By IPS Correspondents
ABU DHABI, May 23 2003 (IPS)

A United Arab Emirates (UAE) paper today commented on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit meeting, which recently took place in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Commenting editorially on the issue, the Dubai-based ‘Gulf News’ said: – The GCC summit meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday confirmed the close bond the member states have, and their unity of purpose in their perspective, both domestic and international.

ôThe only pity is that such meetings are never widely covered by the international media, hence the thinking of the leaders of the region is rarely accurately portrayed to the wider world.

ôThus, the perception of the thinking of people in the Middle East is very often distorted or grossly inaccurate. Add to this the deliberate dissemination of false information or propaganda by people or media with a vested interest to disparage Arabs in general and Muslims in particular, then the opportunity for any accurate portrayal or understanding being made in the majority of western countries is extremely remote.

ôThe GCC countries are often clubbed together as being ‘pro-America’ or ‘pro-West’ which is generally true, in that the leaders and the masses have a greater tendency toward tolerance and acceptance of western thinking and attitudes.

ôHowever, that does not mean the GCC leaders are blind to the issues that divide Muslim countries and the West, nor indeed accept foreign policies that are designed by western nations to interfere with the territorial rights of any sovereign nation, let alone an Arab or Muslim one.

ôHowever, it is only when one of the ‘pro-West’ leaders draws attention to events to which the culture and religion of their society forbid them to accept, that people in the West take umbrage, calling such comments as ‘insular’ and the Arab nations as being ‘uncooperative’.

ôNeither of these charges being true, it is difficult for Arabs to counter false accusations so believing it better not to respond, say nothing, which is interpreted by the West as the nations being ‘silent through guilt’.

ôIt is a no-win situation, trying to get those who do not wish to hear to listen; it can also be a fruitless waste of time, as many Arabs can vouch through experience.

ôThe summit in Riyadh was a confirmation of the GCC leaders’ position on global terrorism, extremism and violence. In condemning the recent attacks in Riyadh and Morocco, the leaders reminded people that such criminal acts have no part in Islam and the terror that is being inflicted regionally and globally in the name of that religion is perpetuating a falsehood, since it is not accepted in Islamic teachings.

ôSuch statements as this, issued by such eminent leaders as those of the GCC, are very important to get across the public, especially those in western nations that erroneously believe that Islam, by its very nature, is a religion of violence.

ôYet this is very far from the truth: Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance, of faith and understanding, of acceptance of one’s fellow and fellowship.

ôWhat is regrettable is that it is left to mainly the media in the Middle East to spread such information, which is akin to preaching to the converted. Despite the plethora of media facilities now available, from satellite television to the internet, few can be bothered to see the world beyond their horizon. Yet if they were to do so, and to perceive more than the narrow confines of their immediate vicinity, they would have greater understanding," the paper concluded.

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