ADL ‘dismayed’ by GOP candidates’ anti-Muslim rhetoric
Organization says Trump comments on database for Muslims are 'reminiscent of darker days in American history'
The Anti-Defamation League on Friday criticized three Republican presidential hopefuls for their comments against Muslims and Syrian refugees, calling the remarks “reminiscent of darker days in American history.”
The organization highlighted a suggestion from Donald Trump, who said that, if he were president, he would consider a database system to monitor all Muslims in the US.
“Trump’s suggestion that we use a database to track Muslims is deeply troubling and reminiscent of darker days in American history when others were singled out for scapegoating,” the ADL said in a statement.
“No American should be singled out by security officials on the basis of immutable characteristics, such as religion. Such a proposal is not only inimical to our cherished civil liberties, but it also wildly misses the goal of finding a rational balance between civil liberties and the security measures necessary to protect those liberties,” the ADL added.
Trump’s comments were also widely condemned by his rivals for the presidency as well as by religious leaders.
Rabbi Jack Moline, the former director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, compared Trump’s position to the Nazis.
“This is exactly why there is an America, to not be like that,” Moline, who is now the director of the Interfaith Alliance, a liberal religious freedom advocacy group, told NBC.
Jeb Bush, who is trailing Trump in polls for the Republican nomination, said Friday Trump’s comment is “just wrong.” Hillary Clinton, who is favored to win the Democratic nomination, said in a tweet that Trump’s comment is “shocking rhetoric.”
In its statement, the ADL also slammed other candidates’ recent remarks on Syrian refugees, saying such comments “cross[ed] the line into scapegoating.
“When leading presidential candidates compare Syrian refugees to ‘rabid dogs,’ or call for the creation of a database of Muslims, or recommend a ban on all Muslims entering the United States, they are playing to our basest instincts,” the ADL said, also of Ted Cruz and Ben Carson.
“We are better as a nation than what we have shown, and today we call on Americans to reject hatemongering and xenophobia. Yes, we can and must protect ourselves, but we must do so without sacrificing our fundamental principles of freedom and liberty,” the ADL charged.