The Left is right.

After having followed YouTube religiously for quite some time, I can safely say that what ails the relationship between the Muslim world and the West is not religion, culture, or heritage but differing opinions on the political spectrum.

Take for example a pastor in the US who posts something online which might be considered sacrilegious to Muslims. The direct aftermath is a series of Fatwas from the Muslim world that would put millions of dollars on the pastor’s head as bounty. US embassies are raided, scandalized, and attacked all over the Muslim world. Effigies of US presidents are burned, US products are boycotted (well except KFC and Coca Cola of course) and the West is tarred with the same brush as being generally insensitive to the sensitivities of Muslims. Muslim clerics make sure that people start to believe how EVERYONE in the US is against Muslims, and how they chant anti Muslim slogans day in and day out. They would also convince people that everyone in the world (which is generally the US, and Israel) is against their religion and their country and therefore they need to be protected.

Meanwhile, when aforementioned events are made public through television or the internet, people in the US begin actually fearing the worst. They start to think that maybe ALL Muslims hate the US, and that maybe ALL of them are crazy nut heads hell bent on destroying effigies, and embassies, and killing their ambassadors. Subsequently, this becomes impetus for another round of hatred from both sides. Essentially each side feeds on the anger, and ignorance of the other. These people are also convinced that they are in danger and in need of protection.

However, I think most of what we hear in the mainstream media is the opinion of the right and the centre right. Basically, we are told what the rightists in the West think about the rightists in the Muslim world and vice versa, which is almost always ugly. Most people, but rightists in particular in Pakistan (my country of origin) don’t even know that there are people in the US who are anti war, anti discrimination, anti immigration prohibition laws, but NOT anti Muslim. These people stand for liberal values, and generally will not shy away from criticizing their own country, religion, or political association. Progressives like Jon Stewart will tell you when they think that Protective Edge is the Möbius strip of issues.

In the same way, I am sure that there are some people in the US, mostly working for Fox News, that don’t know that there is a growing, blooming, and thriving community within the Muslim world which recognizes itself as liberal and progressive. These people do not hate everything that is Western, and in some cases may as well cherish Western principles. Agreed, sometimes it may be difficult for them to speak out openly against their governments for fear of their lives, but they nevertheless stand for liberal values.  Furthermore, these people may just be as Muslim as all others that we stereo typically consider Muslims and yet these liberals are included in the generalized statement or even the consideration of the statement that “All Muslims are terrorists”. This obviously makes no sense whatsoever.

So what the liberals from both sides need to do is to be more vocal about their point of views. We don’t want wars, we want intercultural, interfaith, inter-sex, and inter-race harmony. It might take some time but we will have it. The best way to do it is speak out more and more often and tell everyone tell we exist and this is what we stand for. Like I just did.