WASHINGTON, DC: Islam is a great faith and a religion of peace, said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday in an interview with Al Hurra Television. Her comments on Islam came at the end of the interview, which dealt mostly with the upcoming peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine. The interviewer, Michel Ghandour, asked the US Secretary if she had any words to express to the Arab world. Rice's response was a resounding statement of support for the Arab world and Islam, laced with some subtle criticism of the United State's previous policies in the region. "It's not always been an involvement that I think upheld the principles of democracy and freedom, she said. "Sometimes we fell into a sense of exceptionalism for the Middle East and talked only about stability. She continued her answer, segueing into a discussion of Islam, its growing importance in the United States, and its peaceful foundations. We could never.disrespect Islam by believing that the violent people who kill innocent people and chant the name of Islam really represent the future of the Middle East and the future of the Arab world, she said. Her comments mirrored previous statements that she has made, in which she has lauded Islam as a religion of peace and condemned those that "hijack the great world religion to a cause that clearly has nothing to do with Islam. But her remarks on Wednesday brought the issue close to home, as she talked about the rise of Islam in the United States and its importance in her country's future. "We here in the United States could never disrespect Islam because Islam is a part of us, she said. "Islam is a very fast-growing religion in the United States. We could never disrespect Islam because we know that it is a great faith and a peaceful faith But although the Secretary's comments attempted to depict Islam as being an accepted part of US society, they stood in contrast to what has been deemed a growing trend of Islamophobia in the country that was attacked by Al-Qaeda insurgents on September 11, 2001. In September 2006, a report by ABC News looking at how the United States had dealt with the attacks over the previous five years argued that Islamophobia in the United States had risen dramatically. In addition to several individual incidents of discrimination, ABC reported that 40 percent of Americans admit feeling prejudice against Muslims and that 39 percent of Americans say US Muslims should carry special identification. Egyptian Islamic scholar, Gamal El Banna, is also skeptical of the degree of acceptance of Islam that exists in the West. "I don't think that Westerners really try to understand Islam, he told Daily News Egypt. "Islam has become a popular subject. But there hasn't been a great effort to make the West understand the real spirit of Islam. But there was no mention of this disconnect between the West and Islam in Rice's comments, as she insisted that the United States valued and respected the religion as an integral part of its society. She concluded her interview saying that she hoped the United States could be a "constructive partner in building a peaceful and democratic Middle East.
