US policy is to demonize Islam

The US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens has been killed in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi during clashes at the US consulate building.

The clashes broke out on Tuesday night after a group of people held a demonstration to protest against an anti-Islam movie made in the United States.

Witnesses said protesters attacked and set fire to the consulate building while gunmen and security forces clashed. Rocket-propelled grenades were also fired at the US consulate.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Syed Tariq Pirzada, strategic affairs analyst, to further discuss the issue. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Mr. Pirzada, we seem to continually witness time and time again different acts that seem to insult the sensitivities of Muslims. Why do you think once again we are witnessing another movie that Muslims are saying that is blasphemous against Islam? What could be the reasons behind creating and promoting such movies?

Pirzada: Well you know the American policy over the last ten years in particular after 9/11 has created a level of demonization, a larger demonization of the world of Islam from Yemen to Pakistan, to Iran, to Egypt, to everywhere that now the Western nations do believe and their so-called intellectuals are convinced that the nations like us in the Islamic community and the Islamic community at large that they are backward, that they have no understanding of modern view of life, that secularism is the way to go till the demonization promoted and backed by the US policies in the last ten years has literally lead to a situation of total hatred against the world of Islam.

And these people who are so-called intellectuals they are not opening their eyes that Islam is not about hate or bias or prejudice. Islam believes in respect of religions but because they do not understand this message of Islam and because the demonization level is so high, created with the policies of the United States that they continue, Denmark, Holland, country after country as you said in your report the humiliation of the world of Islam and the blasphemous acts continues unabatedly. It looks like the West has lost its soul.

Press TV: Well Syed Pirzada, there are some analysts that say these acts are committed in order to evoke the type of emotion that we are seeing now coming out of some Muslim countries and then once again demonize the Muslims as being violent and hateful instead of actually putting the emphasis on US foreign policies and exactly what is happening. What is your take on this analysis?

Pirzada: Well as I said earlier and I agree with what you just said, you know if you look at country after country in Europe, country after country particularly the United States, look, let’s leave the side of Islam for one second which is our religion, take the case of Christ.

You know, a movie was made in the United States not too long ago “The [Last] Temptation of Christ.” These people, despite the presence of Catholic Church, the movie was released because the US laws do not impose restrictions on movies that hurt the feelings of the Christians also.

The movie was shown all over the country, it was widely voiced and appreciated. So this is the soul and spirit that the West is following at the present time.

So I say now it is time to reduce the hostilities between the West and the world of Islam, that the US policy must be revised. If they do not do it, look the Russians do not do it normally it does not happen in those countries, the Chinese do not do it, the South Koreans do not do it, Brazilians do not do it. The nations that are doing it they are Western nations namely United States, Western Europe in particular. So somebody has got to do that and stop it.