Speakers at the symposium

By Hadi Yahmed, IOL Paris Correspondent

PARIS, March 29 (IslamOnline.net) - French Muslim media experts considered the image of Islam in the French media to be teeming with 'deceit and distortion', highlighting the need (for French Muslims) to join the media field more actively to correct their image themselves.

This came during a symposium organized Saturday, March 27, by "Multiple France Coalition" in the French capital Paris, with the participation of a number of Muslim researchers and media people in France.

"The recent dialogue on Islam in France has shown several important premises; the first of which is that the French mass media always deals with Islam as a religion of the past that has no present or future," Sori Kaba, editor in chief of Umma.com, a prominent Francophone website for French Muslims, said.

Belonging to the past is a common feature among all western religions and philosophies, Kaba added, giving examples for the wrong handling of the Islamic issues by the French media, like demonstrating “fanatic trends” as the only representative of Islam, while ignoring other more open ones.

"French mass media uses the term [Islamists] as an accusation in itself, though such term is being used in the Arab and Islamic world to refer to people and parties represented in the parliaments of their respective countries," he said.

He reiterated that the western history is not void of persecution, referring to what the Protestant Christians faced during the sixth century.

"Several mass media present a false and unrealistic image of Islam, quoting a report prepared by France Channel Two on a Paris neighborhood, showing it as an Afghan district in the capital, though the reality is surprisingly different," Ahmed Hafeizy, presenter of France Channel Two 'Knowing Islam' program, said.

Abu Bakr Malek, an editor in 'safirnat.info' website, affiliated to the Muslim community in France, said that falsehoods attributed to Islam in the French media simply stem from ignorance.

"Several French experts, who introduce themselves to mass media as specialists in Islamic issues, have not read Qur’an and do not know the difference between Qur’anic verses and Prophetic sayings," he elaborated.

Solution

On means of correcting falsehoods attributed to Islam in the French media, Kaba said, "Muslims of France should deliver their own image themselves, instead of only being the subject of such imaging. They should be active to generate their own image."

"We try to undertake such mission through Umma.com website, calling upon Muslims of France to join the media field rather than being a subject of an imaging fabricated by others," he added.

Hafeizy agreed with Kaba that it is imperative that Muslims and Arabs draw their own image. He reiterated that Muslims are required to review the image drawn by the Islamic world about others.

The number of Muslims in France exceeds six millions, representing 10% of the population and possessing 1.8 million votes. Muslims in France come from 53 countries and speak 21 languages. Algerians represent a great majority of Muslims in France.

Some studies and estimates point out that the number of Muslims in France will be more than threefold by 2020. Their numbers will reach 20 millions due to the high fertility rate, the high birth rate, continuous immigration into France and adoption by large numbers of French people of Islam, as Muslims of French origin amount to 100,000.