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by Jamshed Bokhari Chicago (Islam Online) - As the Islamic Society of North America's (ISNA) conference entered its second day on Saturday with a full schedule of sessions related to this year's theme of "Islam: Faith & Civilization", visitors and participants packed into the Rosemont Convention Center in a suburb of Chicago to attend meetings, listen and organize. In one morning session, panel members discussed the need for American Muslims to become more involved in relations with mainstream American media in order that they can move beyond their lack of knowledge concerning Islam and Muslims, one major stumbling block aiding misrepresentation of Islam and its followers within the U.S. Recognizing that in order for Muslims worldwide to receive even-handed treatment from the news media in the United States, more American Muslims need to join the ranks of journalists and editors and add their perspective to events reported in the news involving Muslims. Ibrahim Hooper, Media Relations Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) commented that non-journalists and everyday average American Muslims could help the media understand Islam and Muslims better through simple acts like writing letters to the editor of newspapers when biased or inaccurate reporting occurs, or inviting the media to Islamic events, like Eid, in order for them to learn more about Islam and Muslims. During the question and answer session, one individual brought up the unspoken taboo subject of the "Jewish media conspiracy", and the amount of power they exert therein. Panelists retorted that why should Muslims complain about Jewish influence within American media, when that is exactly what Muslims are trying to accomplish as well. Rather, Jews should be commended, and used as an example by Muslims as a persecuted minority in America that persevered and organized, eventually exerting more influence upon American society than their population numbers indicate. Another panel discussion addressed the issue of Muslims in the American political process. The panel focused on the growing numbers of Muslims in the United States and their recognition by politicians as a significant voting bloc. Members of the audience were told that the first thing politicians are told by their mentors is, "Learn to count", as in voters. If a large portion of members in a constituency (a district, state, or country) is organized and they vote, and they financially contribute to political campaigns, politicians will pay attention to them and their issues. Given this attitude though, that politicians "count", and given that this is an election year, and that ISNA is the largest meeting of Muslims in the United States, some members of the audience could not fail to notice that no presidential candidate was scheduled to speak at the convention, leaving some to wonder whether Muslims have, as yet, come as numerically or financially far enough to get the attention of politicians. |
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