Comments on: The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other?

By: kimmy

kimmy — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 02:30:46 +0000

My personal view,
I am a non-believer and I really enjoy reading this post.
I read both views and follow them. I have noticed a direction of comments discrediting both religions.
Why is Islam attacking Infidells?
Why are Christians attacking Muslims.
I find this very funny because both of your books say basically the same thing.
Read your books. Understand what is written.
We all share this world. Let us live together!
Don’t judge, accept your fellow man (woman).
If we don’t we won’t survive!

By: John Arthur

John Arthur — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 07:39:34 +0000

So why should I respect Muslims when they cannot be honest about their religion? The Quran is full of hate and anger towards non-Muslims and the hadiths tell us that MOhammud did many evil, vile things. Don’t Muslims even read their own writings?

How can anybody say “Islam condemns any sort of violence” (as above) if one has even a elementary knowledge of Islam. Muslims are in denial about their religion and their dear pro[phet and there is absolutely nothing we can do to change this. Believe me, I have tried. I have pointed out the many passages in the Quran promoting hate towards kaffir. I have given references and direct links to Islamic sites with the the full text of “strong” hadiths that tell of Mohammad making unprovoked attacks on caravans and villages, of rape and torture, enslavement and executions, and even of Mohammad beating his favorite wife (unless “he hit me and caused me pain” means something else). Not once did any Muslim acknowledge these facts from their own writings. Words mean nothing. It is hopeless. Muslims are either dishonest or in denial.

Things will get worse.

John Kactuz

By: Curt from Houston

Curt from Houston — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 04:04:44 +0000

Last observation. If the people of the West are so morally bankrupt and their culture so depraved, why do so many Muslims want to immigrate to Western countries? Oddly enough, Muslims in the US earn quite a bit more on average than native born citizens. Go figure. You would think that if us infidels had it out for Muslims, that would not be the case.

By: Curt from Houston

Curt from Houston — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 03:48:38 +0000

One other thing I find really disturbing about this survey is the number of Muslims that believe that Muslims were not responsible for 9/11. It’s probably a good thing that many Westerners don’t pay too close attention to these sorts of news items. This really makes the majority of the Muslim street look like paranoid and delusional conspiracy kooks.

By: Curt from Houston

Curt from Houston — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 03:41:29 +0000

Sabbah, how do you square all of this Muslim desire for peace and understanding with the West with the school books in many Arab countries that describe Jews and Christians as “pigs and monkeys”. There are numerous references on the Internet that documents this and many other such statements in Arab text books for even small Muslim children. No where in the West do you find such reprehensible slander against Muslims in school texts. This may go a long way to explaining why Westerners have such a higher regard for Muslims than Muslims have for Westerners.

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 17:15:28 +0000

Here is an interesting article written in yesterday’s LA Times by Joel Stein, a Jewish journalist well-known here in the US. The title of the article is “Meet Islam’s Ann Coulter, Wafa Sultan’s Misleading Tirades Are Cause For Concern” It’s about her appearance at a fund-raiser by a Jewish organization that seeks to counteract anti-Israeli disinformation. With friends like Wafa, who needs enemies. The article goes on to discuss a progressive organization of Jews, Muslims and Christians here in LA. “Different” is all I can offer as my own opinion. The audience is strictly for Americans by this group.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-op-stein25jun25,1,7803731.story

By: C L O S E R

C L O S E R — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 22:45:11 +0000

[...] de terreurleider. Een jaar terug was dat nog 60%. Bron: Telegraaf/ Fok On Sabbah’s Blog an extensive [...]

By: kimmy

kimmy — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 01:10:16 +0000

Just to distract everyone. Visit this site. Pictures from, about and from earth about space.
God knows we need an escape.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

By: kimmy

kimmy — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 01:02:55 +0000

Statistic are like bikinis.
What they reveal is suggestive.
What they hide is vital.
Think about it!

By: Robin

Robin — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 23:10:48 +0000

blah,
I do not think you have proven anything about the distrust at all. It just exists, simple, it exists. I have never personally experienced anything directed directly at me in all of the 31 years I have been closely associated with Muslims and Arabs. On the contrary, I have received love and acceptance. But it also must be understood that I know as a fact from hearing it with my own ears the generalized hatred of the West. Also, PLEASE do not get me wrong that I am unaware of the reasons given. But on a personal level when I meet someone new without a personal introduction, I feel like a little kid in class raising her hand and saying “I’m not like that, honest I’m not!!” Also PLEASE do not get me wrong and think that I am ignoring the bigotry here. It is ALL AROUND and it makes me PUKE. But, once again, if people hear from me personally that these misconceptions about Arabs and Muslims are untrue, or better yet take the chance to find out for themselves, then it is an opportunity to erase some of the misunderstandings. I truly believe that each and every one of us on both sides of this divide have to take responsibilty for our own attitudes and ask ourselves, “Is this justified to blanketly distrust the other when we ourselves have no stake other than to perpetuate mistrust?” We also need to take every opportunity as individuals to address the bigotry of our own parties. If my country does an egregious act against an Arab/Muslim country, then I NEED to speak up. When acts of terrorism against the West are committed by AlQuada, Moslems and Arabs NEED to speak up (yes I know they do but there is also the cheering and support as witnessed in the above report which does NOT play well as a public relations campaigne). My bottom line is this, there is ENOUGH ill will towards the other to fill up too many cups, and as individuals we need to take every chance we can to rectify the problem.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 19:18:36 +0000

blah, you’ve proven the point of the report. Good job.

By: jilal

jilal — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 19:06:58 +0000

Ces statistiques biensur sont journalistique..mais l’origine du terrorisme viens des usa et isra?ces deux etats trouvent leur bonheur qu’a travers les probl?s .ils aiment pas un monde stable.Les USA cr?des terroristes,pour vendre leurs armes..et occup?e monde,puis on fait oubli?ux peoples le probl? palestinien , disant que le probl? est ailleurs!!

By: blah

blah — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 18:08:10 +0000

Robin, thanks for your reply. I do agree with every word you said. However, I just want to mention that the negative feelings of Muslims towards Westerners don’t just come out of thin air. Muslims would never resort to violence as Islam condemns any sort of violence. Would the Palestinians have any problem with the Israeli’s if they had not barged into our land (ahem, a Palestinian speaking here =) )? Would the Iraqi people have turned to suicide bombings if the American soldiers had ever invaded their land. We Muslim people just want human rights like everybody else. We want live a happy and peaceful life just like the rest of the world, but when somebody invades our land, and tries to harm us, we’re not just going to sit down, let them take away everything we have, and keep quiet. We are going to fight for our liberty and justice, whether it has to be through violence or non-violence. Sorry I had to be so rough =). I wish you the best!

By: blah

blah — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 18:07:16 +0000

By: Robin

Robin — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 16:22:41 +0000

Dear blah,
With all due respect, I think you might have ignored or at least failed to mention the negative attitudes of Muslims against Westerners shown in the chart above. In the case of arrogance and violence, Muslim negative attitudes towards the west outweigh the negative attitudes of the West towards Muslims. Having been married to an Arab/Moslem myself and being educated to “just why they hate us” I am fully aware of the reasons for this negative attitude towards the West. But beyond the specific reasons for distrust or negative attitudes attached to certain events (9/11, Israel-Palestine, Iraq etc), a general distrust by a large percentage of both parties exists towards the other.
Where this general distrust and negativity meets in a very personal way for me is in my own bi-cultural daughter. If she can be seen as a cup readdy to be filled by both heritages, it COULD be overflowing with negative feelings from both sides. It is NOT an easy job to raise a child in this case to grow up with entirely positive feelings for both. Instead, you have to constantly fight off the outside influences heard from both sides and make the very personal choice to put aside and NEVER entertain the bigotry. And even then, just when you think everyone around you thinks this bi-cultutal arrangement is beautiful, someone speaks up with a doozy against the other party. What do you do as a parent when this happens? You recognize it, feel understanding for the afflicted party and continue on your own quest to make this work out of sheer love for eachother and your child. Even in divorce, such as is my case, this IS doable and is so MUCH more rewarding than resorting the choice of general distrust.
There are SO MANY cases of personal friendships and diplomatic relations between the two parties. These are people who have been “exposed” to each other and are open to the prospect from the get-go to learning from eachother. The closed-mindedness exists on BOTH sides and often it is very difficult to admit that your own “party” is also perpetuating this dilema. But neither side can ignore their own culpability in this affair when it comes down to a personal level. I have turned away from friends myself who have made racist statements against Arabs/Moslems, particularly since 9/11 when these feelings spiked. At all times when there is an opportunity for a meeting, BOTH sides must be willing to reach out their hands in hospitality. I almost ALWAYS received this as an American living in the Middle East. Now that I have lived here for the last 25 years I have continued to share my positive experience with those who are interested. But it is also up to Moslems in the Middle East to stop saying “not all of them” of course. It is a hurtful situation felt here by those who have never even been given the opportunity to meet an Arab or Muslim. Yes, INDEED, many Americans have no desire to do this. But rather than emphasizing the negative results of this study, it is up to us all, on both sides to seize any opportunity we have to disspell the misunderstanding. This glass of distrust is NOT full for each of the parties, rather there is still hope to empty that poisonous mixture and replace it with a more palatable drink that each could share in union with each other.