Saif Sarfani, Campus Carrier contributing columnist
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made headlines a few weeks ago when he kicked out a Muslim woman from his South Carolina campaign rally.
Rose Hamid, a 56-year-old flight attendant, was escorted out of the rally by police officers because she stood up in response to Trump’s claims that Syrian refugees are “probably ISIS,” according to CBS News on Jan. 9.
Hamid was wearing a shirt with the words “Salam I come in peace,” a hijab, and perhaps most notably, a star similar to the ones worn by the Jewish during the Holocaust that read “Muslim.” Trump supporters booed her while she was escorted out by police and, according to Hamid, one even shouted, “You have a bomb.”
Hamid said supporters started getting ugly and that’s when it became scary. I, too, would have been scared, but for a different reason – scared to see Americans in the 21st century ostracizing someone because of their religious beliefs, appearance and concern for their own kind.
At this rate, it doesn’t seem like America is going to be great again, rather America is going to get more hateful again.
Making someone the enemy fuels this hate. In this case, that enemy was the Muslim woman and others like her who also wore Holocaust stars and stood up in protest.
This isn’t the first time the Trump campaign has sent an anti-Muslim message. Trump proposed banning Muslims from entering the U.S. and suggested creating a database of Muslims. He is making Muslims worldwide, not just in America, the enemy because he wants to equate someone’s religion with terrorism.
In doing so, Trump is unaware that Muslims aren’t the real enemy – terrorists are. Terrorists cannot be true representatives of any religion: majority or minority, Christian or Islam. They are people fueled by other sinister motives who only wish to cause harm.
If Trump knew a thing or two about reality of Islam, he would know that it espouses peace and love, and he probably would have thought twice before deciding to oust Hamid.
Had Trump not ousted Hamid, they could have had an intelligent discussion about her motives for coming and how she feels about his comments towards Muslims, particularly her Muslim brothers and sisters who escaped conflict in Syria.
All of this, however, seem likes a farfetched alternative. At his rallies, Trump badmouths politicians and minority groups, incites boisterous supporters and raves about how he’s beating other candidates in the polls.
An intelligent discussion about Islam needs to happen not only between Trump and a Muslim, but also with the rest of America who still has misconceptions about the 1,400-year-old religion.
America, a nation of immigrants founded on principles of religious freedom, needs to remember these freedoms apply to everyone. Only then will Trump supporters sympathize with a Muslim woman who wants to protest against a politician tarnishing the name of her religion and its adherents.