To Be an American Muslim...

Joseph Farah
Wed, 08 Jun 2016 21:00:00 -0700
Opinion

I have sympathy for Muslim citizens of the U.S. concerned about the heightened tensions the spread of terrorism in America and abroad has caused.

I am concerned, too — and I am not a Muslim,

I am, however, an Arab-American Christian — a second-generation Syrian, for that matter.
Updated: Wed Jun 08, 2016

I have sympathy for Muslim citizens of the U.S. concerned about the heightened tensions the spread of terrorism in America and abroad has caused.

I am concerned, too — and I am not a Muslim,

I am, however, an Arab-American Christian — a second-generation Syrian, for that matter.

If you looked at me and looked at a Syrian Muslim, we'd look the same. We might even have similar names, though Joseph is not particularly a popular name among Muslims, Farah is. It means "joy" in Arabic.

It's that last name that gets me special attention when I go through security to board an El Al plane to Israel, one of my favorite foreign destinations. (In fact, if you'd like to go with me in November, we still have space on our annual tour with messianic rabbi and New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Cahn right after Election Day.)

Do I mind the hassle getting the third degree from Israeli security? Not at all. In fact, I welcome it. I know it's "profiling." And it makes perfect sense. I know that the people asking me all the tough questions and delaying my boarding process are ensuring the safety of everyone on that plane — including me and my family members.

And that's the attitude I think I would have if I were an American Muslim.

I would be concerned about the safety and security of my country and my family.

Sadly, I do not see many American Muslims, and certainly not any Muslim organizations, with that attitude. Instead, what I hear from the professional, well-funded and often Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups fighting for their "civil rights" and against "Islamophobia" is just the opposite. They seem mainly concerned at explaining — ad nauseam — that the overwhelming number of Muslims are peace-loving people who reject terrorism.

I agree with that. I don't need to hear it any more. I appreciate it, and I think most Americans do as well.

But that's not the point.

What is the point?

Consider the following:

—Nearly every Muslim-dominated country in the world treats non-Muslims as, at best, second-class citizens.

—Polls of Muslims in those countries reveal that at least a very significant minority support jihad of the kind perpetrated by the hundreds of Islamic terrorist groups, such as ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, the Red Martyrs Brigade and so on. Often, the polls show overwhelming majority support, as in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza, where the terrorists actually run things.

—Some Muslim governments provide billions in financial support to these terrorist groups — as well as to the American Muslim organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other Muslim Brotherhood front groups squealing about "Islamophobia."

So why don't I hear more prominent Muslim Americans denouncing these obvious problems within Islam?

I thought about this recently as I was reading what Pittsburgh Steelers star Ryan Harris had to say about Donald Trump's plan for a moratorium on Muslim entry into the U.S. until the government can establish proper screening procedures to ensure the safety and security of Americans.

He seems like a nice guy. He says he opposes ISIS. He says it does not represent Islam. He's an American convert to Islam, and I'm sure he's earnest in his views.

But he's missing the point. If only a fraction of 1 percent of the Muslims entering this country are not nice guys, but jihadists, we've got a big problem on our hands — especially since Barack Obama and the United Nations have a program that give Muslim "refugees" preferential status to enter the country, financial aid and resettlement privileges. All that while FBI Director James Comey admits we have no effective screening program to determine the background of these "refugees."

That's why Trump is absolutely right about a moratorium on this program and unscreened entry of other Muslims until we can stop playing Russian roulette with our nation's safety.

I like to think I would feel the same way if 99 percent of the terrorism in the world today was being perpetrated by people who called themselves "Christians." I'd say, "Wow! These Christians have a problem. We better be careful about letting them into the country."

But that's not the case. In fact, Christians are overwhelmingly the victims of terrorism in the Middle East. There's a genocide taking place right now against them. Those are the people who should be given priority for refugee status and entry into the U.S. Instead, they are being discriminated against in favor of Muslims.

Does that make sense?

Of course it doesn't.

That's one of many reasons, this Arab-American Christian will be enthusiastically voting for Donald Trump in November — just before my annual pilgrimage to Israel.

To find out more about Joseph Farah and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.