Dear all; I am sending you this interesting article on Islam and the US.
What do think? Send your opinion, please, so if you don't mind I can send our responses to Richard Baker, special assistant to the president of the East-West Center and coordinator of the Center's Islamic Initiative, who wrote it. Mr. Baker is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer who served a number of years in Indonesia. Ikra.- ====== From: East-West Wire <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: 2006/08/11 Fri PM 06:32:24 CDT Subject: Islam and America - Bridging the Perception Gap The East-West Wire is a news, commentary, and analysis service provided by the East-West Center in Honolulu. Any part or all of the Wire content may be used by media with attribution to the East-West Center or the person quoted. To receive the East-West Center Wire, please contact John Lewis at (808) 944-7204 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Richard Baker, special assistant to the president of the East-West Center and coordinator of the Center's Islamic Initiative, wrote the following commentary. Islam and America - Bridging the Perception Gap A researcher who has polled Americans on their attitudes toward Islam and Muslims finds that the most significant factor differentiating those who feel comfortable with Muslims from those who do not is whether they have ever known one. This is clearly not the entire story - after all, most murderers and their victims know each other. But when basic cultural differences are coupled with wide geographical separation, as is the case for most Americans with Islam, it is all too easy for negative stereotypes to dominate. And despite the omnipresence of American culture around the world, most Muslims have little personal familiarity with America or Americans. In the aftermath of 9/11, the East-West Center undertook to help correct the misperceptions and misunderstandings between Asia's Islamic societies (home to more than half the world's Muslims) and Americans. We chose to work especially with journalists, whose role as communicators gives them impact far beyond their numbers. There is need for such programs. In general, journalists from the Asian Islamic world "know" more about the United States than American journalists know about Islam in Asia. But much of what they "know" are stereotypes of the United States as a hot-headed, deeply prejudiced nation engaged in an international "crusade" against Islam. Americans'perceptions of the Islamic world in turn are largely colored by the images and stories coming from the Middle East. Most Americans are even unaware that two-thirds of the world's Islamic population lives not in the Middle East but in South and Southeast Asia. The program has also demonstrated how direct exposure can reorient perspectives. In 2004, for example, the Asian journalists had an intense hour-plus discussion with Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, considered by many the architect of the Iraq campaign. The meeting didn't change minds, but it did show that Wolfowitz was not engaged in an anti-Islam crusade and in fact knew much and had thought deeply about Middle East issues. The Asian journalists have also had opportunities to meet Americans engaged in inter-faith dialogues. They have been impressed that these efforts exist (as is rarely the case in their countries) and that American Muslims are regularly involved with their Christian and Jewish counterparts. This summer seven journalists from Asian Islamic communities and six American journalists took overlapping two-week study tours in America and Asia, respectively. The experience was enlightening, even uplifting, for the journalists. The highlight of the Asians' trip was a visit to a Jewish synagogue in San Jose, California. For most of the group this was the first time they had set foot in a Jewish house of worship, or engaged in direct discussion with Jewish leaders on interfaith issues. The Asians also visited an Islamic school in San Jose, established by a staunchly moderate American convert whose long-range plan is to produce American-trained Islamic preachers (imams). The American journalists visited Indonesia and Bangladesh, and met with a broad spectrum of political and religious leaders. The Muslims in these countries welcomed them and were eager to talk. While Asian Muslims in general practice a more moderate Islam than in the Middle East, and most fear and denounce terrorism, the journalists also found pervasive feelings of hostility and suspicion toward U.S. policy on the Middle East and Islam in general. In Bangladesh they encountered the view that the American response to 9/11 had in fact kindled Islamist extremism in much of the Asian Islamic world. They also met the leader of a hard-line Islamic party who made clear his long-term objective to turn the country into a true Islamic state. In Indonesia the Americans had a rather different experience with two prominent forces of conservative Islam. In the capital, Jakarta, they met with the leaders of a young, puritanical Islamic party that has captured the majority of the city legislature and a good number of seats in the national parliament. These leaders sounded less like religious zealots than enthusiastic participants in the give and take of national politics. Still more intriguing was an overnight stay at Al Zaytun, a huge new Islamic boarding school and college in a rural area several hours east of Jakarta, a school that is controversial within Indonesia due to uncertainty about its funding and suspicions of links with extremist causes. There the journalists saw hundreds of students behaving like curious, fun-loving children of any society, and heard the founder expound on his objective of educating a new generation of Indonesian leaders who are both modern and moral (in the Islamic mold). What is the net impact of such experiences? Many of the negative stereotypes are deeply engrained and not easily changed. But in general, the journalists come away with a more sophisticated understanding of the complexity of the countries they visit. They also see directly that most people share similar values, interests and concerns, even if they have profound disagreements on the nature of the forces affecting the world and the policies needed to address the issues. ### Mr. Baker is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer who served a number of years in Indonesia. He is currently serving as special assistant to the president of the East-West Center and coordinating the Center's Islamic Initiative. He can be contacted at the East-West Center on (808) 944-7371 or via email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] For daily news on the Pacific Islands, see www.pireport.org. 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