Re: Chaos, fear and anger, Jan. 29
Chaos, fear and anger, Jan. 29
Canadians outraged at Trump’s ban on Muslims and refugees can take concrete action by contacting the United States embassy in Ottawa and pledging not to travel to the U.S. until the ban is overturned. We can’t vote south of the border, but we can ban ourselves in solidarity with the victims of Trump’s racist policies.
John Gilmore, Montreal
While emphasizing Canada’s diversity and willingness to accept refugees are good things, they are not enough. President Trump and his cadre are putting in place the foundation for religious and racial discrimination that, liberals are convinced, will lead to undermining democracy and endangering the world by pitting Muslims against non-Muslims.
I recognize that our relationship with and trade dependence on the U.S. is important, but the U.S. government will operate in what it deems its own best interests regardless of what Canada says publicly. There is no more risk to speaking out than in staying relatively silent. The rest of the world, however, needs to hear our message and see our opposition to this intolerance.
The federal government, as one of the last liberal regimes in the world, must be a voice for the sort of fairness and equality that will alleviate the fears of others and undermine the messages of fear and hatred coming equally from Daesh and Trump.
Bruce Milner, Richmond Hill
In the year 1939 the German liner MS St. Louis left Hamburg, Germany, just before the start of the Second World War. On board were more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing persecution. At the helm was Capt. Gustav Schroder, who ordered the passengers be treated well despite official German policy.
En route to the West and hopefully refuge, the rules and visas were changed (sound familiar?), the passengers were denied entry to Cuba, the United States and Canada. The ship had to return to a hostile Europe and while about 300 passengers were granted safety in the United Kingdom, the rest had to find places in continental Europe with more than 250 ultimately falling victim to the Holocaust once the war started.
This was a black stain on our history much as slavery, the treatment of native Americans and Americans of Japanese decent are. Are we looking at this again?
Mike Caggiano, San Mateo, Calif.
It is heartening to see the global condemnation of Trump’s (Muslim) travel ban. Citizens and politicians of all political stripes are joined in protesting this extremely shortsighted and unjust policy. In Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau was joined by several premiers, mayors and members of the Opposition in Ottawa in denouncing it. Except, that is, for Kellie Leitch and Maxime Bernier. To them, it is a matter of U.S. policy and therefore not our business. Wrong. This is a matter of international urgency as it tests our conviction to collective values of compassion, justice and inclusion.
Richard Schertzer, Milton
Today’s xenophobic fears and hatred of Muslims is not much different from that of the Japanese during the Second World War. Of course the major difference was the internment of more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry, many of whom were American citizens.
Let us all stand in solidarity, so that history doesn’t repeat itself. Hate will never make America great.
JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater, Fla.
With his unlawful ban on refugees, Donald Trump set a precedent of what he expects to get away with. Unfortunately, we can be sure that there will be more and worse, unless his advisers, his staff, elected officials and the people stand up against their president’s whims and keep America great.
At the end of the Second World War, the German people were saddled with a collective guilt, because they tacitly/passively allowed Hitler to succeed. The Americans are at the threshold of the same indictment.
Ivar Heissler, Stirling, Ont.
President Trump has signed an executive action barring travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. This order was established to “protect the United States from foreign nationals entering from countries compromised by terrorism.”
Trump seems to fail to realize that by approving this action, he is protecting the U.S. from innocent families attempting to escape the carnage and despotism that has become rampant in their homelands. What crime have they committed that they are being prohibited from entering a country in which they wish to start a better life? And what right does Trump have to judge seven countries based on the actions of a small minority?
Osama Sobhi, Calgary
On so many levels what Trump is proposing violates the sanctity of human life. It is a blatantly racist and xenophobic order that slanders our constitution. It also slanders the history of courageous men, women and children who have positively changed the world in ways that our president cannot comprehend.
Trump’s illegal ban on refugees is fundamentally un-American. This nation has welcomed millions of human beings who have saved themselves and blessed the American experience as a result. There is no “our America” if we mean that one group gets to save another. America is beyond groups. It does not have the right to turn groups away. Nor does it have the right to shut groups down. It is a country bound together by principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that apply to all people.
For more than two centuries, the policy of openness, trust and diversity has paved the way for groundbreaking achievements in the arts and sciences. It is the spirited invention of the immigrant’s journey that has been our greatest legacy as a nation. It is what makes our nation admirable. If nothing else, the world loves us because we are a nation of immigrants. From the first people to trek across the Bering Strait to the next migrant from El Salvadora to cross the Rio Grande, America is America because they are here.
George C. Payne, Rochester, N.Y.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order halting refugees, particularly from Muslim-majority countries, violates fundamental human rights and completely goes against the sense of moral human decency. Refugees are the most vulnerable class of people, who have gone through great lengths to flee from persecution, discrimination, armed conflicts and war.
Contrary to what Trump thinks, his executive orders barring refugees and erecting a wall to “keep out the Mexicans” do not protect American interests. In fact, these will be costly in terms of economic and security terms. His policies will likely foment even greater hatred of the United States abroad.
I urge the Canadian government and the minister of immigration to continue to open our doors to more asylum seekers following the deplorable actions by Trump to restrict them.
John McCool, Montreal
Santayana wrote in The Life of Reason, 1905: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” These words were never truer than now.
Tariff wars were one of the major causes of the Great Depression. Disallowing refugees from Nazi Germany in the 1930s led to the destruction of one-third of European Jewry. American isolationism after the First World War led to the rise of fascism in Europe and Asia. The parallels with current American politics are astounding, but they are being neglected by the press, moderate politicians and the public, much to society’s peril.
Stephen Bloom, Toronto
By enacting his immigration ban, U.S. President Donald Trump has turned the land of opportunity into the land of discrimination and inequality, all in an attempt to combat terrorism. However, it is this very ideology of generalization that breeds extremists and terrorists.
Following this very immigration ban, in Quebec City a local mosque was subject to a terrorist attack that killed six innocent worshippers. Interestingly enough, the prime suspect of this very atrocity has been described by former classmates as a Trump supporter with anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-feminist and pro-Israel views.
If Trump really wants to combat terrorism, this is not the way!
Saba Sadiq, Toronto
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