The entire premise of the executive order – that it would facilitate more thorough checks on those entering the US – is a lie. Applying for a US visa from any of the seven countries is already exercise in extreme vetting. Following a mandatory interview, applications sometimes languish for months in ‘administrative processing’, a euphemism for an exhaustive investigation of information that extends to your entire academic and professional history. This is often followed up be ‘secondary processing’ at US ports where an unfortunate match on a name or a typo on an application can condemn one to hours in a room that, it seemed to me, is overwhelming populated by Muslims.
This did not start with Trump, it’s something that is only reaching it’s climax. For years, as people warned against the main streaming of Islamophobia, they were met with equivocation. “Islam is not a race”, “we are criticizing Islam, not Muslims”. Mosques were attacked, women were spat on and had their hijabs snatched from their heads. Western media, led by the British tabloid press, established an industry of hysteria against Muslims with fake news. The niqab and its banning commanded hours of debate in European parliaments.
Islamophobia – refers to fear, prejudice, hatred or dislike directed against Islam or Muslims, or towards Islamic politics or culture.
