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To combat negative stereotyping of Muslims and Islam in
the US, the Council on Islamic Relations (CAIR) has launched an advertising campaign
in leading US newspapers to inform Americans about the realities of Islam and
Muslims.
“The campaign is in direct response to more than 200,000
e-mails we received from Americans throughout the United States requesting
information about Islam and Muslims,” said Nihad Awad, CAIR’s executive
director.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US, Awad
said many Americans contacted CAIR in an effort to understand where Islam
“stands on important issues such as terrorism, violence, women and human
rights, and many people wanted to know what Islam stands for as a religion in
terms of spirituality and honesty.”
Awad said, “As American Muslims, we want to set the
record straight and help our fellow Americans know who we are and what we
stand for, and provide accurate information about the Islamic community and
Islam in general.”
Awad said the ads, based on themes critically important
for non-Muslims to understand Islam, had been run in major national
newspapers “where they will be read by both opinion-makers and readers.”
He said the ads were available to Islamic centers around
the country to download and use free of charge, to run in their local
newspapers, magazines, or even post in their work place, bulletins, or
elsewhere — such as schools, offices and even churches.
“We’re designing 52 ads a year. We started in the New
York Times and are hoping to run them in other major newspapers in the
country.”
Awad admitted the campaign has hit a few snags: “We
estimate it will cost $3.7 million,” but he said it was “the duty of every
Muslim to explain Islam, and to explain who the Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) is.”
This, he hopes, will lead to more contributions.
The ad campaign was stopped during the Iraq war. People became
tense and distracted during the war, he said, which is why they elected to
put the campaign on hold.
Asked why they are placing ads in leading newspapers,
when several ads could be placed in Midwest papers for the same price, Awad
said tremendous damage was caused by the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, “so we
have to start there.”
But is the campaign a successful tactic to win the hearts
and minds of American citizens?
Alex Kronemer, a writer and film producer who produced
the acclaimed video film “Muhammad, Legacy of a Prophet,” believes it’s a
necessary step.
“It’s important to keep in mind that the images and
information that we see as negative are because Islam is a minority religion
in the US, and most people don’t know much about the religion except for what
they see on the daily news.
“And, of course, news reports on what is strange, bad,
and threatening — so if you’re in the situation where much of the information
is of that nature, particularly after Sept. 11, and subsequently what’s going
on in Afghanistan and Iraq, a lot of the news reporting on Islam has been
bad.”
That negative information is what has formed people’s
opinions, said Kronemer.
CAIR and other Muslim groups have worked with civil
rights and educational groups, he said. “CAIR is basically trying to be
pro-active.”
The ad campaign will cause people to talk about the
issue, he said, “and try to understand what is going on, which ultimately
will cause a deeper level of discourse. You can’t ever get there until
there’s been some reply to the headlines.”
Asked why there hasn’t been outpouring of financial
support from the Muslim American community for the campaign, Kronemer said:
“I think their psyche has been deeply damaged. I believe there is a sense of
being attacked, from without and within. As Muslims and Americans, they
experienced the trauma of Sept. 11 and felt the fear of this event. The
attack on America was also an attack on all of them.
“But also the response on the attack made many Muslim
Americans feel defenseless, because of the broadside on their religion.”
The main problem, Kronemer said, is that writers and
commentators are saying the problem isn’t the people, but their religion, and
terrorists are acting according to Islam.
“When this happens it puts them in a very negative
emotional place. They feel the threat coming from abroad and as a domestic
threat. They don’t know who to trust, and what to do.
“Everyone in America is under great stress, but for Arab
and Muslim Americans the response is to put their heads down. And this is not
healthy for people as individuals and not healthy for our society.
“I believe the ad campaign is, form my point of view, not
only good for Muslim Americans, but for all Americans — to help them make
better judgments. To make the best decisions, we need to provide an accurate
context.”
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