In his historic first visit to a mosque since assuming office, President Obama on Wednesday pressed for tolerance toward the Muslim community, stressing that members are deeply interwoven with American values and society.
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Speaking at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque on Wednesday on, Barack Obama described any attack on a single faith as “an attack on all our faiths”.
In an interview with Radio Sputnik’s “Loud & Clear”, McCaw said Obama’s visit was “something that communicates from the administration to the American public that yes, Muslims are our neighbors, they contribute to this nation, they are one of us”. “We must not give them legitimacy”, Obama said.
Pushing back at critics who say he should talk about “Islamic terrorists”, he said that, “We shouldn’t play into terrorist propaganda”.
“Like all Americans, you’re anxious about the threat of terrorism”, said Obama. “We have to reject a politics that seeks to manipulate prejudice or bias and targets people because of religion”.
Donald Trump, hotly tipped to become the next President, sparked controversy a year ago when he suggested banning all Muslims from entering the US.
Obama’s address also came at a time when nearly half of Americans think at least some U.S. Muslims have traces of animosity toward the United States.
According to the Pew Research Center, Islam is the fastest growing religion.
“We’ve seen children bullied, we’ve seen mosques vandalized”, he said.
Republicans vying to be the party’s candidate for the November 8 presidential election also argued against Obama’s plan to accept 10,000 refugees fleeing Syria’s war, saying it raised national security risks. “You’re Muslim and American”. President George W. Bush did so days after the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks to reassure American Muslims.
Before Obama’s remarks, a man and woman did a recitation from the Quran, then an honor guard of two boys and two girls carried the American and Maryland state flags into the mosque. “We are one American family”.
“Muslims must speak up when Christians and Jews around the world are targeted, often by Muslims”, Obama said. “So I was not the first”, Obama said, sparking laughter.
Muhammad Jameel, the mosque’s president, said: “We never thought that when we held our first prayers in the small room almost a half a century ago that we would be hosting the president”.
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Obama reminded the audience that political opponents of Thomas Jefferson accused him of being a Muslim.
