Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997, Page 18

Straight Talk

Arab and American Media Men in Asila

By Dr. Abdul Qader Tash

Exchange of ideas, everyone will agree, is the only way to bring different viewpoints closer and create an atmosphere of cooperation and joint work among various groups. So I was very happy to participate in a symposium, organized in connection with the Asila festival of Morocco recently, where Arab and American media men met to discuss an issue of vital importance to us—the image of Arabs and Muslims in the American media.

The proceedings began with a speech by Don Ringe on the Arab-Muslim image in American cinema and media. A U.S. producer of documentary films, he did not rely on spoken words alone to prove his point, but screened films to show what that image was like. He had not seen one single instance of American cinema giving the Arabs a positive picture, he said. They were extremists, terrorists and squanderers; they had no respect for women; they were the personification of everything repugnant. If this negative image of Arabs is what Americans see every day, Binge asked, how can they change their views of Arabs?

That is the key question, and it is still waiting for an answer. And as it happened, it was this American filmmaker, incidentally a Jew, who asked that question most effectively. Very few among the Arab participants could add anything worthwhile to what Binge said.

The participation, it must be said, was not at the level it should have been. There were many sections not represented. Nevertheless, the discussion brought up many suggestions, proposals and concepts that could serve as core ideas for future meetings.

But before that, we must ask ourselves: Are we really serious about correcting our distorted image? And are the Americans, especially the media men, serious about contributing to this kind of work?

I have some doubts about our seriousness. All that we do is to whine and complain about the unfair treatment meted out to us by the Western media. We do precious little to correct it. Charles Bierbauer, a political commentator of CNN television, did not miss the mark when he said bluntly that it was the duty of Arabs, not of Americans, to improve their image in the American media. What this means is that we have not done what we should have.

All the same, Bierbauer forgot to mention, or ignored, one point: It is American media men themselves, not Arabs, who can and must halt the distortion campaign going on in their own media against Arabs. The values of their noble profession demand it of them. They must purge themselves of the prejudiced stereotype of the Arabs which, unfortunately, still dominates the minds of many of them.

Let us hope that Bierbauer was not making a quiet attempt to avoid his share of responsibility when he put it entirely on our shoulders. Let us also hope that his statement disowning responsibility does not go to confirm our doubts about the seriousness of the American media in addressing the issue.

The initiative and the hardest part of the effort should come from us.

At the same time, we agree with Bierbauer that the greater share of the responsibility falls on us. The initiative and the hardest part of the effort should come from us.

Our problem is twofold, each complementary to the other. One, we do not make sufficient effort to plan and work for halting the distortion campaign, which we can do by an earnest and continuous follow-up and exerting effective pressure by working at political and popular levels.

The other, we have no plan of action to build an alternate image of ourselves to be presented to Americans and the world—our image as we are, nothing added or subtracted, with all our good and bad points. We are either totally absent from the American media or our presence is too feeble to make any difference. And there are times when we stated our case in such rude propagandist style that we did ourselves more harm than good.

Muhammad ibn Eisa, the patron of the festival, pulled no punches when he said: The Arabs are comparing themselves with the Jews in America. That is a painful comparison and definitely is not in our favor. The Jews in America are everywhere, visible in every field, while we Arabs have no presence whatsoever.

Ibn Eisa reminded us that the Arabs do not have even a single cultural center in Washington or any other American city. They have no effective presence in Arabic study centers or in media establishments. You cannot hear their voice on the radio or television. Nor can you read their contributions in the American press. As for the office of the Arab League, its budget is not sufficient to host even four dinner meetings in the American capital, as he put it.

Influencing American Media

This being the case, how can we hope to be able to play any role in influencing the American media to improve our image?

There are two more points which deserve serious consideration. First, the Arabs should respond to the demand of the American media men to provide them with necessary information and make it easier for them to contact us at government and popular levels. How can we expect the media to write about us truthfully and project our societies realistically if we shut the door in their faces and don't provide them with facts or make ourselves accessible to them? This attitude on our part forces them to chase rumors and look for secret sources.

Second, we should work seriously to activate the role of Arab and Muslim communities residing in the United States as well as that of Arab Americans. They are the most capable among us of correcting our image. They, being a part of American society, know its heart and mind and can connect with it.

They are the idle capital of which we have not made proper use. It is possible, with their help, to form an effective Arab lobby in the United States. Its nucleus is already present in a number of Arab and Islamic organizations active in Washington and other American cities. Why can't these organizations coordinate their efforts and use their combined energy to serve the Arab cause?