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To: Tom Clarke who wrote (12372)	5/7/2002 4:42:43 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

Thomas Friedman also said something interesting about the internet when he was on Lehrer yesterday. He clearly felt strongly that the internet was contributing to our PR problem with Muslims. He used a rather strong term for internet content, sewer or some such. He said that people believe this stuff because they see it on the internet so it must be true. Here's a related column. Tucson, Arizona Tuesday, 7 May 2002 Indonesian teen's views shared by Muslim youth By Thomas L. Friedman Last Thursday, I sat in the garden of the Pesantren Darunnajah, one of Jakarta's finest Islamic boarding schools, with 20 young Indonesians to ask them for their views of America. I wanted to understand how the world's largest Muslim nation was reacting to Sept. 11 and the Middle East crisis. Here is the tape of my chat with the most articulate student: 18-year-old Wisam Rochalina. "Most Muslims are afraid of America because they think America is against Islam," she began. "You can see that America is backing the Israelis, and the enmity between Islam and Israel, the Jews (and) Judaism, is obvious. It is not that Americans are afraid of Muslims, but that Muslims are afraid of Americans. As for the (Sept. 11) tragedy, we can't prove that Muslims did it. Because up to now they have not found evidence to prove that (Osama bin Laden) is the one who did it. Also, I read in some newspapers that the real people who did that tragedy are Americans. . . . I don't know (what) percent of the Congress is Jewish, (but) America is backing Israel, and I think therein lies the feeling of enmity toward America." Where do you get your news? "I get most information from the TV, from the Internet, too. . . . I really like to read the (online) Arabic magazines because they give a different point of view. If I read Indonesian magazines, they don't have a lot of information about Muslims and Islam." Why are so many Muslims so angry with America and Israel now? "I think it is because Israel has gone beyond limits and (Muslims) just got fed up and decided they have to do something about it. I think it has something to do (with) Muslims feeling like they are being called murderers and they are being treated in the U.S. like they are terrorists - they are being blamed for something they haven't done. . . . And I think that's why they hate America - it's not hate, it's this feeling that the American media is spreading everywhere, so I think it has something to do with spreading the image of Islam and distorting that image. "People did not want Al Gore to win because he was Jewish. So people said, 'OK, George Bush is better . . . .' He promised a lot of really good things but (has) not realized them. . . ." Would you like to study in America? "Of course I would! Because if I go there, I can understand how that world really thinks. Because until now I only read about it in newspapers and only see it in TV." Wisam's views are widely shared by millions of Muslim youth. They are a product of many things: a reaction to America's war on terrorism and Ariel Sharon's war on Yasser Arafat, the failure of Muslim states to master modernity, Muslim resentment at being blamed for 9/11, unquestioning congressional support for Israel and outright incitement against Israel and Jews in Arab and European media and Web sites. Stir it all together, and what comes out is a single big idea melding in the minds of many young Muslims: America, Israel and the Jews are working together to undermine Islam and dominate the world. Spreading democracy in the Muslim world would help enormously, but that's not going to happen soon. In the near term, Israel has got to get out of the West Bank and Gaza any way it can - just get out - and get this war with Palestinians off TV. It will not end Muslim hostility to the Jewish state, but it will eliminate a good chunk of raw material. America needs to make a much bigger investment in public diplomacy in the Muslim world, and vigorously challenge what is published there. In an era when blind rage can become a weapon of mass destruction, this is as important as any missile shield. We can make a difference with young people. Their views are easily acquired and shed. * Thomas L. Friedman is a columnist for The New York Times.