essay declaring the negative outcomes which can be an effect of the ban in addition to why I think the ban is un-American along with being morally wrong from a Jewish standpoint. Names in the essay have been changed to conceal the identity of some primary sources. As the essay was originally for a class, I did not obtain permission to use their name on the internet. Besides for these minor changes, the essay is left untouched from its original publishing. I am well aware many might disagree with my views and I would love to hear from you and start a CIVIL conversation in the comment section.
I am a Jewish teen living in America and am against the notorious "Muslim Ban" President Trump has implemented. Some wonder why a person who is Jewish would be against a ban on people who dislike your religion. Well, not everyone who practices Islam is against Judaism. In fact, most people of Islam don't oppose Jewish people and those who don't hate Jews for their beliefs. The beliefs of Muslims and Jews are surprisingly similar since Islam is based off Judaism. The tension between the two religions is because of land and who should have the land of Israel, sometimes called Palestine by the Arabs living there.
Most or the tension is due to Great Britain giving the Jewish people the land of Israel. However, Israel isn't just any land; it's the home of basically every religion, where the holiest of events occurred. It is home to the Western Wall, the Jews holiest spot and once part of the first and first Synagogue. It is where thousands of Muslims flee every Ramadan to give their respect to Mohammad, who is believed to have gone to heaven from the Dome of the Rock. It is also where the Church of the Holy Scripture, Jesus's crucifixion site can be found.
Therefore, it is understandable why one might oppose of the Jewish people being able to call Israel their home. But in my opinion, the Muslim-based countries shouldn't be bitter. The Jewish people rightfully deserved this land after the Holocaust. This has caused a ban on any Israeli Jew trying to enter some Islamic nations. These countries include Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and United Arab Emirates. In addition, it is also said that these countries don't support Jews from other parts of the globe being welcomed in addition to anyone who innocently has an Israeli stamp in their passport (Bolt, 2017). This is alarming and quite honestly hurts. Saying this as just a person with feelings, being unwelcome or unwanted is an awful feeling. What makes it even worse and even more demoralizing is that we are banned just because we were born Jewish, having beliefs and having the land of Israel.
Trump's original executive order, which was later ruled to be unconstitutional in federal court, banned any native from multiple Muslim countries, including those who had proper paperwork (Slattery, 2017). This was in addition to those who were residents of the States with a Green Card and those with proper records or refuge. The ban was overturned after it was found that the Equal Protection Clause was being abused (Brettschnider, 2017). After multiple weeks, President Trump and the Republican Party put a new executive order into action. This time, after "intense review" (Vogue, Diamond, Liptak, 2017) Iraq was removed from the list as they posed no harm. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, said the order will boost security for the United States and their allies. Furthermore, the new executive permits those who obtained proper paperwork and those in possession of a Green Card to enter the US. Also, the new bill welcomes refugees from countries in danger. Yet, those refugees of Christian values will be prioritized, another stab in the back to the Islamic community.
Banning an individual or group based on their religion is primarily what President Trump has been doing. Many argue this ban is on terrorists and not all Muslim people. This accusation is false for many reasons. For starters, let us go back to former New York City Mayor and Trump supporter, Rudy Giuliani's interview on Fox News. There, he said President Trump wanted a "Muslim ban" and needed a committee to help him word it properly without exposing the true meaning of this executive order. Mayor Giuliani proved that many members of the GOP, along with elite lawyers, worked on an executive order to ban Muslim people without saying it outright. Trump's main objective of this ban was to keep out all Muslims as he believed any of them (all of them) could be (were) terrorists.
This executive order, which is officially called "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States", is very similar to what many of the Muslim nations are doing to the people of Israel. Both groups are being targeted and uninvited due to their beliefs. The Republican Party; however, would refute this stating the ban is to stop terrorists from entering our nation. Previous to this antiquated ban, all of the attacks that ISIS claimed responsibility for in America have been taken out by US citizens or permanent residents. In fact, according to Aurelie Corinthios of People Magazine, Omar Mateen, the Orlando nightclub shooter, was born in the US as was Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the two shooters in San Bernardino. So, as you can see, this executive order which protects us from "Foreign Terrorist Entry" isn't protecting us if numerous attackers have lived in America their entire lives.
American citizens were appalled by President Trump's executive order. Many didn't believe it would actually happen after the backlash received during the campaign. This included Democrats and Republicans including those running against Trump, for instance, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Chris Christie, and Democratic front-runner, Secretary Hillary Clinton. She actually went to Trump's level and tweeted her opinion saying, "This is reprehensible, prejudice and diverse. @RealDonaldTrump, you don't get it. This makes us less safe." I agree with Secretary Clinton. I believe the ban would make us an even bigger target to terrorist groups as we are clearly discriminating against their religion, which many of these terror groups follow radically.
When the executive order was put into effect, many refugees and those with legal paperwork were stuck in airports. Some were placed in holding rooms or a flight back to their origin. Protesters of the ban flooded airports across the nation, causing delays to flights and congestion on roadways. At New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Terminal 4, the site of the first issue of the ban due to a lack of communication, became a hotspot for protesters. Many held elaborate signs saying, "NO BAN", "UNITE 4 PEOPLE", "This is BULLSHIT". One person held photos of prominent Muslims with American tints. Donna Feld, a Jewish New York native, attended the protest at JFK. She said the vibe was amazing, powerful even and everyone who is a compassionate human being was affected by the ban, in Jacobson's opinion. Additionally, she said the most memorable part of the protest was the kindness of others, something we don't generally witness in hostile times like this. For example, Feld was amazed to see volunteers offering pizza, water, coffee, even hand warmers to those protesting in the bitter weather. But there was another side to this¾the supporters of the ban. They believed it was keeping our country safe and were glad to see President Trump was keeping his word by acting, something they believed President's in the past have not fulfilled.
The world's response to "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States" was mixed. Nations, who have accepted numerous Syrian refugees after ISIS disgustingly took over city after city, disapproved of Trump and welcomed any of those affected to their country. This included Turkey, who has many Christians and Muslims, and Germany who has welcomed a record number of refugees amid controversy. Angela Merkel, the extremely left-winged German Chancellor was said to be concerned about the ban as this was not the solution. The Associated Press reported that Muslims around the world were said to be disappointed but not surprised. Some were worried about their loved ones in America.
Although there are issues that are deeper than ever in the Middle East, the Jewish people of the world are sympathetic and mostly against the ban. Rabbi Adam Kligfeld said in his sermon to his congregation he was nervous to tackle this delicate subject (Gross, 2017). Without picking a side, as he knew his congregation was divided, he shared a special passage from the Torah, the Jewish Holy Scripture, basically to welcome all strangers as they are also citizens. Moreover, Eric Cortellessa of The Times of Israel believes Jews in America should condemn Trump and his ban as it is still barring some refugees, a group very important to Jewish people. At one point, almost every Jewish person had to seek refuge before and during World War II. During the Holocaust, Jews fled all over the world to avoid the Nazi's and concentration camps. Even in biblical times, Jews were fleeing Egypt as they were searching for freedom. So, it is very clear why the issue of refuge is very important to us Jewish people.
Though, in a surprising yet beautiful way, the Jews and Muslims are coming together to fight xenophobia and discrimination. Throughout the country, there have been meetings and joint prayer sessions between the two cousin religions, leading to possible peace mending, at least in the US. In New Jersey, women from two counties held a joint vigil at a neutral site. Their main goal: to promote diversity and a safe space for everyone (Hutchinson, 2017). However, it isn't just because of Trump's travel ban that Jews and Muslims are coming together (Demick, 2017). During the weeks of hell endured by the Jews when Anti-Semitism was on the rise across the nation, many Muslims stood by their Jewish cousins fighting and allowing them to use their prayer space as theirs was destroyed and even help fund the repair and replacement of many tombstones lost during vandalism.
An alliance was formed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport as well. Vicki Ortiz Healy of the Chicago Tribune reported on this amazing photo. While protesting the ban, a Jewish man had his child on his shoulders holding a sign saying, "We've seen this before, never again." Next to him, a Muslim man doing the same with his child with a sign saying "empathy." The rhetorical appeals were so evident in this picture. The photo's pathos was overwhelming as it gave off a happy feeling of unity. Seeing a Muslim girl with a headscarf and a Jewish boy wearing a yarmulke, innocent as ever, with their fathers protesting shows just how far we have come from years ago when these two cultures wouldn't even stand near each other. This is in addition to the ethos. Both these men were religious leaders in their community. The credibility of unity, from two religious leaders is possibly the most credible it can get.
Discrimination in America is an issue which needs to be addressed and fixed immediately. We are a nation built on immigrants, for immigrants. All our ancestors came to America looking to start over, and we must remember why the first settlers came here: to seek religious autonomy. America's core was built around the First Amendment: Freedom of Speech, Press, Peaceful Assembly, and Religion. President Trump and the Grand Old Party can argue all they want, but it is evident and clear this ban is on Muslim people. There is evidence Trump called it a Muslim ban, said he doesn't trust Muslims, and do I even need to mention it is obvious he's a bigot?
While it is coincidental the order was signed on Holocaust Remembrance Day, there are some similarities between the Holocaust and the ban. Both are radical ideas produced by powerful leaders. In addition, both are discriminating against a certain race of people, banning and eliminating them in one way or another from their country. In my opinion, President Trump, like Hitler, is trying to make his country "great again" by eliminating anyone of ethnic cultures in order to have the perfect race, in his country. But what is that perfect race? Whites of Christianity.
Trump has made unjust comments about every race, religion, or ethnicity since launching his campaign and even now in office, often taking heat, but soon being forgotten as a new absurd statement is said or action occurs. He called all Mexican's rapists, bad hombres. He supported the beating of a black man who was chanting "Black Lives Matter"; he insinuated Jews were cheap, promising he wouldn't take their money at a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition (O'Connor, Marans, 2016). He even was sued twice for discriminating against African Americans in his business ventures. This travel ban is only the beginning of a very long four years where we are going to see many groups targeted and hurt. As a Jew, I can't stand to see more discrimination in this world, regardless of which group it's against. No one, including President Trump, knows what it is like to unwelcomed somewhere because of the religion you were born into. No one deserves to know what that feels like. I stand with the Muslim community to end a ban based purely on belief.
