Tuesday, 14, December, 2004
Shereen Bushehri • Arab News
MANAMA, 14 December 2004 — The media “deliberately” created a wave of hatred against Islam, a top researcher said here yesterday.
“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,” he said.
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 theme of this year’s conference was “Improving Performance and Ensuring Sustainable Growth in an Increasingly Competitive Global Market.” Over 600 delegates from 27 countries took part in WIBC and exhibition.
“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.”
Zogby was speaking during a power table at the conference on the “International Media Perceptions of the Islamic Banking and Finance Industry” with moderator and presenter, BCC’s Tim Sebastian. The session was chaired by Khaled Abdullah Janahi, Group Chief Executive Dar Al-Maal Islami and Chairman of the First Leasing Bank Bahrain. The speakers were Dr. Robert Zogby who spoke on US public attitudes on doing businesses with Arabs and Muslims and Khaled Almaeena, editor-in-chief of Arab News who shed light on international perceptions.
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.”
Almaeena blasted the Islamic banks and financial institutions for not providing any access to the foreign media. “Reporters are always keen to get some information about the atmosphere and business of Islamic banks and financial institutions. This has become a craze for foreign media representatives.” “The situation has turned against the Islamic banks and financial institutions because of their resistance not to provide required information to media representatives.”
He also took a serious note of the incompetence of some of the public relations companies.
“The incompetence of such companies left a mark on the Islamic banking industry. There is a need to hire professional PR companies to deal with the Islamic banking industry.”
“The Islamic banking industry is celebrating three decades of transformation and now Islamic finance has become an essential part of the global economy,” he said.