Like so many Americans, I’m the product of an immigrant household. My parents came to the United States from Syria.
Today I’m an orthopedic surgeon who has visited Syria several times to treat victims of the civil war there. I was among the last American doctors to leave Aleppo before it was surrounded by the Syrian government in July 2016. The vehicles that tried to follow us out of the city, along the Castello Road, were incinerated — or they turned back. What ensued was a monthslong medieval siege of starvation and bombardment, and then the fall of Aleppo.
Aleppo, Syria, is what happens when terror and oppression win. People there were not terrorists, and terrorists were not holding them hostage. They were people being bombed by their own government.
(Warning: Some images graphic) Since July 2012, fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels has raged in Aleppo, Syria. The result is a city in shambles.
Back home our current political leaders are creating a very tense atmosphere that didn’t exist before Jan. 20. They urge a grave sense of impending terror: The only thing that can save us from terrorism is a ban on immigration from seven countries. Yet no refugee or immigrant from the countries on this list has committed an act of terrorism on U.S. soil.
The threat of terrorism is real and our borders must be safe. So why is President Donald Trump’s administration alienating and ignoring the advice of experienced diplomatic, intelligence and military officials who have dedicated their lives to keeping us safe? Why is it wrong to ask our political leaders to take a composed and measured approach to security, in line with the Constitution?
There are other threats to the American ideal and vision, and they are internal. Issues such as race, unemployment, health care and education should take priority. This administration’s rhetoric — building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, destroying alliances, banning refugees, suggesting a fantasy that envisions an apocalyptic war between Muslims and Christians — only energizes the narrative of extremists on both sides. It disconnects and distracts us from the real issues at home.
I remember learning in a long-ago history class that being American means believing in ideals and principles of freedom, justice and equality for all people, not just people born on U.S. soil. It means being a part of something bigger — understanding that we as a nation have continued to evolve toward something better and greater than when it all started.
Unfortunately, vilifying Muslims and Mexicans seems to come easier to the Trump administration than do critical analysis and self-examination.
Samer Attar, a surgeon with Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, is a volunteer with the Syrian American Medical Society and the Aleppo City Medical Council.
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