"The report was affected by political factors, as it launched a harsh attack on states having poor relations with Washington," said David Mack

By Mustafa Abdel-Halim, IOL Staff

CAIRO, December 20 (IslamOnline.net) – The new U.S. report on international religious freedoms was rather selective and politically motivated, American and Arab analysts concluded.

"The report was affected by political factors, as it launched a harsh attack on states having poor relations with Washington, and praised others enjoying good relations with the country," said David Mack, the vice-president of the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

Released by the State Department on Thursday, December 18, the fifth annual International Religious Freedom Report described Iran and Saudi Arabia as two of the worst offenders of religious freedom rights.

It similarly assailed France, China and Belgium – three staunch opponents to the invasion and occupation of Iraq – for impediments to religious practice.

The report expressed concerns over plans for a hijab ban in France’s state schools, although "the problem has appeared clearly in the European country more than ten years ago," said Diaa Rashwan of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Religious Studies.

Paris had led the camp of stanch opponents to the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq, and shied away from Washington's requests for sending troops to the war-ravaged country.

The report also listed Belgium and Germany – both had opposed a U.S.-drafted U.N. resolution authorizing the Iraq offensive - as guilty of stigmatizing specific religious groups by wrongfully identifying them with harmful cults or sects.

However, it was less severe on Israel, a key Washington ally, heaping the blame on the Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation for allegedly fanning religious tension between Jews and non-Jews in the country.

"The report gave no mention of Israeli restrictions on Palestinians' access to Al-Aqsa mosque – one of Islam’s most sacred shrines – or tough living conditions of Israeli Arabs compared to the lavish lifestyle of Jews in Israel," said Rashwan.

He said the previous four reports also took the same position, "softly blaming allies and harshly excoriating opponents".

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which gives recommendation for the committee preparing the State Department report, admitted the document was selective in its criticisms.

While USCIRF Commissioner Richard Land said he was pleased with the State Department conclusion that freedom of religion does not exist in Saudi Arabia, he said the tough hand was not stretched to other countries as Vietnam.

"The bad news is the report is naive and overly optimistic in its portrayal of the facts on the ground concerning religious freedom in Vietnam," he was quoted by Bp news website as saying.

"While the report says it is a mixed picture, in actual fact things are getting worse, not better, and the decline is accelerating," he said.

Neutrality

Analysts cast doubts on the neutrality of the report given that it was issued by an official body rather than an independent committee.

"Though the State Department had tried to be even-handed, the report still stands at the margins" abroad, said Stephen Grand, a foreign policy analyst.

He attributed the marginal effects of the report to the varying nature of countries it had mentioned; as not all of them "need public censure to comply with" religious freedom rules.

Even if what it stated is true, the report could have negative impact, by raising the resentment of governments over foreign interference, he said.

Fahmy Howeidy, an Egyptian writer, agreed, saying the report is more ridiculed in Arab and Islamic countries for the widespread belief that Washington is not a "neutral party" to point a finger at others' mistakes given its unilateral invasion of Iraq and biased position in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"We could not forget the Palestinians' suffering at the hands of Israeli occupation forces with no action taken from Washington to prevent this, or the rising sectarian civil conflict triggered by the U.S. occupation authorities in Iraq," Howeidy said.

U.S. Religious Freedom?

Questions were also raised by American religious scholars over the assessment of religious freedoms in the United States itself.

Although Mac said that a number of reports are sent to the Congress on religious freedom in the increasing ethnic diverse country, American religious scholars said this is rather for "window-dressing".

Ahmed Youssef, the head of the Washington-based United Association of Study and Research, said the number of hate crimes and indiscrimination against American religious minorities increased by the high 170 per cent, citing Amnesty International's latest report.

"But the issue had not been addressed," Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said.

He referred to U.S. Undersecretary of State Richard Armitage's statements that the atmosphere is conducive to religious freedom in the U.S.

While presenting the report, Armitage made no mention of the "rising waves of hate crimes" in the States.