Dubai: Islamophobia, or the fear of Muslims and Arabs in the West, can be curbed through intelligent news reporting that declines to stereotype those involved in violent or questionable events as belonging to a certain religion, said experts attending the Arab Media Forum yesterday.
Speaking in the session ‘Islamophobia: Is the media doing enough to reserve perception?’ speakers noted that much can be done to reverse the trend of stereotyping Islam.
Pointing out that the concept of Islamophobia is one that dates back to hundreds of years ago, Abdulaziz Al Tuwaijiri, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation (Isesco), said that the concept which he explained as ‘the hatred of some or all Muslims’ was only recently coined in 1987.
“Islamophobia goes against the fundamentals of the modern civilisation, human rights and international laws as it enters the frame of discrimination and stereotyping and promotes hatred and violence against a religion,” he said. Highlighting that the concept is misleading to Muslims, Al Tuwaijiri added that it is also misleading to all nations as it threatens international peace and security.
“To me, the Islamophobia phenomenon can be dealt with through the media and intellectual men and women who can correct the image of Islam, instead of having small groups living in their ethos,” said Al Tuwaijiri, underlining the power of the media in reciprocally fixing the images of Muslims and people in the West.
Speaking from a Western perspective, Nathan Lean, Editor-in-Chief of Aslan Media and researcher at Georgetown University, said that the concept of Islamophobia is a product that has been manufactured and sold for decades to the Western audience.
Lean pointed out that mainstream media in the US is Islamo-ignorant which often leads them to speculation and results in misinformation.
Referring to the recent Boston bombing, he added that media stations including CNN, CNBC and ABC started to stereotype the origin of those involved in the incident, initially suggesting some ‘non-American’ people with ‘dark skin’ were behind the attack, and even implying they were of Middle Eastern origin.
“News media are corporate ventures, they want to retain their viewership, so they want to sensationalise live, breaking events — so, an anchor while giving live coverage of an event will try to speculate and insinuate and play with the stereotype theories to retain viewership, even by prejudicing a particular race or religion,” he added.
Lean also pointed out that as media plays a major role in promoting ignorance, it should rely less on self-proclaimed experts, avoid misinterpreted terms, and promote sensitivity between journalists.
The image of Islam
Despite views that news media in the west is Islamo-ignorant, Rasheed Al Khayoum, a researcher and lecturer in Islamic philosophy, religion and history said that while Muslims would like to be viewed in a favourable light in the west, they should take account of the image they have represented to the world.
“Islamophobia is a kind of culture of hatred and through dialogue, Islamophobia can change into some form of peace,” said Al Khayoum.
Referring to different attacks and events, Al Khayoum added that specific acts of extremist Muslims give Islam a bad image.
“We have to see things from all angles and not only talk about the positive points — we need to be aware of our reality,” he added.
