The U.S. has signed on to a U.N. project whose stated aim is to build bridges between Islam and the West, but critics worry it is linked to an agenda that restricts free expression, especially when it comes to media coverage viewed as critical towards Islam.

State Department spokesman Philip Crowley announced that the U.S. has joined 119 countries and organizations in a "Group of Friends" supporting the Alliance of Civilizations (AoC), and will take part in the AoC's third global forum in Brazil in late May.

"The goals and activities of the Alliance complement President Obama's vision of active U.S. engagement with other nations and international organizations to advance American security interests and meet the global challenges of the 21st century," he said.

"The United States looks forward to working with other friends of this voluntary initiative to further strengthen the innovative, inclusive and apolitical approach it has come to represent."

Co-sponsored by the governments of Spain and Turkey, the AoC was formed in 2005 with the backing of then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who called it an initiative "to bridge divides and overcome prejudice, misconceptions, misperceptions, and polarization which potentially threaten world peace."

It has grown rapidly since, opening a secretariat and offices in New York, and with a former President of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio, appointed in 2007 as "high representative" to run the project.
The AoC held its first global forum in Madrid in 2008, and by the time it held its second in Istanbul last year, it drew 2,000 participants, including heads of government and ministers.

President Obama, who was visiting Turkey at the time, took part in a reception on the sidelines of the Alliance event. Ahead of the forum, AoC Executive Director Marc Scheuer said that while the U.S. in earlier years had "decided to stay clear" of the Alliance, it "now seems to be moving closer."

The program of the AoC is based on a foundational report produced in 2006 by a "high-level group" of 20 "eminent persons" set up by Annan to guide the initiative.

Among factors identified as contributing to difficulties between Islam and the West, the report highlighted "Israel's continuing occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories and the unresolved status of Jerusalem."

The report acknowledged that terrorism, "committed by radical groups on the fringes of Muslim societies," was a factor, but attributed it to Western policies and repression in the Islamic world, not to Islamist ideology.

"In evaluating the relations between Western and Muslim societies it is important to note that Islamist activism does not necessarily produce Islamist militancy within societies and the latter does not automatically lead to violent confrontation with the West," it said.

"It is the invasion of certain Muslim countries by Western military forces and their continued presence in these countries, combined with the suppression of political movements in the Muslim world, that are among the reasons for violent manifestations."

Because of terrorism, the report said, Islam was perceived by some as a violent religion, a view that was "at best manifestly incorrect and at worst maliciously motivated."

In its recommendations section, the report suggested that media coverage of Islam-Western relations be monitored, with a view "to reward[ing] efforts that aim to improve coverage of relations between Muslim and Western societies."

As a result of the report's recommendations about media coverage, the AoC has set up a "rapid response media mechanism," which aims to provide media with "an online resource of experts and analysts who can make a positive contribution to debates on sensitive cross-cultural issues."

The attempts to guide media coverage echo a campaign by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the bloc of Islamic states at the U.N., to monitor and counter "Islamophobia" in the media. The OIC is also a member of the AoC's "Group of Friends."

Heritage Foundation scholar Brett Schaefer, who has been critical of the AoC for years, said that the administration's decision on the Alliance "continues a troubling trend in U.S. foreign policy of engaging with multilateral organizations even when there is little or no chance that doing so will advance U.S. interests."

"Unfortunately, the AoC agenda has been largely driven by Muslim nations and the OIC, to the detriment of its ostensible purpose," he wrote in an article on National Review Online.

"A dialogue subject to censorship and anti-Israel bias, regardless of intent, is unlikely to be productive or fruitful," Schaefer said. "The U.S. should not lend its support to such a flawed endeavor."

[Patrick Goodenough, International Editor, wrote this report for CNSNews.com, May 14.]

Some Readers' comments on the article:

1. This article reminds me of 1992 listening to a Tom Brokaw monologue. He made the statement "we've been telling 'them' for 30 years that African-Americans are equal. But, there is still prejudice." Not only leftist free speech suppression, but attempts at mind control exposed. The ONLY way to change attitudes and perceptions is to BE equal ... equal in intelligence, ability, achievement, accomplishment, education etc. In the case of Muslims, it will be all of above PLUS stopping the slaughter of innocents.

2. Anything backed by both Spain and Turkey is at least interesting, but face it, Turkey is rapidly losing its secular regime and going towards Sharia, most likely followed by a new caliphate. Hence it simply can't be trusted. No wonder Obama wants to join it, he wants to beg the new caliph for leniency against the dhimmis. It's hard to decide if Obama is a closet Muslim or closet Marxist. Maybe he himself doesn't know. There are cases of both at the same time, like Daffy Duck of Libya. Did he bow to him yet?

See how deep Obama's rabbit hole goes with the Historyscoper's free Obamascope: http://historyscoper.com/obamascope.html

3. Caving to dhimmitude is not the answer. Killing the enemy is.

4. I say, "burn the bridge." The only way the Islam-West divide will be bridged is for the West to become Muslim. Recall that converting the world to Islam is the Muslim mission - convert or die. There is no compromise in Islam.