RIYADH, 7 March 2003 — An American Muslim activist working for the reintegration of Muslims into US society has said Islamic countries should rely on intellectual rather than emotional responses as well as modern tools of communication in order to reach out to the West.

“How can you get your message across through Arabic satellite channels or by not interacting with people of other faiths?” asked Dr. Mansoor Khan, an American citizen who has been living in New York for 22 years.

Dr. Khan, in Riyadh on a private visit, told Arab News he had launched a voluntary organization, “Help and Hope,” to work with the victims of the backlash following Sept. 11 and help them reintegrate into American society.

“True, Muslims in the United States suffered in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. They were humiliated and discriminated against. That’s where we came into the picture. We are trying to change the perception about Islam and Muslims in the US and to let American society learn about them through their own people.”

Dr. Khan has joined forces with ex-Congressman Paul Findley and other like-minded Americans to build bridges of understanding between Muslims and other communities.

“Our plan is to distribute 300,000 copies of Paul Findley’s ‘They Dare to Speak’ and ‘Silent No More,’ which chronicles false stereotypes about Islam and Muslims and highlights corrective measures by the nearly eight million strong Muslims in the US.

“It’s important,” Dr. Khan said, “to enlist the cooperation of Americans in the campaign against Islam and Muslims. Their message will go down better when it comes through us.”

Dr. Khan visits churches and synagogues to seek dialogue with Christians and Jews and has produced documentaries on the role of American Muslims and their contribution to their adopted homeland.

It is an uphill task as misleading images built up over decades cannot be demolished overnight. He stressed the need for Muslim countries to invest in state-of-the-art communications technology, such as their own TV channels and wire services in English.

“You cannot reach out to the Western audience through Al-Jazirah, MBC or any other Arabic channel of communication. When the US and Israel are targeting or planning to target the Arab viewers through Arabic, why can’t we do the same in English?”

Equally important, he believes, is the need to be an active part of the political and social sphere. Muslims, despite being the second largest community in the US with a population of around eight million, have not made their presence felt at the political level, when the numerically smaller Jewish community wields enormous influence across the political and economic spectrum of the United States.

“We have to join the system and work through it rather than getting cut off from the mainstream.”

While there was an orchestrated campaign in the US to mobilize public opinion in favor of a war against Iraq, he said it was equally true that the US government has allowed huge anti-war rallies to be staged. “They do not suppress the right to protest through demonstrations and rallies.”

Dr. Khan said there was nothing wrong in principle about the Homeland Security regulation requiring all visitors from Muslim countries to be registered and finger-printed on arrival in the US. What was important was that Muslims applying for registration should be treated with dignity and respect.

“It’s true that prior to Sept. 11 any visitor to the US could travel anywhere without restriction or their movement being tracked. The same would not happen in Muslim countries,” he said. Now, however, the important thing was that Muslims should not be humiliated or harassed, Dr. Khan added.