Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on March 2, 2017

presidential address By Lauren Markoe | February 28, 2017

President Trump delivers his first address to a joint session of Congress, on Feb. 28, 2017. Courtesy of Reuters/Jim Lo Scalzo

WASHINGTON (RNS) President Trump, long chided for failing to address a surge in hate crimes, began his first address to Congress by invoking Black History Month and condemning recent threats against Jewish institutions and the shooting of Indian men in Kansas City.

His uncharacteristically soft-toned speech, which included several religious references, at points emphasized the commonalities among religious groups and toward the end declared thatwe are all made by the same God.

And, heralding a new chapter of American greatness, the president acknowledgedour Muslim allies fighting the militant group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS.

He called itanetwork of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, women and children of all faiths and beliefs.

But his other remarks Tuesday night (Feb. 28) would no doubt confirm for many criticsthat he still scapegoats Muslims and other minorities. He defended his Jan. 27 executive order, stayed by a federal appeals court, that temporarily bans nationals of seven Muslim-majority nations from visiting the U.S.

And hepromised to fight terrorism, slowly enunciatingradical Islamic terrorism, to make the point that he would use the phrase, despite even his own national security advisers stated belief that it helpsextremists to paint the U.S. as anti-Muslim.

He also reiterated his intention to build a great, great wall along our southern border.

Trump invoked Scripture when he praised a Navy SEAL, Chief Petty Officer William Ryan Owens, who died in a controversial raid in Yemen that the president approved.

Ryans legacy is etched into eternity. For as the Bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down ones life for ones friends, said Trump, invoking John 15:13.

And he championed school choice, sayingfamilies should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them.

But perhaps what most surprised his audiencewas the speechsopening, a seeming attempt to bridge the divides among Americans that so many have accused Trumpof widening.

Tonight as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of Black History Month, we are reminded of our nations path toward civil rights and the work that still remains to be done, he said to applause and cheers.

Hate crimes have been a growing concern so far this presidency. In less than two months, bomb threats have targeted about 100Jewish community centers, schools and offices of the Anti-Defamation League. Vandals have desecrated hundreds of graves at Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia.

And last week in Kansas City, two Indian men were shot, one fatally, in what is widely assumed to be a hate crime.

Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries as well as last weeks shooting in Kansas City remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms, the president told the lawmakers.

Trump has dismayed Jewish and other groups for failing, until last week, to denounce rising anti-Semitic hate crimes in the nation. And he has offered no specificcondemnation of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crimes, which have surged in the past several years.

READ:Trump condemned anti-Semitism. What about Islamophobia?

Trumps remarks Tuesday night were unlikely to mollify Jewish leaders upset with his record on addressing hatred toward Jews.

Just hours before the speech they called on him to address reports that he had, in a meeting with state attorneys general, suggested that threats against Jewish community centers might be coming from the reverse to make otherslook bad.

It was not clear what Trump meant, but some Jewish leaders expressed concernthat hewas implying that the threats could be attempts to frame his supporters, rather than threatenJews, and called on him to clarify his statement.

Jewish leaderswere also worriedabout new reports that the Trump administration is considering scrapping a State Department post created to monitor and combat anti-Semitism.

Lauren Markoe has been a national reporter for RNS since 2011. Previously she covered government and politics as a daily reporter at the Charlotte Observer and The State (Columbia, S.C.)

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Soft-toned Trump reaches out to religious and other minorities - Religion News Service

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