10-16-2014, 12:40 PM
Dr.Muhammad Ahsan
Abstract: The post-9/11 situation has brought several changes in the world and there are winners and losers in this process. Unfortunately, the Muslim World is one of the main losers in this regard. This situation does not help in bringing global peace and prosperity; rather, it creates more problems. This paper is an effort to analyse this situation. It argues that the global media is an important source of informal education. But unfortunately it is dominated by major global players and they use it to influence global opinion by defaming Islam and Muslims. Although this piece of research acknowledges some pro-Islamic views reported in the global media, they are well in minority and thus do not influence the global opinion. This strategy is not helpful in promoting global peace when on several occasions Islam has been branded a violent religion while Muslims are labelled as terrorists.??This short piece of research highlights the need for concrete measures and suggests some steps that can be taken for the building of mutual confidence between the Muslim and the non-Muslim world.
Read more here
http://ipripak.org/journal/winter2005/is...obia.shtml
MEDIA STOKES ISLAMOPHOBIA: UK STUDY
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1169744118165&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
The report said that the media was demonizing Muslims and Arabs and stoking prejudice and stereotypes
CAIRO — The Western media and film industry are perpetuating Islamophobia and prejudice by demonizing Muslims and Arabs as violent, dangerous and threatening people, according to a new British report released Friday, January 26.
"The western media are largely seen by Muslims as a negative influence," co-author Sameera Ahmed said in the report "The British media and Muslim representation: the ideology of demonization,," a copy of which was e-mailed to IslamOnline.net.
The study, conducted by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said that the media was demonizing Muslims and Arabs and stoking prejudice and stereotypes.
"This view is perhaps not without foundation," added Ahmed.
"The traditional Orientalist stereotypes of Muslims as political anarchists and tyrants at home subjugating their women have been disseminated in the media as caricatures and stereotypes.
"Very often the news that is shown about Muslims centers around negative stories," she added.
The report said that the Western media was failing to address anti-Muslim issues.
"The TV News analyzed showed a limited framework within which Muslims and Islam were discussed," it said.
Islamophobic
A survey conducted as part of the British report showed that the majority of respondents view Western media as "Islamophobic".
"All respondents unanimously pointed to media as being the chief instrument of Islamophobia," said the report.
Some 63.4% of British Muslim respondents said media portrayal was Islamophobic.
A further 15.5% felt media to be racist while 9.4% said it was covertly destructive.
The survey also found that 9.9% of non-British Muslims believe media portrayal was Islamophobic while 15.5% said media were racist and 13.2% thought it was covertly destructive.
"There is a dominant perception amongst Muslims that the media does indeed portray them and their religion in an inaccurate and derogatory manner," said the report.
Famed US academic Stephen Schwartz had criticized the western media for failing to meet the challenge of reporting on Islam and Arab issues after the 9/11 attacks.
An independent review ordered by the BBC has recently concluded that its coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is "inconsistent, incomplete and misleading," failing to adequately report the hardships of Palestinians living under occupation.
Films
The report said the film industries in Britain and the United States were stoking fears of Muslims and Arabs
The British report said the film industries in Britain and the United States were also stoking fears of Muslims and Arabs.
"A broad spectrum including Hollywood action blockbusters, cartoons and British artistic movies are all means through which either crude or exaggerated stereotypes are reinforced or otherwise more subtle disdain of Islam is obtained."
The report cited a number of Hollywood and British movies giving the image of Arabs and Muslims as "violent and terrorist" people.
The Siegeportrays Palestinians carrying out a wave of attacks in New York city in response to the abduction of a Muslim religious leader by the US military.
"Apart from the monolithic stereotype of the Arab/Palestinian/Muslim being violent and ready to be martyred for their cause (a ‘cause’ which is never given any context and seems puzzling to the average American), a considerable number of other stereotypes about the Muslim/Arab culture and religion were presented in the film," the report said.
"Muslim men are shown praying in a mosque, a call to prayer is made from a New York mosque minaret, recitation of the Qur`an or prayers are said in Arabic and one of the ‘mastermind’ terrorists is shown using a rosary.
"All of these scenes are dotted about in the film between acts of violence, bombs exploding and indiscriminate killing, and more often than not they have no direct connection to the overall storyline."
Executive Decision also portrays Palestinians hijacking a Boeing 747 to launch a nerve gas attack on Washington D.C.
The film "plays on the worst fears ... about a potential terrorist lurking in every Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim-looking person, and the incompatibility of Islamic and western values," it added.
The report also cited the Disney film Aladdin which describes Aladdin's homeland as "barbaric", and that "good Arabs" including Aladdin are given American accents while the rest of the cast have "exaggerated and ridiculous Arab accents".
"It was evident from all genres that they contained negative stereotypes about Islam and Muslims/ Arabs," added the report.
"They all exhibited examples of Islamophobic discourses, including dual discourses of racism and Islamophobia, where the ethnicity of the character was understood to be irreducibly Muslim ."
The 114-member Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) launched in June a news service to counter ill-founded and misleading Western media reports.
Malaysia has also proposed setting up an international Islamic journalism center to counter mounting Islamophobia and coach non-Muslim journalists about Islam and Muslims.
Click to read the report in full
OVERBLOWN THREAT AND ISLAMOPHOBIA
Abukar Arman
Friday January 26 2007
Abukar Arman sits on the Board of CAIR-Columbus and is a Council Member of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio. He contributed this article to Media Monitors Network (MMN).
"The national treasury is being drained as the U.S. tries to build a bulwark against a mirage of fear and dashes to every corner of the world where “al-Qaida flag is waved.”
Analysts both in the Muslim and the Western world by and large agree that “fear” and lack of objective dialogue are the root cause of Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism. And while the debate on which one of the two ignited the other is still ongoing, one fact remains irrefutable: more people were victimized as a result of Islamophobia than the other way around.
A recent public opinion survey conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) indicates that Muslims are still viewed negatively in the U.S. There are estimated 7 million Muslims in America and over 50 thousand in Central Ohio alone- the majority being Somalis.
Among a number of questions raised in the survey, the open-end question “When you hear the word ‘Muslim,’ what is the first thought that comes to your mind?” had the revealed the most daunting reality that Muslims still carry the 9/11 burden. Six percent of those surveyed indicated positive perception as they offered response such “good religion,” “good people,” “faithful,” “devout,” “misunderstood.” On the other hand, twenty-six percent of them indicated to espouse negative perceptions about Muslims as they offered answers such as “violence,” “hatred,” “terrorists,” “war,” “guns,” “towel-heads” and “rag-heads.”
The irony is that this came at a time when Muslims in the U.S. and in the West were doing more outreach than ever before. Are the powerful engines that propel the “war on terror” blowing smoke of fear and distrust that ultimately hindered efforts toward building bridges of understanding?
I recently had an opportunity to interview Professor John Mueller, the author of bestselling book Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them. Professor Mueller is a national security expert. He holds the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies at the Mershon Center.
In that interview arranged by SomaliLink Journal, Professor Mueller reiterated the premise of his book that America is frightened senseless…and that there are some “well-meaning” special interest groups “who grossly exaggerated the threat of terrorism” and as a result created “terrorism industry” that in due course became an economic abyss.
The national treasury is being drained as the U.S. tries to build a bulwark against a mirage of fear and dashes to every corner of the world where “al-Qaida flag is waved.”
“If there were any sleeper cells or al-Qaida operatives who are as determined, as inventive and as demonically competent as assumed, why have they not done it yet, especially when carrying a terrorist act does not require flying planes into buildings? Could it be because they are not yet here? If not, they must not been trying hard enough or perhaps they are far less dedicated, diabolical, and competent than we are being told.” said Professor Mueller. “Apparently, there are no terrorists under the bed or hiding in mosques- the very lamppost that they should be avoiding in the first place” he added.
And while Professor Mueller acknowledged the need and the importance of enhancing the security of the United States, he repeatedly pointed out the sheer absurdity that justifies the post 9/11 fear-driven policies and initiatives. He said the FBI embraces a spooky line of reasoning that he refers to as “I-think-therefore-they-are”. He quoted the FBI Director Robert Mueller who said “…the greatest threat is from al-Qaida cells in the U.S. that we have not yet identified," who substantiates his claim by repeating “his alarmist mantra” and telling the public “I remain very concerned about what we are not seeing."
According to Professor Mueller, it is this kind of mindset combined with the rhetoric of fear-mongering politicians whose aim often is to frighten voters to their side; lazy journalism and the media’s desire to sensationalize the news; and those in the security business who are motivated to seize this golden opportunity to push their profits and services and maximize their profits that perpetuate the terrorism industry, keep Muslims demonized, and the anti-terrorism laws irrationally rigid.
Even a well-meaning innocent person could be held as an “enemy combatant”.
“When a judge raised a hypothetical question on who might be detained as an enemy combatant and asked ‘what about an old lady in Switzerland who donates money to an orphanage in Afghanistan who, unbeknown to her, finances al-Qaida? Could she be detained as an enemy combatant? The answer provided by the Justice Department representative was simply “Yes”.
The rationale of course is that ‘we live in age of terror’- a notion that Professor Mueller outright rejects as “hyperbolic”. He said “the probability of an American being killed by an act of terrorism is 1 in 80,000, which is more or less the same probability of being hit by an asteroid.” But, no one is frightening people with the latter.
“Including 9/11 in the count, the number of Americans killed by international terrorism in the last three decades is about the same as the number of Americans killed over the same period by lightning, accident-causing deer, or severe allergic reaction to peanuts.” Yet, the message often repeated is that the sky is about to fall….which makes diplomacy seem irrelevant. Despite all this, Professor Mueller still maintains a rare sense of optimism. He believes an introspective government working with people of goodwill can change the course of history.
And, in order to reverse the current trend, two main things must happen: first, the gross inflation of the threat of terrorism that implicitly portrays Muslims as ticking bombs must be appropriately calibrated. Second, diplomacy and constructive dialogue must be revived, and moderate Muslims must be engaged.
Abstract: The post-9/11 situation has brought several changes in the world and there are winners and losers in this process. Unfortunately, the Muslim World is one of the main losers in this regard. This situation does not help in bringing global peace and prosperity; rather, it creates more problems. This paper is an effort to analyse this situation. It argues that the global media is an important source of informal education. But unfortunately it is dominated by major global players and they use it to influence global opinion by defaming Islam and Muslims. Although this piece of research acknowledges some pro-Islamic views reported in the global media, they are well in minority and thus do not influence the global opinion. This strategy is not helpful in promoting global peace when on several occasions Islam has been branded a violent religion while Muslims are labelled as terrorists.??This short piece of research highlights the need for concrete measures and suggests some steps that can be taken for the building of mutual confidence between the Muslim and the non-Muslim world.
Read more here
http://ipripak.org/journal/winter2005/is...obia.shtml
MEDIA STOKES ISLAMOPHOBIA: UK STUDY
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1169744118165&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
The report said that the media was demonizing Muslims and Arabs and stoking prejudice and stereotypes
CAIRO — The Western media and film industry are perpetuating Islamophobia and prejudice by demonizing Muslims and Arabs as violent, dangerous and threatening people, according to a new British report released Friday, January 26.
"The western media are largely seen by Muslims as a negative influence," co-author Sameera Ahmed said in the report "The British media and Muslim representation: the ideology of demonization,," a copy of which was e-mailed to IslamOnline.net.
The study, conducted by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said that the media was demonizing Muslims and Arabs and stoking prejudice and stereotypes.
"This view is perhaps not without foundation," added Ahmed.
"The traditional Orientalist stereotypes of Muslims as political anarchists and tyrants at home subjugating their women have been disseminated in the media as caricatures and stereotypes.
"Very often the news that is shown about Muslims centers around negative stories," she added.
The report said that the Western media was failing to address anti-Muslim issues.
"The TV News analyzed showed a limited framework within which Muslims and Islam were discussed," it said.
Islamophobic
A survey conducted as part of the British report showed that the majority of respondents view Western media as "Islamophobic".
"All respondents unanimously pointed to media as being the chief instrument of Islamophobia," said the report.
Some 63.4% of British Muslim respondents said media portrayal was Islamophobic.
A further 15.5% felt media to be racist while 9.4% said it was covertly destructive.
The survey also found that 9.9% of non-British Muslims believe media portrayal was Islamophobic while 15.5% said media were racist and 13.2% thought it was covertly destructive.
"There is a dominant perception amongst Muslims that the media does indeed portray them and their religion in an inaccurate and derogatory manner," said the report.
Famed US academic Stephen Schwartz had criticized the western media for failing to meet the challenge of reporting on Islam and Arab issues after the 9/11 attacks.
An independent review ordered by the BBC has recently concluded that its coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is "inconsistent, incomplete and misleading," failing to adequately report the hardships of Palestinians living under occupation.
Films
The report said the film industries in Britain and the United States were stoking fears of Muslims and Arabs
The British report said the film industries in Britain and the United States were also stoking fears of Muslims and Arabs.
"A broad spectrum including Hollywood action blockbusters, cartoons and British artistic movies are all means through which either crude or exaggerated stereotypes are reinforced or otherwise more subtle disdain of Islam is obtained."
The report cited a number of Hollywood and British movies giving the image of Arabs and Muslims as "violent and terrorist" people.
The Siegeportrays Palestinians carrying out a wave of attacks in New York city in response to the abduction of a Muslim religious leader by the US military.
"Apart from the monolithic stereotype of the Arab/Palestinian/Muslim being violent and ready to be martyred for their cause (a ‘cause’ which is never given any context and seems puzzling to the average American), a considerable number of other stereotypes about the Muslim/Arab culture and religion were presented in the film," the report said.
"Muslim men are shown praying in a mosque, a call to prayer is made from a New York mosque minaret, recitation of the Qur`an or prayers are said in Arabic and one of the ‘mastermind’ terrorists is shown using a rosary.
"All of these scenes are dotted about in the film between acts of violence, bombs exploding and indiscriminate killing, and more often than not they have no direct connection to the overall storyline."
Executive Decision also portrays Palestinians hijacking a Boeing 747 to launch a nerve gas attack on Washington D.C.
The film "plays on the worst fears ... about a potential terrorist lurking in every Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim-looking person, and the incompatibility of Islamic and western values," it added.
The report also cited the Disney film Aladdin which describes Aladdin's homeland as "barbaric", and that "good Arabs" including Aladdin are given American accents while the rest of the cast have "exaggerated and ridiculous Arab accents".
"It was evident from all genres that they contained negative stereotypes about Islam and Muslims/ Arabs," added the report.
"They all exhibited examples of Islamophobic discourses, including dual discourses of racism and Islamophobia, where the ethnicity of the character was understood to be irreducibly Muslim ."
The 114-member Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) launched in June a news service to counter ill-founded and misleading Western media reports.
Malaysia has also proposed setting up an international Islamic journalism center to counter mounting Islamophobia and coach non-Muslim journalists about Islam and Muslims.
Click to read the report in full
OVERBLOWN THREAT AND ISLAMOPHOBIA
Abukar Arman
Friday January 26 2007
Abukar Arman sits on the Board of CAIR-Columbus and is a Council Member of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio. He contributed this article to Media Monitors Network (MMN).
"The national treasury is being drained as the U.S. tries to build a bulwark against a mirage of fear and dashes to every corner of the world where “al-Qaida flag is waved.”
Analysts both in the Muslim and the Western world by and large agree that “fear” and lack of objective dialogue are the root cause of Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism. And while the debate on which one of the two ignited the other is still ongoing, one fact remains irrefutable: more people were victimized as a result of Islamophobia than the other way around.
A recent public opinion survey conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) indicates that Muslims are still viewed negatively in the U.S. There are estimated 7 million Muslims in America and over 50 thousand in Central Ohio alone- the majority being Somalis.
Among a number of questions raised in the survey, the open-end question “When you hear the word ‘Muslim,’ what is the first thought that comes to your mind?” had the revealed the most daunting reality that Muslims still carry the 9/11 burden. Six percent of those surveyed indicated positive perception as they offered response such “good religion,” “good people,” “faithful,” “devout,” “misunderstood.” On the other hand, twenty-six percent of them indicated to espouse negative perceptions about Muslims as they offered answers such as “violence,” “hatred,” “terrorists,” “war,” “guns,” “towel-heads” and “rag-heads.”
The irony is that this came at a time when Muslims in the U.S. and in the West were doing more outreach than ever before. Are the powerful engines that propel the “war on terror” blowing smoke of fear and distrust that ultimately hindered efforts toward building bridges of understanding?
I recently had an opportunity to interview Professor John Mueller, the author of bestselling book Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them. Professor Mueller is a national security expert. He holds the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies at the Mershon Center.
In that interview arranged by SomaliLink Journal, Professor Mueller reiterated the premise of his book that America is frightened senseless…and that there are some “well-meaning” special interest groups “who grossly exaggerated the threat of terrorism” and as a result created “terrorism industry” that in due course became an economic abyss.
The national treasury is being drained as the U.S. tries to build a bulwark against a mirage of fear and dashes to every corner of the world where “al-Qaida flag is waved.”
“If there were any sleeper cells or al-Qaida operatives who are as determined, as inventive and as demonically competent as assumed, why have they not done it yet, especially when carrying a terrorist act does not require flying planes into buildings? Could it be because they are not yet here? If not, they must not been trying hard enough or perhaps they are far less dedicated, diabolical, and competent than we are being told.” said Professor Mueller. “Apparently, there are no terrorists under the bed or hiding in mosques- the very lamppost that they should be avoiding in the first place” he added.
And while Professor Mueller acknowledged the need and the importance of enhancing the security of the United States, he repeatedly pointed out the sheer absurdity that justifies the post 9/11 fear-driven policies and initiatives. He said the FBI embraces a spooky line of reasoning that he refers to as “I-think-therefore-they-are”. He quoted the FBI Director Robert Mueller who said “…the greatest threat is from al-Qaida cells in the U.S. that we have not yet identified," who substantiates his claim by repeating “his alarmist mantra” and telling the public “I remain very concerned about what we are not seeing."
According to Professor Mueller, it is this kind of mindset combined with the rhetoric of fear-mongering politicians whose aim often is to frighten voters to their side; lazy journalism and the media’s desire to sensationalize the news; and those in the security business who are motivated to seize this golden opportunity to push their profits and services and maximize their profits that perpetuate the terrorism industry, keep Muslims demonized, and the anti-terrorism laws irrationally rigid.
Even a well-meaning innocent person could be held as an “enemy combatant”.
“When a judge raised a hypothetical question on who might be detained as an enemy combatant and asked ‘what about an old lady in Switzerland who donates money to an orphanage in Afghanistan who, unbeknown to her, finances al-Qaida? Could she be detained as an enemy combatant? The answer provided by the Justice Department representative was simply “Yes”.
The rationale of course is that ‘we live in age of terror’- a notion that Professor Mueller outright rejects as “hyperbolic”. He said “the probability of an American being killed by an act of terrorism is 1 in 80,000, which is more or less the same probability of being hit by an asteroid.” But, no one is frightening people with the latter.
“Including 9/11 in the count, the number of Americans killed by international terrorism in the last three decades is about the same as the number of Americans killed over the same period by lightning, accident-causing deer, or severe allergic reaction to peanuts.” Yet, the message often repeated is that the sky is about to fall….which makes diplomacy seem irrelevant. Despite all this, Professor Mueller still maintains a rare sense of optimism. He believes an introspective government working with people of goodwill can change the course of history.
And, in order to reverse the current trend, two main things must happen: first, the gross inflation of the threat of terrorism that implicitly portrays Muslims as ticking bombs must be appropriately calibrated. Second, diplomacy and constructive dialogue must be revived, and moderate Muslims must be engaged.