Issue No. 603
Opinion
Previous issue
Site map
|
|
12 - 18 September 2002 Issue No. 603 Opinion |
Current issue Previous issue Site map | |
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
The image thing
There is a widespread assumption in our part of the world that the Western media portrayal of Arabs and Muslims is the result of a hate campaign orchestrated by Zionist writers and pressure groups who have systematically used the attacks of 11 September to further their own aims, fomenting hostilities between the West and Islam. One particularly vicious example of this process is a book by the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, in which she describes Muslims as people who "multiply like rats" and who, wherever they are, will surround themselves by filth. Tellingly, the book sold more than a million copies, despite the fact that the World Muslim League issued a statement accusing the Italian writer of slander and of fomenting racial hatred.
This is only one instance of many, for there has been an endless stream of articles, books, and TV shows attempting to link Muslims and terror and to associate Islam with backwardness. This outpouring of vitriol not only boosts support to Israel but serves as a pretext, an excuse, for its brutal treatment of the Palestinians. It also fuels hatred against Arab and Muslim immigrants living in Europe and the United States and justifies their harassment in the work place, at home, and when they are travelling. People of Arab and Muslim origins are now more likely to be singled out for questioning, are more likely to be stopped and searched, than is the case for any other ethnic group.
The Arab world, sensing the perils of such bad publicity, has been making attempts to do something about it. Governments, which tend to react in their usual, time- honoured ways, have been busy despatching ministers of information to attend a variety of conferences. The Arab League and other official and non-official agencies have formed various committees up to debate the situation, seminars to review what is happening, panels to recommend appropriate action to be taken. And the ensuing recommendations have focused mostly on the need for counter- campaigns, for money to spend in order to de- malign our beleaguered race, and for budgets to be set aside to correct our image problems.
The sad fact, however, is that the image of Arabs and Muslims cannot be revamped, regardless of how many millions we spend, so long as the political and human situation in the Arab world remains unchanged. Unfortunately, neither our regimes nor populations appear to have fully grasped the extent of the uphill struggle we face. Our public elections are still won by landslides of the 99.9 per cent sort. Phone tapping and police surveillance is common, and as an inevitable result individual freedoms are curtailed. Restricting press freedom continues to be seen as a cornerstone of political life. The culture of fanaticism and terror still has supporters in our midst. Corruption is so deep-rooted that judicial processes are proving incapable of curtailing the problem, let alone eradicating it. Democracy and the transition of power by peaceful means are distant dreams.
Whatever we do, our PR makeover is unlikely to succeed. However hard we try, the world knows too much about us.
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
