November 13 marked the dreadful terror attack upon the city of Paris. According to CNN, ISIS claimed responsibility, and the president of France, Francois Hollande, has declared this attack as an act of war. It was reported that ISIS members snuck into Paris disguised as Syrian refugees, which has created a shock for many nations.

In response to this news, the House of Representatives passed a bill Nov. 19 that increased the security scanning on Syrian refugees, basically making it impossible for any of them to come into the United States. The bill was backed up by many Republicans who wanted to override Barack Obama’s plan to allow 10,000 refugees to enter the United States. They claimed they were afraid for the nation’s security, when in reality they were initially opposed to allowing Syrians into the country.

It seems ridiculous to stop the influx of Syrian refugees. People who claim they are afraid are using fear as an excuse to fuel their anti-Islamic or anti-immigration views. First: Syrian refugees have nothing – NOTHING – to do with any of ISIS’ plans. They are ALSO victims. Second: incoming refugees are NOT immigrants. They are refugees of a war-torn nation who need political asylum.

People have a false notion that ISIS is waging a war against the Western world. While that is true to some extent, it is not the reason it is so militantly active today. Western aggression and its degradation of Islam have fueled the radical thinking that Islam is being wrongly accused. Radical Islamists believe they need to prove Islam as superior and the only way to do that is through violence. Their mission is to eliminate everything that is not THEIR version of Islam, which is absolutely wrong.

And Syrian Refugees have become their scapegoat.

In Syrian history lies the deep schism of Islamic history: the split between Shia and Sunnis. Syria is known to host many Shia Muslims who have become prey not only to the civil war but militant murder. ISIS and many of the militant members claim they want to get rid of the Shia population, so they have Shias and Sunnis turn against each other. Many news stations and publications seem to forget that Muslims are a BIGGER victim of ISIS’ radicalization than any Western societies.  

Today, many of us are once again stereotyping and creating false ideas about terrorism that sparked Islamophobia in the early 2000s. We are caving into the psychological terror that many of these terrorist groups want. It took less than two weeks to get the bill that limited Syrian refugees into the United States passed. Is this really about safety, or are we once again blowing things out of proportion? It looks like we are playing into their hands again.

Syrian refugees have done nothing wrong in their quest for peace and safety. It was even found that the attackers were not Syrian, but French. According to CNN, the bomber falsely declared himself to be a Syrian named Ahmad al Muhammad and was allowed to enter Greece on Oct. 3. From there, he moved to Macedonia, then Serbia and Croatia, where he registered in the Opatovac refugee camp. Eventually, he made his way to Paris, where he was one of three men who blew themselves up at the Stade de France.

If we are going to fight the face of terror, we must lose the air of ignorance that surrounds us. Stopping Syrian refugees is not going to stop ISIS from wanting to attack the United States, neither is it going to help anyone who is fighting to stay alive. The new bill is just going to create more tension and animosity against Western nations.

If you say that you lock the door at night because you’re afraid that a Syrian is going to come in and bomb you, then sleep in ignorance. Just know that one action like this, causes more deaths than imaginable. So sleep safe, with blood on your hands.