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From: bes@tybalt.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: "Not Without My Daughter"
Message-ID: <1991Feb7.051244.10988@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 7 Feb 91 05:12:44 GMT
Sender: bes@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi)
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Lines: 71
Approved: bes@tybalt.caltech.edu

Michael Lodman writes:

>For all the claims of negative propaganda against Islam in the West, the
>truth is that people claiming to be Moslems and representing the Islamic
>faith are the worst enemies of Islam and its image. The _fact_ that
>people promoting terror and war claim to be doing so in the name of
>Islam certainly causes a great deal of harm to the faith, especially
>if the claims of representation are false. I have never seen an openly
>anti-Islamic article or broadcast, but I have seen people such as
>Saddam Hussein claiming that he is fighting a Jihad for Islam against
>the infidels. This again reflects badly on Islam.
>
>My suggestion to the Islamic world would be to clean your own house
>before taking on the rest of the world. If these people (terrorists etc.) do
>not represent Islam, make efforts to show the rest of the world this. The 
>efforts I've seen to date are trully pitiful, making me wonder if these people 
>are not in fact speaking for most Moslems, and Islam. 
>
>If this is the case, the negative feelings of people such as Mr. Looi are
>understandable. If not, you all have a lot of work to do.....

I agree with your idea about the responses given to Mr. Looi.  But
I disagree that it is mainly Moslems who are responsible for their 
negative image in the West.  

The crimes that have been committed in the Islamic World are no greater
than the ones committed by Western powers.  As a matter of fact, Western
governments are more criminal. 

Here are the reasons for the immense amount of anti-Islamic propaganda:

Ever since the Crusades, the Western World has been
filled with myths that portray Moslems as demons.  There was some 
improvement in the degree of Western misconceptions since a century
ago.  But with the Arab-Israeli conflict (with the U.S. firmly on
the side of Israel), and the Islamic Revolution in Iran (1979) which
ended American control and exploitation of Iran, anti-Islamic pro-
paganda has intensified.  The most obvious example of such 
bigoted propaganda is the movies made in Hollywood.  An incredible
number of such movies feature characters who are in Arabic dress and
who are invariabley buffoons, stupid, or savage.  Even the children's
cartoons shown on TV's daily contain such characters. 	 Americans are
brainwashed starting with childhood.  

The false prejudices against Islam have deeply penetrated even the 
academic world.  Distinguished British orientalist Montgommery Watt
points out prejudices by Western scholars of Islam in their studies of
the life of Muhammad (pbuh).  When in the study of this man who lived
14 centuries ago there has been so much bias, it is clear that there is
much more prejudice when dealing with current events that affect us
directly and stir our emotions.

Then, besides the academic world, there is the media.  The accuracy
of the media equals that of the cartoons American children are fed
every morning.

It is the duty of Moslems residing the U.S. to educate themselves and
the people around them about Islam.  Moslems are able to put an end
to the false portrayal of Islam in the media.  There are more than enough
Moslems in America to accomplish this.  (Maybe, they should use Jews as
a role model and start intense letter writing and lobbying campaignes).
Unfortunately, most Moslems in America are so disgusted by what they 
see around them that they prefer to passively close their eyes and ears
to avoid the stink outside.


>Michael Lodman	Department of Computer Science Engineering
>	University of California, San Diego
>jlodman@cs.ucsd.edu			(619) 672-1673

Behnam Sadeghi