From The Inside On Africa And Europe

From The Inside On Africa And Europe
By Gabrielle Reilly

I just returned from an absolutely fantastic trip to Europe and Africa. There are winds of great change blowing gently, but un relentlessly, across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. There has been a large global shift in attitudes towards America and the West in Muslim countries after the Iraq elections and the American/Australian tsunami relief effort in Asia. We have clearly demonstrated that the West cares deeply about people of any religion, race and creed and will back it up with action. The hope of new freedom has sparked an ember in the hearts of people from Lebanon, to Egypt, to Saudi Arabia as they go to the polls and change their constitutions to allow the people more choice in their destiny.

I made many friends among Muslim women on my trip, even those women sporting full head dresses. Most of the traditional Muslims I spoke with, both male and female, all had similar comments; "Our religion has been hijacked by terrorists. The beliefs the terrorists hold, are absolutely not what we believe in. We love American people and just want to raise our children in peace as any parent does." They have been scared to speak out in the past as they live amongst terrorists and fear for their families safety if they do speak out.

Gabrielle Reilly- Bikini Supermodel, Political Commentator, and Celebrity

The strangers I met and talked with randomly on the street were almost embarrassed that they had to justify they didn't hate me as a Westerner because they were Muslim. Some Arab's are even claiming "the Arab world needs to stop blaming Israel and America for all its problems and start looking inward."

Here is a recent poll to support the pulse I felt on the streets, in the local markets and in the tourist areas:

"In a stunning turnaround of public opinion, support for Bin Laden and terrorism in the world's most populous Muslim nation has dropped significantly, while favorable views of the United States have increased," said Kenneth Ballen, President of Terror Free Tomorrow, which commissioned the poll. "The poll shows that the reason for this positive change is the American response to the tsunami," Ballen added. Yahoo

There will always be of course, those that hate America and the West. These are the people who could never shift their opinion under any changing circumstance or with any new information. These are the people the media focus on to get headline news but are not representative of how the majority feel and live. You could only understand the full extent of these attitudes by traveling to these destinations yourself, not by reading about it in a book or in the newspapers which are mostly influenced by generating a story that sells rather than showing the full picture. Hopefully we can maintain this new status quo so the world can become more stable as painful positive changes are implemented.

END

PERSEVERANCE

Perseverance is not a long race;
it is many short races
one after another.

- Walter Elliott

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