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Trump seeks to worsen Islamophobia with travel ban on Muslims: Scholar

kevin barrett

US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on nationals from six predominantly Muslim countries is aimed at intensifying the anti-Muslim sentiment in the US that began after the 9/11 terror attacks, an American scholar says.

“Trump has amplified the core message of the 9/11 psychological warfare operation, which was to induce a permanent frenzy of Islamophobia in the American population,” said Kevin Barrett, an author and political commentator in Madison, Wisconsin.

This Islamophobia has helped “drive the United States into waging wars on Israel’s predominantly Muslim enemies for the long-term future for many generations,” Barrett told Press TV on Sunday.

On Friday, a US federal judge in the state of Hawaii extended his halt of Trump’s new travel ban on nationals from six predominantly Muslim countries.

US District Judge Derrick Watson converted the temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction, which can lead to a permanent halt of the travel ban unless the US Supreme Court restores it.

On Tuesday, Watson had issued a nationwide order blocking the third version of Trump’s controversial travel ban, calling it discriminatory and in breach of immigration law.

Watson’s ruling applies only to the six Muslim-majority countries of Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Chad, although the ban, announced in September, also limits travel from Venezuela and North Korea.

A federal judge in Maryland also blocked the travel ban on Wednesday. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the rulings to the Supreme Court.

Trump has said the restrictions are needed to tighten security and prevent terrorist attacks. Opponents say the ban violates the US Constitution because it discriminates against Muslims and certain nationalities.


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