February 2, 2017

YOU MEAN INJECTING RELIGIOUS HATRED WON'T HELP?:

Middle East Christians Fear Trump Ban Will Backfire (YAROSLAV TROFIMOV, Feb. 2, 2017, WSJ)

Few people are more distraught by President Donald Trump's executive order barring citizens of seven Middle Eastern and African countries from the U.S. than the leaders of a community he said he seeks to help: the region's Christians.

Mr. Trump's order, issued last Friday and aimed at preventing terrorist attacks on American soil, suspended travel from these Muslim-majority countries for at least 90 days. It also ordered a revamping of the U.S. refugee admission process to prioritize those who suffer religious persecution--but only if the applicants follow a "minority religion" in their country.

Most of the violence in the Middle East, however, is between Sunni and Shiite Muslims who both follow the same religion (Sunnis are a minority in Iraq and a majority in Syria).  [...]

While White House officials reject depictions of Mr. Trump's executive order as a Muslim ban, it has been widely portrayed in the region as consistent with his campaign rhetoric regarding Muslims entering the U.S.

"Nobody is seeing this as motivated only by security and everybody views this as targeting largely Muslim immigration," said Basem Shabb, the only Protestant member of Lebanon's parliament. "Trump's offer of help is like a poisoned chalice. It has come at the expense of alienating the region's Christians from their Muslim neighbors."

Posted by at February 2, 2017 8:39 AM

  

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