A library photo for Muslims in a Geneva mosque

By Tamer Abul Einein, IOL Correspondent

GENEVA, June 16 (IslamOnline.net) – Muslims in Switzerland will launch on June 24 a ten-day campaign to reach out to non-Muslims in the capital Geneva and stand up to malicious media onslaughts.

Organized by the Islamic Cultural Foundation in Geneva, the "Dialogue Tent" campaign will seek to clear stereotypes about Islam in the eyes of non-Muslim citizens, the foundation’s media spokesman Abdel Hafiz Al-Wardiri told IslamOnline.net.

"We try to convey the true image of Islam to the non-Muslim citizens, who seek answers to many questions about Islam."

The dialogue, Wardiri added, will be all-encompassing, covering Islamic culture, art and civilization.

The Muslim activist was hopeful the dialogue campaign would be expanded to include other Swiss cities.

He said the campaign is sponsored by a number of Swiss and international societies, chiefly Geneva municipality, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Islamic World League.

Anti-Islam Media

Wardiri further said the foundation will extend invitations to a number of Swiss media people, who are accused of tarnishing the reputation of Islam and Arabs.

"The dialogue with this cross-section of society is very important as they will listen to the opinions of the Muslim participants on their media mission," he said.

During a June 6 symposium held in the Swiss city of Thun, Bishop Albert Reger sharply criticized the anti-Islam media campaign in the country.

He called for recognizing Islam as one of the main religions in Switzerland, which is home to 350,000 Muslims representing a sizable 4.5 percent of the country’s some eight million people, in addition to more than 10,000 illegal Muslim immigrants.

Islam is the second religion in Switzerland after Christianity. Forty-three percent of the Muslim community are of Turkish origin.

The priest also blamed the Arab-Israeli conflict for feeding up what he termed as extremism and fundamentalism.

Muslim Press Office

To counter the anti-Islam onslaughts, the League of Muslims in Switzerland (LMS) will set up a press office to monitor newspapers and media.

LMS officials told IOL that the effort is part of a comprehensive program designed to raise the awareness of Muslims in Switzerland, especially imams and those working in Islamic centers.

A recently released study by Zurich University showed that the image of Muslims is badly blemished in all Swiss media.

Blick Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Facts, Le Matin, Le Temps and Welt Woche come high on the list of Swiss dailies and magazines that are frequent attackers of Islam, according to the study.