Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Najib offers to help Obama on Islamophobia, 25 September 2010
Malaysia wants to assist the United States in overcoming Islamophobia among the American society to allow them a better understanding of Islam and dispel negative perceptions towards the religion, Najib Razak said.
The Malaysian prime minister said he conveyed the matter to US President Barack Obama during his intervention at the second Asean-US meeting in New York on Friday.
The prime minister also congratulated Obama for his firm stand against the recent plan by a Florida pastor to burn the Quran.
The pastor later cancelled the plan.
Although the Asean-US meeting touched mainly on trade, security and regional matters, Najib took the opportunity to draw Obama's attention to the issue of Islamophobia, a phenomenon which has been on the increase in the US lately.
The online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, defines Islamophobia as "an irrational fear or prejudice towards Islam and Muslims."
"The most important step is to provide the basic knowledge about Islam; that Islam carries universal values, a progressive religion which is very much in line with the concept of modernisation.
"Islam also guarantees the rights of not only Muslims but also that of the non-Muslims," he told Malaysian journalists who are here to cover his six-day visit to New York.
The Islamophobia phenomenon escalates following proposals to build an Islamic centre and a mosque in the vicinity of the "Ground Zero", the site of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks which destroyed the World Trade Center.
The Florida pastor called off his plan to burn copies of the Quran, which he earlier said was to commemorate the anniversary of the Sept 11 terror attacks.
President Obama stressed that the plan would benefit the al-Qaeda and endanger thousands of US troops deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Some Americans think Obama a Muslim
Asked on ways to overcome Islamophobia, Najib stressed that there was a need to provide a better understanding of Islam among the American people.
Citing as example a recent study by Time magazine which showed that 26 percent of American thought President Obama was a Muslim, Najib said: "This means that in the US, the knowledge (about Islam) is low and there is a need to promote understanding on what Islam is all about."
Najib said: "And we should not be pressurised by extremist groups who have been vocal (in voicing out against Islam) as though the whole of the US is against the religion when in fact, they (the extremist groups) are only a small group."
The survey also showed the level of scepticism among Americans, with some going as far as saying that they did not believe a Muslim should be allowed to run for the presidency.
Protests over the plans to build a mosque near the Ground Zero were also held near the United Nations headquarters in New York where the 65th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) is underway.
Najib's maiden UN general assembly speech
Najib is scheduled to deliver his maiden speech at the UNGA on Monday.
The prime minister said he also told Obama that Malaysia welcomed the peace process being worked out between Palestine and Israel towards achieving a conflict resolution based on the principles of co-existence.
He also spoke about his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN headquarters on Thursday.
Najib said the Palestinian leader had spoken about the difficult path in finding a solution to the prolonged conflict because of the hardline stand taken by the Tel Aviv regime and the problem to get the cooperation from the Hamas group.
However, Najib said that Mahmoud Abbas told him that the situation in the West Bank had improved.
If the Palestinian people chose peace, and not conflict, as the way forward, Najib said, this meant that they could look into the future with a brighter hope.
"There is a semblance of hope in the West Bank although there are still problems internally, with Hamas, in the efforts to move forward as one voice," Najib said.
On his meeting with US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, Najib said they discussed about a mission by a Malaysian medical team on the invitation of the Afghan government.
Najib said Holbrooke told him of the devastation caused by the flood in Pakistan which affected 20 million people, a disaster described as worse than the Asian tsunami.
"The flood victims are hit by immense sufferings and there is destruction to homes, schools and roads. In terms of the social aspect, the disaster is worse in scale than the tsunami," he said.
Bernama
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