Former US President Bill Clinton said many Muslims have a "distorted view of the United States because they often judge America solely on the basis of the Mideast peace process".
Clinton told a US-Islamic World Forum on Monday that Americans too had problems understanding the Islamic world because their judgments were based on the September 11 attacks on US cities.
"Too many Americans know too little about the Islamic world, and much of what they know they learned after September 11 through the narrow lens of terror," Clinton told the forum, organized by the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
"What people do out of anger, pain and fear both darkens and distorts reality," the former president said, according to The AP.
Much of the criticism at the conference from Muslim scholars, religious leaders and politicians has been directed at the United States for what they state is unconditional support of Israel against the Palestinian people.
"Sometimes I feel that our country is judged by many Muslims based on how they think the Mideast peace process is going, and whether they think we are doing enough to try and give the Palestinians a state and a decent future. That is not the only standard," Clinton said.
"America's support for Israel is not rooted in hostility to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians." (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
