Aref Assaf

Muslims show tolerance,

Star ledger, April 24, 2008

Poor Geert Wilders, a far-right Dutch politician whose dream of stirring a Muslim backlash against his film "Fitna" fizzled. The great hype surrounding release of the controversial anti-Islam film did not result in burning of foreign embassies in Muslim countries, and the general response of most Muslim leaders has been restrained. "Fitna" (translated as "discord" or "strife") features violent imagery of extremist attacks, links them to verses from the Quran and urges Muslims to tear out these "hate-filled" verses. It opens and ends with a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb under his turban.

Muslims in the U.S. see little difference between "Fitna" and the Islamophobic propaganda that has aired on Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War against the West." The two films rely on proven hate-mongering methods, exploiting people's ignorance, fear and xenophobia.

This is an occasion to celebrate: Many leaders in Europe stood by Muslims against the film and its maker. More significant, Muslims worldwide have demonstrated the values of civility and tolerance taught by their faith in the face of a baseless, bigoted depiction of Islam and its holy book.

Aref Assaf, Paterson , The writer is president of the American Arab Forum.

See longer commendatory here.