A persistent negative portrayal of Muslims in Western media was igniting hatred and creating a massive Islamophobia, British TV Presenter Lauren Booth revealed on Wednesday.
Booth is also widely acclaimed as a broadcaster, journalist and activist. She is also the author of “Finding Peace in The Holy Land.”
During her address on “Islam and the West: Bridging the Gaps,” at Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, she added that was making the lives of Muslims difficult and even forcing them to train their children and girls with the art of self-defence to brace a constant threat.
Sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Booth is one of most high-profile converts to Islam in the West.
She firmly asserted that the real job of Muslims was to hold onto their faith and not lose it in the face of violence.
Booth called the frequently used term “Clash of Civilization” as highly inappropriate. She maintained that the objectives of Islam had never intended for a clash among civilizations but to alleviate and upgrade them to an improved level.
A false image of Islam was being sold by people with an agenda of persuasive storytelling
She maintained that contrary to the much-propagated narrative, the religion does not hold back modernization and rekindles it.
Booth shed light on various methods and tactics of Western media rhetoric, which were being used to paint a darker picture of Muslims globally.
Mediums of information and entertainment including newspapers, channels, films, cartoons and even video games were said to be used as tools to spread hate-filled propaganda.
She cited cases of negative framing of Muslims by the Western media where the reality was morphed to give a completely contradicting view.
Booth opined that the common people in the West were being deprived of basic knowledge and comprehension of Islam.
Instead, a false image of the religion was consistently being sold to them by people with an agenda to master the art of persuasive storytelling, she added.
Booth presented many examples including an interview of Palestinian children standing by the rubble of their destroyed house. She relayed that they had desired to become doctors, teachers and psychotherapist to help their communities.
The interview was, however, later morphed to pose a starkly contrasting question in the headline, “Which of these children are to be doctors and which ones to become terrorists?”
The matter of fact, however, was that none of the children had spoken anything about terrorism, extremism or revenge during their talk, she remarked.
The speaker also pointed to some articles published in mainstream magazines and newspapers in the West. She quoted one author, “I am an Islamophobic and I am proud of it,” and another stating, “There is a need that Muslims suffer until they get their house in order.”
Booth urged the Muslims worldwide for more public speakers to present Islam in its true light. She also stressed on the need to equip Muslim children with the skills to understand and cogently portray Islam as a positive and most viable way of life.
IPS Executive President, Khalid Rahman, had earlier noted in his welcome address that the divergences between the Islamic world and the West must be transformed into cooperation or at least a healthy competition.
Failing to do so could pave the way for dire consequences and undesired outcomes, he concluded.