Need for fairness and objectivity

The points raised at the recently held US-Islamic World Forum in Doha reiterate once again what the Arab and Islamic worlds have highlighted before: the best roadmap for the US to follow is the adoption of an unbiased approach that treats Arabs and Muslims as partners and not enemies. The Islamic world, said Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mousa, does not hate America but it totally disagrees with its "biased and double standard policies towards Palestine, Iran's nuclear issue and Iraq".

Such sentiments were more or less the consensus at the forum as it had outlined the key issues of concern: the settlement of the Palestinian issue, fighting terrorism through policies that address its root causes and the eradication of poverty. For the Arab and Muslim worlds these are legitimate and reasonable conclusions if any positive change is to take place on these issues.

For a long time now, many voices in the Arab and Muslim worlds have highlighted the importance of the US addressing critical issues and problems through dialogue and mediation. The continuation of its blindly tilted, one-sided policy has only proven to be fatal and complicated issues further. The case in point is the instability and violence that Iraq faces today. Had the US taken on board Arabs and Muslims as equal partners in addressing the country's ground reality, the dangerous escalation could have well been averted.

On other areas including that of the Palestinian issue and the fight against terrorism, the US has not fared well either. Terrorism has not been eradicated and the Palestinians are yet to realise an independent state of their own.

Reaching out with fairness and objectivity in policy and perspective could lead to the resolution of many complex problems.