I
World
"The notion that the presence of Islam
in Europe, in the form of its Muslim
citizens and migrants, is a challenge for
Europe and European norms and values
has taken a strong hold in European
political discourse and has also created
a climate of fear:' said a 2006 report, the
European Union's first study document-
ing Islamophobic incidents.
Some argue that Muslim fundamental-
ists exploit the charge of Islamophobia
to silence legitimate criticism of Islamic
fanaticism, including honor killings,
forced marriages and sympathy for ter-
rorism.
Islamophobia
"In Denmark, if you speak out against
forced marriage, Islamists say you are
Islamophobic," said Nasser Khader, a
member of the Danish Parliament who
describes himself as a secular Muslim.
Last September, the Pew Research
Center found unfavorable attitudes
toward Muslims in the European coun-
tries with the largest Muslim popula-
tions. Of those surveyed, 52 percent in
Spain, 50 percent in Germany, 38 percent
in France and 25 percent in Britain regis-
tered negative attitudes toward Muslims.
By contrast, a 2006 Pew Research
Center survey in the United States found
25 percent of respondents had negative
attitudes toward Muslims.
Experts are divided over whether race,
socioeconomic status or association with
terrorism is at the root of Europe's often
troubled relationship with its Muslim
minority.
"The fact that Muslims in France are
blacks and Arabs is critical to how they
are perceived in French society, not their
religion:' said Justin Vaisse, a senior
fellow at the Brookings Institution in
Washington and co-author of the book
Integrating Islam.
Sami Zemni, a Muslim political sci-
ence professor at Belgium's University
of Ghent, says the focus in Europe
on Muslim fundamentalists has cre-
ated a distorted view of Muslims in
Europe. "There are days-long debates by
European lawmakers on whether women
should be allowed to wear burkas when
there are like 10 women per country
actually wearing them:' he said.
Often stereotyped as religious fanat-
ics or potential terrorists, most Muslims
have learned to live with the negative
image reflected back at them through
personal encounters, political discourse
and the media.
But this can have dangerous conse-
quences, warns Navid Akhtar, director
of the Forum Against Islamophobia and
Racism in London, as radical groups seek
to capitalize on the alienation of young
adults who have suffered from years of
casual racism.
"The Al Qaida narrative is that
Muslims are despised and hated by
the West:' Akhtar said. "If you live in
Bradford and you tend to spend most of
your time with people of your own ethnic
background, you might be more likely to
buy into that narrative' ❑
Shahar Pe'er
Andy Ram
the UAE. "I expressed my concern and
suggested to them they ought to change
their mind, and I thought that this was an
opportunity for them to take a leadership
role and change the public discourse
Rosen said.
"The leadership there is a new genera-
tion of Arabs who hopefully will view the
world and politics differently."
The media in tennis-obsessed Europe
have depicted the controversy as stem-
ming from the fallout of Israel's recent
Gaza Strip war.
Weiner said it was not so fraught:
Israelis on their way to the UAE usually
give the authorities a heads-up through
whatever organization they will be rep-
resenting. In Pe'er's case, Weiner said,
the WTA, the governing body of women's
tennis, was unaware of the custom until it
was too late.
"This was a low-level bureaucratic
decision that took on international sig-
nificance and it became hard for them to
extricate themselves from it," Weiner said.
Pe'er and Ram each released state-
ments saying that they were satisfied with
the outcome. "This is a great victory for
the principle that all athletes should be
treated equally and without discrimina-
tion, regardless of gender, religion, race or
nationality;' Pe'er said. "It is also a victory
for sport as a whole ..."
There may yet be consequences — the
WTA is still considering removing Dubai
from its calendar next year and Andy
Roddick withdrew from the men's tour-
nament to protest Pe'er's exclusion. ❑
Net Gain
In Dubai tennis match, love-love
proved to be the winner.
Ron Kampeas
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Washington
S
ometimes, Middle East diplo-
macy isn't unlike tennis: You can
work the ref and slam down your
racket and curse yourself blue — or you
can reach across the net and shake hands.
A U.S. Jewish organizational leader and
a Jewish congressman from New York
got results when they passed on the John
McEnroe approach in favor of reach-
ing out to officials in the United Arab
Emirates after the Persian Gulf nation
banned an Israeli woman tennis player
from its tournament.
Jack Rosen, the chairman of the
American Jewish Congress, and U.S. Rep.
Anthony Weiner, each described sepa-
rate roles in getting the UAE to grant a
visa permitting Israeli Andy Ram, the
11th-ranked doubles player, to play in the
Barclay Dubai Tennis Championships, Feb.
25 to March 9, days after Shahar Pe'er, the
45th-ranked women's singles player in
the world, was denied entry into the same
tournament.
"If you engage in a dialogue with the
right leadership, you can have a positive
result:' said Rosen, who travels frequently
to Muslim countries to promote closer ties
A18
February 26 - 2009
to U.S. Jews and to Israel.
Insiders say the White House had a role
in pressing the UAE to relent and admit
Ram. But Weiner and Rosen also were
active. Upon learning of Pe'er's Valentine's
Day rebuff, Weiner called the oil-rich
nation's envoy to Washington, Yousef
Al Otaiba. Weiner wanted al-Otaiba to
explain "a mistake'
"We went back and forth about Dubai
having commendably created a moderate
image for itself-7 Weiner said. "Eventually
the ambassador called me [Feb. 17] and
said, 'We're going to admit Ram.'
"I told him it wasn't perfect. But at the
end of the day, I said Dubai did the right
thing."
Weiner has been friendly with al-Otaiba
for just a few weeks, since he met him
at a dinner party in New York. "I was
introduced to him through my girlfriend:'
Weiner said, referring to Huma Abedin,
the U.S.-born, Saudi-raised aide to U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Separately, other sources said Rosen
called his old friend, Sheik Mohammed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the prime minis-
ter of the UAE and the emir of Dubai. Just
months ago, Rosen had attended the wed-
ding of one the sheik's eight sons.
Rosen, a wireless and real estate mag-
nate, would not discuss those details,
saying only that he had reached out to
someone from the diplomatic corps" in
"