I’m part of a lot of travel groups on Facebook and the overwhelming thing I’ve seen in the last few days is people complaining that Trump’s Muslim ban shouldn’t be discussed on there as it’s not about travel, it’s about politics. 

I beg to differ. This ban is most definitely related to travel. 

I spend almost all of my time nowadays making use of the fact that I was fortunate enough to be born in a country that allows me the freedom to enter most countries in the world without too much of a problem.

I am fortunate that, in general, there isn’t a lot of negative discrimination against me just because of the country I was born in (something which none of us have any control over).

A lot of people aren’t that fortunate and Trump just dramatically increased the quantity of people that is true for.

He has restricted freedom of movement to the U.S. for 7 countries. To me that can’t be anything but travel related.

But even if I’m woefully wrong, and this isn’t actually travel related in the slightest, it should still be talked about on any platform it can be, because it’s human-decency related.

I am not ok with anyone being discriminated against. I think that freedom of movement is something we all should fight for and support since we as humans are better when we all interact with each other. When as inhabitants of this earth we act as one entity. We can’t do that if we ostracize and discriminate against different groups.

As humans we have evolved past the stage where it’s just about our own personal survival. If we hadn’t you wouldn’t ever see instances of people going to help someone else in need, that they don’t even know, and putting their lives at risk in the process. Most humans have some guiding set of morals which encompasses treating the other members of our species in a humane* way

*(Note that the term humane actually used to be interchangeable with the word human until it started being used to mean “having qualities befitting of human beings” which nowadays are defined as being: “compassionate, kind, considerate, understanding, sympathetic, tolerant, lenient, forbearing, forgiving, merciful, mild, gentle, tender, clement, benign, humanitarian, benevolent, charitable; caring, solicitous; warmhearted, tenderhearted, softhearted”)

Even if you don’t believe that, and think that‘s just a nice lie we like to tell ourselves as humans, but that actually we’re all still really selfish bastards only out to protect ourselves, then please think about this for a minute:

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist.”

“Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist.”

“Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.”

“Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Martin Niemöller

It may not be you now but it could be one day.

I’ve read lots of arguments from people saying well it’s ok because he didn’t ban ALL muslins.

Oh, silly me, that makes it fine then *sigh*.

Hitler didn’t persecute all Jews straight off either. Horrific atrocities against humanity take place over time. They take place when we allow “little” things like this to slide by and try to down play them and pretend they’re not really that bad.

This is how genocides start.

The fact that Trump has even left a leniency clause in there for Christians from those countries shows what his intentions are. It is about banning Muslims, even if he hasn’t extended it to cover all Muslims yet.

The U.S. is a country of immigrants. If you’re from the U.S. and support the ban please think how different your life would have been had your ancestors not been allowed entry to the U.S. and as a result gained access to a vastly different set of opportunities than they might have had in their home countries.

Think about the families being torn apart by this.

I’m from the England and the parents of one of my best friends growing up were both immigrants. One was from Malaysia and one from Iran. Had an executive order like this come into place in England while she was a kid her dad wouldn’t have been allowed back into the country. Back into the country to see his wife and 2 young daughters and run his business that not only supported his family but also contributed to the English economy.

Just imagine having your life torn apart like that. That’s what thousands are facing in the U.S. at the moment.

So yes, I think this is travel related but even if it isn’t I don’t give a crap, it needs to be talked about. We as a group of humans cannot let this slide.

Oh and just in case anyone missed the stats at the start, more people die from falling out of bed in the U.S. every year than from Islamic jihadist immigrant terrorist attacks. The justification for this ban is not terrorism, it’s racism.

To all my Muslim brothers and sisters, I’m sorry for Trump’s attack on you.

To all my fellow humans I’m also sorry for Trump’s attack on you. As make no mistake, this is an attack on you. This is an attack on everyone.

It’s an attack on humanity.

If you have been effected by Trump’s ban and are stranded or unsure of your rights check out Stranded by Trump which provides legal information, advice on what to do if you’re denied re-entry to the US and resources for finding free accommodation if you’re stranded.

Pin it and help ensure we ALL keep talking about this 

Related Posts