A Maryland Imam Responds To Anti-Refugee, Anti-Muslim Rhetoric

This morning we talk about some of the reactions over the past week by politicians in this country to recent terror attacks by ISIS, the self-styled “Islamic State” group responsible for the November 13th Paris killings, among other atrocities, and their reactions also to the resettlement of Syrian refugees who are fleeing ISIS and the ongoing carnage of the Syrian civil war. The two subjects have become intertwined, and some say confused, in the public debate.  Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat joins us this morning to discuss how the Muslim community here in Baltimore is reacting to the growing chorus of anti-Syrian-refugee and anti-Muslim rhetoric by U.S. governors, members of Congress and presidential candidates. Imam Arafat is a native of Syria, serving in the 1980s as an imam in Damascus. But he has been living in the US for 26 years. He was Imam of the Islamic Society in Baltimore from 1989 to 1993. He is also president and founder of the Civilizations Exchange & Cooperation Foundation and currently serves as president of the Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland.