Letters: Muslim lobby in US

Muslim lobby in US
This refers to the article, “Muslims hampered without a lobby presence in US,” (Aug. 9). The writer, Sabria Jawhar, has struck the right chord by highlighting the absence of an effective Muslim voice in the international circles. For years, the lobbying by Israel in the US has ensured that all the bills that have their interests entrenched are passed almost unanimously in both the houses of Congress. They have been able to effectively lobby and influence the leaders across the party lines and who did ever doubt their unity at any time in the recent history.
At an Iftar party last weekend, one of the well-known businessmen in the Eastern Province was rightly highlighting the fact that Muslims are poorly represented in two important mainstreams that have essentially been shaping and influencing the international political and economic scenes, namely; the media and the finance industry.
As we all know, the media have become a very powerful tool for different economic, social, political and religious groups in influencing or rather changing the mind frame of the masses and they have been able to present illusion as reality and falsehood as truth. Yes, I believe, it is not ethical to use media in imposing or propagating certain ideologies or thoughts and there is no need for it. However, there is a need and rather an urgent one to eliminate the ill feelings or negative thoughts that the media have fed into the minds of the Western audience about Islam and the Muslim culture. It is nothing but the use of media by the Zionist forces which made the burqa ban or other interferences such as the recent campaign to disallow fasting in the so-called free countries seem plausible and reasonable to the international community. Here, we need a soft and pragmatic voice, a voice that is very appealing in nature, core and logic, for the informed, uninformed and misinformed audience. It could be vociferous and vehement without being blatant and flagrant. The emphasis be more on letting the world know the true spirit and essence of Islam and that is nothing but absolute respect for humanity and human life. — Safi H. Jannaty, Dammam


Global food crisis
This is regarding the news report “Potential grows for food crisis: UN” (Aug. 10 ). The world is seeing a chaotic food crisis this very moment. The United Nations World Food Program painted a clear picture of the disastrous situation. The program predicted more than 100 million people pushed back the poverty line in that year alone, calling the international crisis a “silent tsunami which knows no borders sweeping the world.” The WFP’s concern is for the poor people around the world who are already living on 50 cents a day and who have nothing to fall back on. This is the current food situation. Food scarcity does not seem to be the only problem, but the consequences are quoted to be more disastrous with widespread misery and malnutrition for millions of people.
Solving the world food crisis is the most important step now for humankind. The global food crisis is perhaps the most daunting phenomenon facing the 21st century; not least because of the millions of people that will die of starvation but also because it serves as a reminder that while the developed nations are increasing in wealth, not enough is being done to conquer some of the world’s problems. The reality is made worse by the fact that there is enough food to feed all the people of the world, and for richer nations it’s a matter of whether or not feeding the world’s hungry population is an important enough priority to take on. Of course tackling hunger will take a lot of effort from governments and the United Nations; other important issues will no doubt be a little neglected, however, by solving the food crisis many other concerns such as mass epidemics may also be solved. The last forty years have seen massive progression in both science and technology, but these enhancements have only improved the life of people living in developed countries. It is time now for richer nations and rich people alike to move toward equal distribution of wealth. — Naser Mullah, Riyadh