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Letters  

Hate breeds hate

I feel obligated to write this after seeing the Castanet poll on banning Syrian refugees and how there is a vast majority who support a Trump-style ban.  If Syria was a predominantly Christian country, there would be no talk of a ban.  Our doors would be open to these people who are fleeing the mass murder and the raining down of bombs that is occurring in their country.  Conditions are so poor that they are risking their lives to flee.  But because they are from a Muslim country, we feel that we should be banning them.  Don't pretend that is not the reason behind it.

I had the privilege of travelling through Syria in 1999.  I found the people to be incredibly kind to me.  I was 18 at the time, traveling alone and I'm female.  Based on what I had experienced in other countries prior to arriving in Syria, I should have been chronically harassed, however I found the Syrians to be very open, kind, and willing to go out of their way to help me.  It breaks my heart to see what has happened to their country.

We are a country of immigrants.  Our immigration policy is open to everybody, not just white, Christian people.  Syrian immigrants go through a lengthy vetting process that can take years to complete.  The immigration process does not just let in random people where we know nothing about them besides what they put on their Facebook page.

There are issues with immigrants in Europe, but it is a completely different set of circumstances.  Immigrants are flooding the borders and there is no vetting that takes place before they arrive.  Canada gets to pick and choose who they let in and only let in those who pass the rigorous process.

Put yourself in the shoes of Syrian immigrants before you want to ban them.  Imagine if your children were dying because bombs were falling from the sky.  Imagine if you were getting gassed by chemical weapons your own government was deploying on you.  Imagine if you were dodging sniper bullets trying to secure food for your family.  Imagine if you could become "disappeared" for speaking out against your government.  Imagine if you had to leave everything behind because your country was too unsafe to live in.

Hate breeds hate.  Fear is the product that's being pushed by Trump's America and we are buying in to it.  We should be welcoming Syrian immigrants who have made it to Canada, not being suspicious of them because they are Muslim. All they want a safe and secure future. 

Let's not forget our past.  Look at the Japanese internment camps from World War II.  Is that where we are heading again?

Kristina Smith



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