On November 13th, 2015 the city of Paris, France was attacked by multiple suicide bombers and gunmen. Hundreds were wounded and 129 were found dead. There were six points of attack in the city, of which were mainly restaurants. These attacks were heard around the world, and many have started to talk about taking action, including the United States of America.
However, the action is not one that one would have thought. The political parties and the government itself is split between reactions. Donald Trump, the Republican party front-runner, says that he wants the Muslims in America to be registered in "databases" so they can keep tabs on them, and to shut down Mosques all around the U.S. His fellow republican candidate, Ben Carson, has referred to certain Syrian refugees as "rabid dogs". Even Democratic figures are making statements, such as David Bowers, the mayor from Roanoke, Virginia. Bowers has referred his anti-refugee policy to the Japanese Interment camps from World War II. However, many of the candidates from both parties are paying their respects to the families in the attacks. Hilary Clinton, one of the main Democratic candidates, tweeted on the day of the attack, "The reports from Paris are harrowing. Praying for the city and the families of the victims. -H". Donald Trump, even though he made the statement above, gave his respects as well, saying this: "My prayers are with the victims and hostages in the horrible Paris attacks. May God be with you all."
American-Arabs that are currently in the United States are saying that this was worse than 9/11. After 9/11 first occured, President George W. Bush spoke at the famous Mosque, the Islamic Center. He defended the Muslims and made sure people knew that they were not to blame. If he had done that now, he would have been ridiculed by other Republicans. Heidie Beidrich is the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Program. She deals with extremists, such as the ones in the Middle East. "We've never seen so many politicians making such outrageous Islamophobic comments both as concerns refugees who are coming here as well as just Muslims in general," Beidrich said. "Some of the things, for example, that Donald Trump is talking about, (like) registering Muslim Americans, are just shocking and ignorant and certainly not what the United States is about."
These attacks have caused large problems for the freedom of the American-Arabs in the United States. These citizens will be treated poorly until the problems in the Middle East are solved, whether they are solved with violence or with peace, only time will tell.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34818994
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/14/455976394/u-s-political-reaction-to-paris-attacks-split-along-party-lines
