Reaffirm commitment to tolerance, respect

by Seth Green
The Miami Herald
09/13/2003

This weekend, people will assemble at more than a dozen universities across the country, including in South Florida, to discuss the growing rift between the United States and the Islamic world. These town-hall meetings, call Hope, not Hate, offer a glimmer of hope at a time of alarming anti-Americanism in the Islamic world and rising anti-Islamism in the United States.

The meetings can help unite Americans and Muslims and stem the tides of hatred. If discussions devolve into a forum for extremism, we will lose an opportunity to protect our common security.

In the wake of the Iraq war, anti-Americanism is rife throughout the Islamic world. A recent Pew survey found that majorities in Pakistan, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey have unfavorable views of the United States and have considered boycotting American products.

Worse yet, less than a quarter of citizens in these countries support the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Pew surveys also illuminate a dire picture for Islam in the United States: In March 2002, 25 percent of Americans thought that Islam encouraged violence. Today, 44 percent of Americans hold this belief.

Immediately after of 9/11, things were different. Having seen intolerance in its most grotesque form, Muslims and Americans vowed to root out hatred in their communities. Islamic leaders ardently denounced the World Trade Center attacks and promised to crack down on terror. American leaders condemned retaliatory violence against Muslims and pledged to prosecute such crimes.

We united against hatred. But relations have deteriorated. Some radical Islamic clerics have implored their followers to a jihad against the ”Great Satan.” Some American religious leaders have also been irresponsible.

But many moderates have remained quiet. Surveys show that majorities in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan and Turkey believe democracy can work in their countries. But their voices have been overshadowed by extremists’ insistence that Islam and democracy are incompatible. Almost half of all Americans have favorable views of Muslims, but this receives little coverage by Islamic media.

The town-hall meetings are a forum for us to speak against the extremism and intolerance that could engulf both sides of the American-Muslim relationship. Americans can demonstrate respect toward Islam, and Muslims can express their support for America and its security. Make no mistake, the meetings will not be perfectly harmonious. But we can reaffirm the vast middle ground that unites both sides: a determination to eliminate terror and a belief in democracy.