I refer to Exploiting the paranoia over Islamic terrorism by Mazeni Alwi.

While it is regrettable that he has to endure the hassle of the profiling process as a Muslim entering US territory, the episode would not be complete if the other half of the story goes untold.

The questions being asked is why does the US have to embark on stringent checking procedures and why Americans are so paranoid over 'Islamic' extremists? I can easily identify two main factors contributing towards this perception problem.

First of all, the blanket use of the word 'Muslim' by the media today. This blanket use deprives Americans of the ability to differentiate between Muslim extremists and ordinary Muslims.

Nobody can identify or categorise an extremist or terrorist by characteristics or appearances alone. A bearded, pious-looking Muslim might not be an extremist and vice-versa.

The other factor is human conditioning. The continuous suicide bombings being carried out by Muslim terrorists reinforce the association between terrorism and Islam. For example, if a suicide bombing occurs now, people will - either rightly or wrongly - associate it with Muslim extremism. This is unfortunate, but this is how the mind works.

I used to live in the US. The Americans, by and large, were ignorant of Islam before Sept 11. However, their perception changed after that date.

Despite the present discrimination of Muslims in America and their unfair foreign policy, I can vouch that most Muslim immigrants there enjoy better freedoms, rights and privileges than in their motherlands. There is still long line of Muslims wanting to emigrate to the US.

I am not sure whether the fault-line between the West and the Muslim world is getting bigger or smaller, but one thing I am sure of is that Muslims in America have just joined the list of victims of hate crime there previously targeted at the Jews and the blacks.