INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Barack Obama: Discrimination Against Muslims In The United States Only Strengthens ISIS

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 03:17 PST, Dec 12, 2015

President Barack Obama is taking a stand for Muslims, warning Americans that stereotyping all Muslim people based on the actions of violent extremists only serves to strengthen terrorist groups like ISIS.

In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama said terrorist groups aim to divide people and stir up discrimination against Muslims, which allows them to recruit many disenfranchised Muslims to their cause.

As The Hill reported, it was a strong stance for President Obama amid calls for discrimination against Muslims in the United States.

“Terrorists like ISIL are trying to divide us along lines of religion and background,” President Obama said, using another acronym for the group. “That’s how they stoke fear. That’s how they recruit.”

“And just as Muslims around the world have to keep rejecting any twisted interpretation of Islam, all of us have to reject bigotry – in all of its forms,” he added.

“I’ll say it again — prejudice and discrimination helps ISIL and it undermines our national security.”

While Barack Obama did not specifically name Donald Trump, the statement appeared to be a response to the Republican front runner’s call to ban all non-American Muslims from entering the country.

On Monday, Trump released a statement calling for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” This came after Trump had already called for increased surveillance of mosques and expressed support for a database of Muslims living in the United States.

Trump also implied that Muslims entering the United States could be harboring “hatred” against the United States.

“Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life,” Trump said (via CNN).

Donald Trump drew plenty of criticism from Muslim groups, Democrats, and even some Republicans; however, his call to ban Muslims has the support of many voters. Reuters noted that Trump’s lead in the polls was unchanged after his statement on Muslims.

Though Barack Obama appeared to push back against this sentiment, he also called for Americans to “stay vigilant” in the wake of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead.

“If you see something that seems suspicious, say something to law enforcement,” he said in his weekly address. “Over the years, plots have been uncovered because someone saw something and spoke up.”

President Obama himself drew some criticism from Muslims in the past week. After the San Bernardino attack, he called on American Muslims to “root out” extremists within their communities. While Muslim leaders said they were willing to do all they could to help, many took issue with the president’s words and the implication that they could be doing more to stop terrorism.

“We would never ask any other faith community to stand up and condemn acts of violence committed by people within their groups,” said Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour (via NPR). “The fact that this is only directed at the Muslim community is something that I personally can’t accept.”

As Barack Obama called for Americans not to discriminate against Muslims, he also noted that the Pentagon and the National Counterterrorism Center would be meeting in the coming week to review their strategy for defeating ISIS.

[Photo by Saul Loeb — Pool/Getty Images]

Share this article: Barack Obama: Discrimination Against Muslims In The United States Only Strengthens ISIS
Isis Barack Obama
More from Inquisitr