RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Donald Trump Sunday dropped some of his harsh talk about Islam as he urged leaders of the Muslim world not to wait for the United States but to act on their own to root out terrorism. Notably, the speech did not include the words “radical Islamic terrorism,” a term he used…
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New York – The American Jewish Committee (AJC) praised President Trump for his clarion call on Muslim countries to take responsibility for leading the fight against Islamist extremism. “Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities,” he said.
“Honestly confronting the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires,” said Trump, “means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews and the slaughter of Christians.”
Addressing more than 50 Arab and Muslim heads of state in Riyadh today, the president said that “the nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their countries, and for their children.”
“President Trump’s refreshing honesty is welcome and needed in describing the Islamist extremist threat that developed in the Middle East years ago, and spread across the region and around the world,” said David Harris, CEO of AJC, the global Jewish advocacy organization, which has frequently traveled in the Sunni Arab world over the past nearly three decades. “We agree that the fight against Islamist extremism is a battle between the forces of good and decency, on the one hand, and evil and a death cult, on the other, and that victory depends, above all, on what Arab and Muslim nations do to counter and defeat this violent, deadly scourge.”
Trump asserted that the U.S. relationships with Muslim countries are based on “shared interests and values,” and they will continue to partner in fighting the extremist threat. To that end, he urged the Muslim leaders to ensure that “terrorists find no sanctuary on their soil,” and announced an agreement with Gulf countries to fight against the financing of terrorists.
Harris also praised Trump for his unflinching words on Iran and the regime’s support for terrorism and destabilizing involvement in Syria and other countries. “The people of Iran have endured hardship and despair due to their leaders’ reckless pursuit of conflict and terror,” said Trump.
“And he could not have been clearer in his description of Hezbollah and Hamas as the terrorist groups they most assuredly are,” Harris added.