Yes,it did and we are expecting questions from the visitors
Name
Ahmad
-
Profession
Question
Do you see any prospects for a powerful Moslem lobby affecting the foreign policies of Western states ?
Answer
YES I'm convinced that what this phase must usher in is the beginning of Muslim agitation for better rights and a larger influence in the West. The US in particular has had its policies affected by lobbies: Cuba's shocking besiegement for decades by the US was entirely the making of the anti-Castro lobby, which leaned on right-wing Congressmen - financing, pressuring, cajoling- to argue its case in Congress.
The Jewish lobby has long determined, not only the US's highly-partisan policies in the Arab-Israeli conflict - setting the agenda for policies- but also, it has influenced US policies in Central Asia, Africa, Russia and been instrumental in determining that Washington always achieve what is best for Israel first.
So it is vital that Muslims in America now begin to lobby in order to make sure that their voice is heard politically, and that their tax dollars determine who gets elected and who does when elected.
Name
Nouran Shorbagy
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Profession
student
Question
-Do you think that Muslims in the West can lobby in order to influence the media that is so anti-Muslim and portraying Muslims in a negative way or is the media in the West undemocratic in that sense. And is establishing Arab Media with different languages a good option (Like Al-Jazeera in English for example?)
Answer
yes I do, Moslems have so far been very passive in this process it is essential that they now take a more active even aggressiv role in answering back and seeking to limit the prejudice that permeates the Western media. For example, they should write letters in protest at biased reporting or selective portrayals that are too common .
They should report to human rights organizations programs or politicians who express racist views or who incite religious hatred.
I also think that more Muslims ,especially of the young generation should enter media studies programs and find jobs in Journalism and television as they can and must affect how their religion and culture are viewed.
It would be a good idea for more high caliber Muslim mediums to emerge in English .I very much hope for example that Al-Jazeera will lose no time in setting up English political programs and news items.
Very few western writers and journalists know Arabic or are able to contextualize information in any meaningful way .As a result a great deal of western reporting on the Muslim world remains trite superficial and wanting .It is up to Muslims to create an alternative discourse describing themselves in all their complex contradictions and diversity while giving lie to the inherited stereotypes that have been common in the West about Islam since its appearance.
Name
Mahmoud
-
Profession
Question
The number of Jews in the United States is may be no more than two millions while the number of Moslems there is exceeding this number very much, among which a lot of these Moslems have got power and money to make good and influential mass media propaganda ...
why do u think the Jews are pionerring Muslims in this field in particular ?
Answer
Up until now Muslims who emmigrate to the West have been pre-occupied with personal or family concerns and issues of worship rather than making more use of the civic possibilities at hand.
This must change as their numbers are now sufficient and their experience and mastery of Western languages is excellent.
They must follow a Jewish example of intervention in all walks of Western life and refuse the ghetto mentality if they are to portray their cause differently.
They are misunderstood for many reasons :
1- There is a historical Western animosity to Islam that still raises its head in contemporary issues .
2- The media is to a large extent controlled by people who wish to see Islam and Muslims portrayed in the most negative manner possible.
3- Muslims do not themselves react as effectively as they should in pressuring the media by writing and telephoning those in charge of programs to protest their portrayals.
When there is an article that portrays Jews or Isrealis in a negative light or unfairly an editor will be flooded immediately with thousands of letters from Jewish organizations or individuals,and will be threatened with legal actions or withdrawal of advertisisng etc.
This sort of pressure has proved highly effective and Muslims should begin to be more aggressive in defending themselves against wholesale bias.
Name
Khaled Ezzat
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Profession
Engineer
Question
As a Muslim Woman how do you see the expected active role of Muslim women in the media to reform the image of women and Muslims in general.
You are a writer and presenter yourself,so how can there be a thousand Rana Kabbani and others who are different in appearance as well to give the Muslim women voice in the public sphere instead of us talking "about " Muslim women in a theoretical way?
Answer
More women from Muslim backgrounds should express themselves in what ever form appeals to them in order to create a body of work that discribes them in all their diversity from their point of view.
The easy and common western cliche that portays Muslim women as mere victims who have no voice would quickly change if more Muslim women raised their voices describing their societies concerns and beliefs.
We have had a long and ugly tradition of western discription of us which presumes that the West knows more about us than we know about ourselves.
This has been proven to be a thing of the past, arrogant and useless,and it will change as we become more active in putting our perspectives across.
It is interesting for example that the best cinema in the world is coming out of Iran and not out of Hollywood.
The most interesting feminism is being written not in the West but in the developing Muslim world.
Muslims worldwide have been contributing constantly in cutting edge areas such as academia ,art,music ,sport ,fashion, sociology, and there is no reason why that important contribution will not grow with time.
Name
Anonymous
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Profession
Question
Some of my Moslem friends in the US abd other European countries sometimes like to express some support to Palestinians and the Palistinian case through mass media but they fear obstacles and sometimes threats addressed to them most probably by the Jews.
In Short : the case now is that Muslim media in the West is weak and cannot be strengthend because of the overwhelming Jewish influence ... so what's the solution?
Answer
I think it is important to speak up for what one believes in and to point out injustice what ever the cost.
the more people are prepared to express a dissenting viewpoint the less able propagandists will be to control how political issues are portrayed.
Name
Mohamed
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Profession
Question
How far can relegion dialogues affect and lead to better understanding between East and West ?
Answer
I believe that dialogue between peoples of faith -who have a lot in common can be a very positive thing .I remember being asked to speak at many eccumenical platforms and at Quaker gatherings where the audience was truly committed to hearing and understanding another perspective.
During the tragic genocide of our fellow Muslims in Bosnia and Kosova many Jewish voices were raised against this slaughter and Jewsih and Muslim organizations in Europe sought to highlight these crimes long before western governments took any serious interest in the matter .
Spirituality and morality are the bedrocks of a useful life and in this interdependent world people from all religious backgrounds should attempt to reach out to each other in order to try and ease the suffering of the poor and the crass materialism of global consumer culture.
Name
Heba
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Profession
Question
As a Muslim mother living in the West how do you help your children cope with the challenges and speak up against injustices. And as a professional Muslim woman how are the circles of media and academia receiving you?
Answer
There are more than 20 million Europeans who are Muslim and my children belong to this important minority.They will no doubt face racism and hatred in their lives but I am trying to arm them against it with knowledge of Muslim history and culture in order that they can take pride in the fact that Islam was instrumental in forging the universal civilization that the West prides itself on posessing today.
I believe that the best thing that one can give one's children is a sense of morality and tolerance and empathy for the poor and weak.
An education and skills are also essential ,specially for girls, so that they will find their proper place in the world.
As for my own contribution I have seen things that I fought for at the beginning of my writing and broadcasting career come true .For example in Britain where I lived until recently Muslims have begun entering Parliament and the main stream and they have won the right to their own educational establishmnets and they have begun to make their voices heard in the cultural scene.This process is a positive one that will continue to grow as second and third generation British Muslims refuse to be second class citizens like their emmigrent parents were.
My opinions have no doubt been startling because they went against received wisdom and because I sought to explain Islam and Islamic history at a time when few in the West wanted to engage in such a dialogue.
It has been an uphill struggle but I am glad to see that there are many more voices like mine now than there were 20 years ago when I first began .
Name
Hager
- Netherlands
Profession
student
Question
do you not agree that there is a certain fear from within the jewish lobby and american government (that inflicts upon the media), of the evergrowing Muslim population? Thus this negative propaganda is basically a representation and acknowledgement of Islam which in that sense makes it positive for Muslims. Was it not for the affairs that took place 11 Sept.
Then Bush would have never entered a Mosque and announce Islam as being a "peacefull religion".
In a certain sense this new wave of "negative" and infantile propaganda has stimulated a lot of people to discover Islam. The sales of translated Korans have increased eversince 11 September. But this is not a question. I would just like to have your views.
Answer
I am convinced that many positive things will come out of the events of September 11th .
The world before that date was a deeply divided and unfair place and double standards of every kind affected the political decisions taken by the West .
Although there is no clear sign that the US will change its unjust policies yet,more and more people worldwide are questioning those policies and demonstarting against them and refusing to remain silent.
A huge taboo has been broken. There is a growing grassroots movement to know more about Islam ,about the suffering of Muslim civilian populations,about the connection between terrorism and its roots in unresolved complex and grievances .
The world must change and become a more humane and inclusive place.Who can accept that most of humanity goes hungry everyday?
Or that the great majority of civilians in the developing world have very little security or prospects to look forward to?
Name
Mohsen Ghaleb
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Profession
Information Technology
Question
I am really frustrated of what the Muslim media is doing now : instead of cooperating against the Western media , they are attacking each other (!) ... what can we do about this ?
Answer
One big problem ,perhaps the major problem ,of our Umma is the lack of unity and cooperation.
If only we could set aside our miserable quarrels and begin to form a unified political and economic body that could rival both the US and Europe as well as Russia and China.If we had such a economic union for example we could use our purchasing power to influence international policies .We might -in an ideal situation- say to the United States that we will no longer buy American products untill we see a just resolution of the Palestinian question.
I believe that in such a situation there would be a Palestinian state created the very next morning!
