Ivanka Trump posted a celebratory message to Muslims celebrating Eid al-Adha yesterday, seemingly completely missing the fact that her father has been working to bar Muslims from entering this country since he came to office.
The tweet has garnered quite a lot of criticism since it was posted just over 24 hours ago.
Trump-Era travel and immigration policies have been known to target Muslims in a negative way, such as Executive Orders 13769 and 13780. These orders barred or limited travel to the United States from 7 countries, 5 of which have predominantly Muslim populations, while also making it more difficult for refugees from those countries to enter the country.
Trump campaign and MAGA rally rhetoric and the repeating of a lie about Muslims celebrating in New Jersey on 9/11 also made life for the United States Muslim citizens.
Ivanka's tweet in support of those celebrating Eid al-Adha was understandably confusing to many who have seen the effects of her father's policies.
Eid al-Adha is a celebration of sacrifice, specifically Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son to God, when commanded to do so. Ibrahim did not sacrifice his son according to the Qur'an (and the Torah and Bible), however, as God saw his loyalty and provided a lamb to be sacrificed instead.
"Eid Mubarak" translates as "Blessed Feast" and is a common greeting and salutation during Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr festivities.
Social media users were quick to call out Ivanka for her apparent hypocrisy.
Some took a more optimistic approach, asking her to call out her father's bigotry.
People's ire at Ivanka's tweet is understandable in a time when xenophobia and anti-Muslim sentiments are high in this country, largely due to the stances and statements of President Trump.
If her sentiment was truly genuine with this tweet, hopefully she will take the opportunity her role as her father's official advisor provides to talk to him about his negative and damaging attitudes toward Muslims.
The book Islam: A Short History is available here.
