(MENAFN- Arab News) This is with reference to the article 'Absurd criticism of Islam' (Dec. 27) by Rasheed Abou-Alsamh. The writer has highlighted an important issue. We should take it very seriously. It is not enough to blame the terrorist organizations for this trend. An anti-Islam lobby had been active in the global media since many decades. We can however say that the radical organizations have provided that lobby with an opportunity to malign Islam and Muslims with a new vigor.
Even before 9/11 and the subsequent geopolitical turmoil Muslims were portrayed as barbaric and terrorists in various Hollywood flicks. If not terrorists Muslims were usually shown as ignorant people not in touch with the realities of the modern world. Those who have any doubt about it should conduct a research themselves. So it is just that the anti-Islam lobby is now working overtime and it has the reason to operate openly.
The absurd criticism of Islam is now become a routine thing in the West to the extent that it has become pointless to highlight this issue. We need to devise ways to counter this negative propaganda. We don't have any strong media outlet to defend our views. The best thing about the people living in the West is that they appreciate the truth and once they get in touch with the ground realities they can go to any extent to defend the truth.
We need to increase our presence in the global mainstream media. Launch of English-language news channels and websites will prove to be very instrumental in our fight against extremism and anti-Islam propaganda. The proposed media outlets don't need to be anti-West as using such an approach may succeed in the short term but to increase credibility they should be objective in their style. The recently announced Islamic alliance against terror should also include the establishment of media outlets for better results in this fight which is definitely going to take some time to win. Raheel Ahmed Hashmi Riyadh