On January 27, United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order that suspended entry to the US for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days; bans all refugees from entry for 120 days; and bars all Syrian refugees from entering the country indefinitely.
The order, aiming to boost the country's security, has sparked controversy around the world and led to multiple protests in the US.
Moreover, after 10 days out of office, former President Barack Obama spoke out against the decision, supporting protests across the country.
"President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country," Kevin Lewis, a spokesman for the former US leader, said in a statement.
He added that Barack Obama "fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion."
During his two presidential terms, Obama authorized bombings in seven countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Libya and Syria.
While no nationwide protests were staged against those bombing campaigns, Trump’s order aimed to countering the terrorist threat has faced fierce criticism and public anger.
Furthermore, the mainstream media portrays Barack Obama as an advocate of peace and democracy while Trump is being described as a xenophobic leader defying the basic American values and principles.
"President Barack Obama told reporters in his final news conference that he would comment on his successor’s actions only at 'certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake.' He managed to stay quiet for less than two weeks. Obama […] issued a statement through his spokesman Monday encouraging Americans to publicly protest President Trump’s move to ban citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries – as well as refugees from across the globe – from entering the United States," an article in the Washington Post read.
In response to the criticism, President Trump said: "My policy is similar to what President Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months. The seven countries named in the Executive Order are the same countries previously identified by the Obama administration as sources of terror."
According to Russian lawmaker Alexander Chepa, the protests against Trump’s executive order on immigration "resemble orchestrated shows because people did not take to the streets when Obama authorized bombings in Muslim countries."
"I think that protests should have been organized against the bombings in Libya and Iraq. Such actions would be justified. But what we’re witnessing now looks rather like an orchestrated show," the lawmaker told RIA Novosti.
According to Chepa, probably, there are certain political forces in the US that do not want Donald Trump to be president.
Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Seth Frantzman, a journalist and commentator on Middle East politics at the Jerusalem Post, said that there's been a lot of dishonesty and hypocrisy on all sides in criticizing the Trump travel ban, even if the executive order itself did seem to go too far.
Frantzman also rebuffed the assumption that the executive order may lead to "radicalization."
"So I think there is kind of hypocrisy [in this idea] that the Trump ban is going to create radicalization, but Obama's drone policy or some of these other policies didn't contribute to that," he underscored.
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