Terrorists don’t pose as refugees

To the editor,

In response to Daniel Grota (November 20): thanks. And thanks to Governor Walker for refusing to give in to paranoia about refugees. Since when are Alaskans so scared of any risk that terrorized refugees are seen as a mortal threat? Terrorists don’t need to pose as refugees. There are much easier ways into the country, and in fact most of the actual terrorist acts in the U.S. have been the work of native-born Americans. The way to combat terrorism is to show the world that we are not anti-Islam or anti-Arab after all, and that we stand for compassion and tolerance. That’s how you cripple their recruiting efforts. As for Larry Wood’s article: I’ll always defend free speech, but would any respectable news outlet have published such vicious bigotry and hate if the target were, say, Jews, Catholics, or Black people? Muslims are the current scapegoats. These lies about them feed on people’s understandable fears, but are only possible because few Americans actually know anything about Islam or its place in the world. Anyone who has known actual Muslims, as I have, or knows any history, would find Wood’s claims beyond ridiculous. Actually, in Europe, the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) when ruled by Muslims was relatively tolerant, especially for those times; even Jews held important positions in government. It’s after the Christians took over that we got the Inquisition. Fundamentalists of any religion are intolerant; luckily, they are a small, though very dangerous, minority, and that is as true among Muslims as anywhere else.

Phil Somervell

Palmer