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Zogby: Islam's so misunderstood
The media "deliberately" created a wave of hatred against Islam, a top researcher said here yesterday.
| "Yeah. There was no reason to do that. Just because Islamists killed 3000 Americans in a surprise attack is no reason to get testy!" |
"Islam is the most misunderstood religion in the United States. The situation created by the media led to a worse situation," President of Arab American Institute Dr. James J. Zogby said. "There is an immediate need to rehabilitate the image of Islam. We need to present a true picture of Islam to the Americans. They need to know the truth about the religion and its ethics and not the picture being painted by the media," he said. "This is the biggest challenge and mission for the Muslims in general, the need to change the perception of Americans. If the image is changed then the persistent problem between Arabs and Americans would diminish."
| "We should make it a requirement that all Americans have to read Qaradawi's pronouncements, read al-Ahram, and listen to translations of the Friday sermons in Mecca! That'll clear everything up for them!" |
Zogby was speaking during the final day of the 11th World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC), held under the patronage of the Bahraini Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman Al- Khalifa. "The situation between the Muslims and the US can be described as one side playing football while the other is watching. In the end, who will win if only one side is being active," he said. "This road is not leading us anywhere except more confusion."
| Actually, it consisted of one side playing hardball for 30 years, while the other sat in the national bathroom, exploring its sexuality. Now that we started suiting up, the game's not going quite so easy for the other side. |
Dr. Zogby said that authors of three best selling books on Islam in the US have never been to Saudi Arabia. "They have presented the wrong picture in their books. Imagine someone is writing on Islam and has never been to this area and does not know any Arabs. Islam has become one of the most favorite topics among writers after 9/11."
| Imagine somebody writing a history of ancient Rome who never went to ancient Rome and didn't know any ancient Romans. |
Posted by: Fred 2004-12-14 |
