RUTHFULLY YOURS

The mainstream media and many others have been grilling President Trump since he signed the Executive Order temporally halting the population of seven predominantly Muslim states from entering the USA. As a result, he has been called everything from “racist” to “Islamophobic.”

As a Jordanian Muslim who also holds a British citizenship, I am not offended by the President’s actions, nor am I convinced that the Executive Orders in question were specifically written to target Muslims, for the following reasons:

First, the Executive Order singled out seven specific countries out of 56 Muslim states.

Second, the President did not pick these countries randomly, because six of the seven states have one thing in common: they are failed states, and they do not have a unified and recognized state system for processing of nationalities, passports, and state documents. In other words, the country’s citizens can receive any number of passports they like, complete with fake or multiple names. That means a terrorist can simply make up a name, obtain a passport and visa, and head to the U.S.

Third, there are numerous examples of terrorists using nefarious means to reach America’s shores – from the ISIS Passport Printing Press to clearly identified individuals. Take terrorist Anawr al-Awlaki, a dual national of both the U.S. and Yemen. It’s documented that in the early 90s, he was issued a passport using a different name, thus helping him establish a whole new, secret identity. He then used that identity to enter the U.S. on a Fulbright scholarship for foreign students. After obtaining a college degree at taxpayers’ money as a “foreign student”, he went back to Yemen and actively supported, promoted, and financed terrorist acts against America.

Fourth, the President knows these facts, and this is a sign that he is listening to his advisors and is absorbing intelligence information accurately and quickly.

Next, its quite clear that the President did what his patriotic duty and position require him to do: protect Americans from harm

With that said, if the President did want to ban a specific group of people, what would it look like, especially in a Middle Eastern country?

The two best examples I can give you are found in the Middle East. The first example is how Arab countries treat their Palestinian and Jordanian brethren, simply denying them documentation, freedom of movement, and banning their entry into their countries for the most frivolous of reasons. This is similar in nature to the second, how most Arab countries ban Israeli Jews from entering their countries, while allowing Israeli Arabs to come and go. A prime example of this is found in Jordan.

To me, that is real racism and religious discrimination, and in all honesty, comparing the President’s Executive Orders to what those Arab countries do is hard for me to swallow because of how easily they violate human rights, point fingers at others and clearly support true apartheid.

With those reasons in mind, President Trump did right thing, protecting the American way of life while being the first politician in generations to take the initial steps to keep his campaign promises. This is what I — as a Muslim, Palestinian and Jordanian — call a great President who’s is making America great again.

Mudar Zahran is the Secretary General of the Jordanian Opposition Coalition