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 "