Muslim-American advocacy groups have warned of a growing number of attacks on mosques and on individuals following attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, by those purporting to act in the name of Islam.
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“We’ve seen children bullied, we’ve seen mosques vandalized”, said Obama.
President Barack Obama has made his first visit to a United States mosque and condemned “inexcusable political rhetoric” against Muslim-Americans, as he tries to counter increasing levels of bias against the community.
He will also not run for re-election, having filled the U.S.’s two-term presidential limit next year, and will not have to worry about any electoral blowback from the visit. “Islam has always been a part of America”, he said.
Obama’s visit to the Baltimore mosque was apparently in reaction to Trump, who has pledged to bar Muslims from entering the United States if elected president. “We celebrate and lift up the success of Muslim-Americans”.
He said too often Americans link the Muslim religion Islam with terrorism and blame the entire Muslim community for the “violent acts of a few”. “And around the globe, Muslims who’ve dared to speak out have often been targeted and even killed So those voices are there; we just have to amplify them more”.
Taroudant – President Obama called on all Americans to stamp out anti-Muslim prejudice during his first presidential visit to a mosque in Baltimore on Wednesday.
He noted that some of America’s founding fathers owned copies of the Quran and specifically cited Islam while discussing the First Amendment.
For Obama, this wasn’t an abstract issue.
“I do think it should have happened a long time ago”, said Haroon Moghul, a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.
“President Bush visited a mosque after September 11”, he said, “and President Eisenhower opened a mosque [the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C.] in Washington in the 1950s”.
“How do we defend ourselves against organizations that are bent on killing innocents?” he asked.
“I hope it makes people think and seek some knowledge”, Martin said. “Perhaps this will start a trend”, said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
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President Barack Obama speaks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore in Windsor Mill, Maryland, Wednesday.
