Hope for better U.S.-Islamic world ties post-Bush era

Endy M. Bayuni ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Doha   |  Mon, 02/18/2008 1:33 PM  |  Headlines

Most opinion polls still show Americans and Muslims in the Islamic world view one another with suspicion.

But following the U.S presidential elections in November, moderate forces in both worlds are looking forward to a change in policies that would significantly improve this relationship, whoever emerges as election winner.

Some of those moderates from both sides of the divide gathered here in Doha on the weekend for the annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum to review the current state of affairs.

But more importantly this year, they are looking at the prospect with a new administration in place in the White House next year.

With what differences the new U.S. president will approach the Islamic world has become the most frequently asked question here.

Speakers listed issues that still stand in the way of often turbulent relationships, such as the Palestinian-Israel conflict, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the humanitarian tragedy in Darfur, Sudan, and the upcoming trial of the terrorist suspects currently detained in Guantanamo Bay.

Implied in the question, though not explicitly stated, is a mutual suspicion, or even hostility, between the United States and the Islamic world.

The implications made are that such suspicions and hostilities are thanks to some of George W. Bush's policies made in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and as part of his war on terror.

The Doha Forum is one of the more serious attempts to try to bridge the gap, with strong financial backing from the Qatar government and support from the Washington-based Brookings Institutions.

The forum will hear how the new American president will deal with these issues, and overall U.S.-Islamic world relationships, as all the leading contenders for the presidential election are represented here in Doha. They will have their say in one session on Monday.

Most public opinion polls, such as those by the World Public Opinion and the Pew Research Center Project, show slight improvements in some areas of the relationship in recent years, but generally the opinions on both sides are still negative.

This means Americans have a negative view of the Islamic world, and Muslims have a negative view of the United States.

In his address to open the forum, Qatar Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Jasim bin Jab al-Thani criticized unilateral policies pursued by the United States to solve conflicts in the Middle East.

Noting their failure and calling for a multilateral approach, he said, "What is needed here is a collective will to realize justice".

He described the settlement of the Palestinian issue and the conflict in the Middle East as the most serious challenge that needed to be tackled and dismissed the U.S. proposal for a regional security structure before these problems are solved as "a mere intellectual luxury".

The prime minister also called for more serious efforts to be made toward economic and social development in the region, alongside efforts to find political solutions.

"These factors that feed the sense of injustice and frustration and that lead to mutual suspicions, escalating conflicts and rising violence at internal and international levels will remain," he said.

Former U.S. secretary of state Madeline Albright said the next president in the White House must avoid the mistakes made by the current administration.

"America's enemy is not Islam. You cannot treat every angry Muslim group as a terrorist," she said.

"America needs to learn more and lecture less."

Albright has some criticisms against the Islamic world and said biased media was equally found in both worlds.

She said the double standards the United States was so often accused of could also be detected in the policies of Islamic countries.

Shibley Telhami, a Middle East expert at the University of Maryland, said most negative perceptions among Americans and Muslims in the Islamic world stemmed not so much from differences in religion and culture, but because of policies pursued in both worlds.

This means the gap is not impossible to bridge, Telhami said.

"Policies are something that we can talk about."

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