Banning and expelling: A centuries-old, rotten business

History shows there is nothing new under the sun. The United States is not the first nation to ban Muslims. There was once a western country that expelled all the Muslims from its territories. It didn’t happen all at once. It was a process of issuing and amending edicts. The rulers of that country wanted to make it great again and in their vision that meant homogeneity. They wanted to reclaim their land and reconquer it for the “rightful” heirs of the nation. 

Once they cleared their borders of Muslims and Jews they turned their sights to heretics. The inquisition followed and science atrophied in Iberia, a place once famed as a center of learning and a beacon of tolerance. The diversity that made Spain the “ornament of the world,” was cleared away but it did not halt the inquisition’s thirst for hunting “deviants.” Spain’s economy never recovered from the reconquista and inquisition. 

In 1492 Isabella and Ferdinand forced a victory over the Muslims of Granada by kidnapping the prince’s son, ending 800 years of co-existence. Then in reaction to the effects of imperial stretch and attacks from North African pirates, on April 9, 1609, Philip III gave the final order to expel the remaining Muslims. Their society never recovered from it. 

It was a short term win that would not last long. The Spanish monarchs’ orgy of violence and racism in the long run didn’t bode well for the nation. And despite their gluttony for gold, they spent it frivolously instead of investing in their country. Their ostentatious spending only enriched other European nations and fed their own decline. 

It took the Spanish monarchs a little over 100 years to plunge their society and economy into an abyss of no return. Based on US President Donald Trump’s break-neck ability to throw the country into chaos in a matter of days, the US cannot hope to survive the year. Americans are guilty of ignoring history’s lessons and as a result are forced to repeat it. Spain and their expulsion of the Muslims is instructive and will only serve to hasten our decline if we continue to ignore the parallels.

Trump’s ban on Muslims will have far-reaching and long lasting detrimental effects on the US The trajectory Trump’s ban places us on will make the US uninviting and uncomfortable for Muslims and immigrants to live in, gutting US industry, economy and universities. 

We are reliant on immigrants not only for population growth, but for their labor and more importantly, their unique technical skills. It is a move the US economy cannot recover from and industry giants like Apple and Google are leading the condemnation of Trump’s Muslim ban due to the negative impact it will have. Steve Jobs, the natural son of Abdul Fattah Jandali, a Syrian immigrant, is example enough of the disastrous effect Trump’s ban would have if it was enacted in the 1950s. The world would be without the personal computer and Apple. 

The loss of this valuable human capital will be an eventual boon to another country, just as Spanish gold bolstered the economies of other European countries. Perhaps Canada will be the benefactor. 

It is an irony of history that this ban affects Syrian refugees because this is not the first time the dependents of Syrians were targeted for expulsion in the west. It was a Syrian refugee, Abdurrahman Al Umayyad, who established Muslim rule in Spain, and it was his descendants, my family included, who were eventually forced to flee their new home over 800 years later. Many of those Muslim refugees left for the New World, specifically Mexico and what later became the US southwest. It is a paradox that once again Syrians and Muslims face a similar ban.

Trump, a Don Quixote like figure, along with sidekicks Sancho Pence and Dulcinea, is riding rough shot over the US slaying imaginary dragons that turned out to be California’s wind turbines. How much longer will Congressional leadership allow a delusional President Quixote to roam La Mancha unchecked?

Fortunately, the US is not a monarchy and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier ruling by a Washington court ordering a repeal of Trump’s ban. A long legal battle lies ahead and the case is expected to go before the Supreme Court, for now. Trump must be satisfied with rounding up people who overstayed their visas. Trump’s witch hunt continues and we should remember that in Spain, the inquisition soon followed the Reconquista.

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Anisa Abeytia is a freelance writer who contributes to a good number of media outlets. Abeytia is actively engaged in advocating for the Syrian cause since 2012 and more recently for refugee rights. She produced/directed three documentaries on Syrian refugees. Abeytia is a graduate of Stanford University with an MA in Post-Colonial and Feminists Theory.