While Muslims condemn the United States for its 'lopsided' foreign policy on Islamic countries, a few intellectuals have reminded fellow Muslims that such a policy was partly the result of their failure to effectively engage the American public.

Speaking at a video-conferencing session with the Malaysian media in Kuala Lumpur's Telekom Centre today, Dr Malik M Hasan founder and director of the Council of the American Muslims for Understanding (Camu) explained that US foreign policy merely reflects the country's public opinion.

He decried that Muslims had failed to immerse the American public with their concerns such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which at the end of the day has influenced government decision.

Malik, who has close links with President George W Bush, cited the example of a poll in the US where only 40 per cent of the respondents said that there should be an independent Palestinian state. (Photo: The Maliks with Bush and the First Lady)

"They [Muslims] have not presented their case to the American public as well as the Israelis and the Jewish people," he said.

The medical doctor was replying a question on the stand of Muslim-Americans on various issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, war on terrorism and imminent war against Iraq.

The dialogue between Malik and the Malaysian media today is part of Camu's out-reach campaign funded by the US government to foster dialogues between Americans and the Muslim world.

Bottom-up society

Other Muslim intellectuals have also echoed Malik's contention.

During a dinner function co-organised by the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre (MSRC) and the US Embassy in Malaysia last week, Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Arif of the International Islamic University had lamented that Muslim leaders seldom reach out to the American public.

"The real American is on the main street," Muhammad, who lived in the US for 15 years, said during a dialogue session at the function.

He explained that unlike most Muslim countries where the decision-making process is top down, the US is a 'bottom-up' society where the American public will eventually determine their country's policy.

"The government just do what the people want. Reach for the American people, not only the president," Muhammad urged fellow Muslims.

'Two-world street'

Meanwhile, Abdul Razak Baginda, a prominent political analyst, observed that the problem between the US and the Muslim world is a "two-world street".

"Here, we said that the Western world failed to understand the Muslim world. However, the Muslim world also failed to understand the Western world," he said.

US foreign policy has often incurred the wrath of many Muslims where the world's sole remaining superpower was deemed as not being even-handed in confronting various issues affecting the Muslims, especially the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, Islam is also one of the fastest-growing religions in the US. Currently, US is the home to a sizable Muslim population of between two to seven million, mostly African-Americans, Arabs and immigrants from South Asia.

Realising the need to bridge the information gap and foster better understanding between the Muslim world and the US, a group of Muslim-Americans of diverse backgrounds led by Malik came together to form Camu following the aftermath of tragic events of Sept 11, 2001.

Camu, which receives financial support from the US Department of State, has since released several mini-documentaries featuring the real-life stories of Muslim-Americans. The mini-documentaries are currently aired in several predominantly Muslim countries, including Malaysia.