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DAKAR: Sada Cumber, the Pakistani-American tasked with improving the
image of the United States to Muslims, says he sees a new, more
moderate leadership in the Islamic world that will make his tough
mission easier.
The technology tycoon, who swapped Karachi for
Texas 31 years ago, also told Agence France-Presse in an interview
that many major religions face the same kind of “bigotry” as
Muslims who have launched a campaign against “Islamophobia.”
The widely debated “clash of civilizations”
is really a “clash of ignorance,” said Cumber, who this month
became the first US special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) and launched his campaign at the 57-nation
group’s summit in Dakar on Thursday and Friday.
The United States is widely criticized in Muslim
states for the Iraq war, the Guantanamo “War on Terror” prison
camp and its policy in the Middle East.
OIC declarations frequently “condemn” US
policy and Cumber’s nomination has been criticized by US foes such
as Iran and treated with suspicion by others.
Polls in the United States, however, indicate
that many Americans are equally suspicious of Muslims, particularly
after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“I think we need to learn more about each
other, and the way things are going on in this conference I can
almost see the new leadership moving into moderation and that alone
is very encouraging news,” Cumber said.
Leaders widely complained during the summit
about “Islamophobia” in the West—Muslims portrayed as
terrorists, Danish cartoons which lampooned the Prophet Mohammed and
an anti-Islam film to be released by a far-right Dutch MP.
“It is not the ‘clash of civilizations’, I
think it is a clash of ignorance.”
-- AFP
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