US President gives Islamists a "trump card"

The decision of Donald Trump to ban people from seven Muslim countries has rightly caused consternation and shock around the world. Additionally the refusal to accept refugees except possibly those from a "non-majority" religion (by which he means Muslims) all adds up to an own goal against the rise of Islamism.

One of the first people caught up in this nonsense was a Yazidi woman who was about to join her husband already resident in the USA. Tragic given the genocide that the Yazidis are escaping from and of course this also affects one large group of people, the Kurds who have been not just the best and most reliable allies against ISIS but also are themselves under threat from both Turkish and Arab forces in the Middle East who are determined to prevent an independent Kurdish state from being created.

The Kurds are the largest people in the Middle East without their own country, divided between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. They are also Muslims but tend to self-identify as Kurds first and one thing is blatantly obvious Kurdish women are free.

Such a policy will drive a wedge between the US led West and the Muslim world in which those who do try to stand up against the medieval Islamists of all types will find themselves further isolated as the extremists will use this policy to "prove" the West is against all Muslims.

Meanwhile the hypocrisy of both the legislation which excludes Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Saudi Arabia id obvious. Trump has personal business interests in these countries. A direct abuse of power by the President who has only been in post for a few days.

This also allows the policies of other Muslim countries to be overlooked. Breitbart reports:

Five of the wealthiest Muslim countries have taken no Syrian refugees in at all, arguing that doing so would open them up to the risk of terrorism. Although the oil rich countries have handed over aid money, Britain has donated more than Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar combined.

Yet amidst cries for Europe to do more, it has transpired that of the five wealthiest countries on the Arabian Peninsula, that is, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, not one has taken in a single refugee from Syria. Instead, they have argued that accepting large numbers of Syrians is a threat to their safety, as terrorists could be hiding within an influx of people. Sherif Elsayid-Ali, Amnesty International’s Head of Refugee and Migrants’ Rights, has slammed their inaction as “shameful”.

Quite. Saudi Arabia in particular has huge pre-prepared camps, fully equipped to take thousands of pilgrims for the "Haj" which could have been used for refugees rather than them fleeing and drowning across the Mediterranean. The Wahhabi version of Islam practiced in the Saudi state is barely a step away from the practices of ISIS. Saudi Arabia is a true Apartheid state with women being second class citizens not allowed to go out without a so-called "Guardian" and even bans them from driving.

The Saudi's are more concerned with controlling Islam than any humanitarian concerns, yet these hypocrites sit on the now totally discredit United Nations Human Rights Council. A travesty if there ever was one.

And then there is the question of Muslim countries banning Israeli citizens from their countries. Sixteen nations practice this anti-Semitic policy. Including Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Libya who protest over their citizens treatement. One rule for them......

The battle against islamism and terrorism is going to be a long one. Military means can only solve a very small, albeit violent part of the problem. The solution will be to win over the hearts and minds of ordinary Muslims to a more tolerant and inclusive world where religion is separated from the state. 

Trump's inane policy will set back the cause of a secular and democratic future.