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| Bad rap? Imam Sayyed Hassan al-Qazwini says the Western media focuses only on radicals. Courtesy of Adrian Haddad |
Is the Sunni-Shiite rift mostly politics and media hype?
A panel discussion Tuesday in Doha, Qatar, was dominated by the perception that the Western media hypes up tensions by focusing too much on the minority of radicals.
from the May 1, 2008 edition
Page 3 of 3
"It's actually quite remarkable that with all that's happened in Iraq it hasn't spilled over in that way," says Mr. Cole.
General Ali Shukri, a former adviser to the late King Hussein of Jordan and co-defender of the motion with Cole, says it is clear that Iran is seeking to increase its influence in the traditionally Sunni-led Arab world.
"The extension of Iran into the Middle East is there, a reality," he says.
But Qazwini, who studied Islam at Qom in Iran after fleeing Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 1980, says there is a "trend in the Arab media" to blame Iran for the region's problems.
"Why don't we talk about the Saudi role in allowing terrorists to go to Iraq? Why don't we talk about the Jordanian role in allowing terrorists into Iraq?" he asks.
The subject of Iran, however, did not come up in the debate. Rather, the two panelists opposing the motion concentrated on the role of an "infotainment"-oriented Western media as responsible for distorting the image of Islam, rather than the actions of Muslims themselves. This may help explain why the motion was defeated 61 percent to 39 percent.
The debate will be aired on BBC World on May 3 and repeated on May 4.
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