It always surprises me that nothing good is ever said by the West about Muslims; I never heard anything good in school about the Muslims. I think the only good thing I ever heard about the Muslims was, "Well, we did get our numerical system from them."

Muslims are often portrayed in western news media as violent, backward, extremists and as a threat to western civilisation. Western news coverage rarely highlights Islam except to show its possible relation to some atrocity, and Muslims are rarely mentioned in the context of news that is positive or benign.

Other studies show inconsistent coverage of violent global and regional conflicts. When Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims are killed by Muslims, Islam is identified as playing a direct role. When Muslims are killed by Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims, however, the religious identity of the violent perpetrators is downplayed or ignored. How ironic!

Ted Rudow III, MA
Palo Alto, CA, USA