A laudable goal. From "Law, order and economy main priorities: Gilani" in the Daily Times, June 21 (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):
Islam: Gilani said Yemen and Pakistan should work together to dispel “the negative image of Islam being projected in the western media”. Yemen’s ambassador, who is about to finish his four-year term in Pakistan, said he would take away pleasant memories of Pakistan, adding that Pakistan was an important country of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and that its contributions towards world peace were commendable.
"Its contributions toward world peace were commendable." That Yemeni ambassador is quite the kidder!
Anyway, how can Yemen and Pakistan dispel “the negative image of Islam being projected in the western media”? Hmmm. That's a tough one. You know how unscrupulous those venomous, greasy Islamophobes can be. But here are a few humble suggestions:
1. Rein in the people who kidnap Christians.
2. Stop sending jihadists wanted by the U.S. on their merry way.
3. End government support for Al-Qaeda.
4. End government support for the Taliban.
These actions, committed by jihadists and motivated by Islamic principles, tarnish the name of Islam in the West. So do many, many others like them, in Yemen, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Like so many others, Gilani is projecting, blaming the "Western media" for the negative image of Islam, and directing his efforts at correcting that, rather than dealing with the root cause. Yet no one would ever have conceived of a negative image of Islam if Muslims hadn't killed people and explained that it was their religious duty to do so. And as long as such killing continues, people will have a negative image of Islam, no matter how insistent and energetic (and they are growing more insistent and energetic by the day) the Orwellian efforts to paper over that.
The "Western Media" has done a wonderful job with the Islam is peace concept. What other option do they have outside of outright denial that anything is going on?
Gilani said,"Pakistan was an important country of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and that its contributions towards world peace were commendable."
Oh ye Koranic scholars, singing and dancing are unislamic. Is comedy also in the taboo list?
Quite the funny man, this Gilani.
words are just words...it is action that counts.
Pakistan was an important country of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and that its contributions towards world peace were commendable.
This must be the first time I've heard the Taliban suggested as a contribution to world peace. It was Pakistan's gift to the world, was it not? The gift that destroyed thousand-year-old human works of art.
Why implement reforms in Pakistan, when it's so much easier to pressure YouTube into removing any videos deemed to be anti-Islamic?
Why change business-as-usual in Yemen, when Saleh can just have any anti-Islamic or anti-regime journalists beaten and jailed at will?
Real reform is just so much more work... and it's not as if our State Department were applying any real pressure on these regimes to alter their behavior.
Gilani said Yemen and Pakistan should work together to dispel “the negative image of Islam being projected in the western media”.
Why don't they just get a few of their imams or muftis to issue death fatwads against the various editors, publishers, and newscasters? Lopping off the heads of a few execs at CBS, BBC, NYT, et al would do wonders for the "negative image of Islam".
Seriously, if the Yemeni and Pakistani leaders think Islam is portrayed negatively in the Western press, they are hopelessly ignorant. I've never seen anything in the Western press about Islam that even approaches the level of venom and hate that is routine in the Islamic press in articles about Israel and the Jews.
Islams negagative protrayal is due entirely by the actions of those who practice Islam...
"Pakistan troops 'aid Taliban'
New classified US documents reveal that mass infiltration of Frontier Corps by Afghan insurgents is helping latest offensive"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/22/pakistan.afghanistan
Sometimes, I miss those days when the only time one heard of Yemen was in that episode of Friends where Chandler tries to secretly dump Janice by flying to Yemen.