Ours is the sober voice of the majority of Arabs and Muslims around the globe, which is seldom heard and is not for sale. We respect humanity, believe in international solidarity and totally reject the mad theory of a clash of civilizations. We oppose all forms of terrorism and violence and have no ill feelings toward America and Americans. We fail to understand why there are people who create problems, support bloody conflicts and relish wars. We hate wars and bloodshed, yet we are the innocent victims of both. Experience has taught us that violence is like fire, easy to start and difficult to extinguish.

We are keen to promote understanding and friendship between Arabs and Westerners and eager to participate in resuscitating the fading love for American culture and the waning admiration for American values. We want to support Condoleezza Rice's efforts to restore the credibility of American policy, and help her country win back the millions of hearts and minds that it has lost.

An increasing number of moderate, rational Arabs and Muslims, who hold America in high esteem and who will never consider hurting American people or their interests, are under the impression that the war on terrorism is a war on Islam, Arabs and Muslims.

The daily human tragedies at their doorsteps feed their growing suspicions. The mayhem in Iraq, the heavy bombardment and the heart-breaking hemorrhage in Fallujah and other Iraqi cities, the constant massive incursions into Gaza and the West Bank, the demolition of Palestinian homes, the destruction of means of livelihood to thousands of Palestinian and destruction of thousands Palestinian olive trees, the intensification of attacks on Iraqis and Palestinians before, during and after the holy month of Ramadan and Eid, the daily arrests and the cruel killing of tens of innocent Iraqi and Palestinian civilians, the assassination of Palestinian leaders, the torture of Iraqi and Palestinian prisoners, the peace process that has stalled for too long, the unending postponement of the date for the creation of a viable Palestinian state, the failure to restore order and end violence peacefully in the Middle East, the sanctions and the threats of sanctions against Muslim countries, the looting of Arab cultural heritage and the destruction of Arab cultural wealth, the attempts to impose on Arab and Muslim systems "imported reform" which most reject and few support, the attempts to create divisions in Muslim communities, the external pressure on Arab governments to adopt policies that their people oppose, the vicious campaign that aims at setting non-Muslims against Muslims, the unending efforts to breed discontent among Arab and Muslim youth, the leaked information about a pre-September 11th project to redraw the map of the Middle East and to slice a few countries like a birthday cake, the unsuccessful attempts to erase the Arab and Muslim identity, way of life, the harassment and humiliation of Arabs and Muslims since the September 11th attacks, the rising wave of Islamophobia and discrimination against Arabs and Muslims in the West, the deliberate attempts to tarnish the image of Islam and to portray and treat Muslims and Arabs as terrorists or potential terrorists.

Many in our world wonder what the reaction would have been if Palestinian "militants" had demolished Israeli homes, or if Palestinians freedom fighters, dubbed "terrorists", had posed for "souvenir" pictures with the dead body of an Israeli?

They wonder what the reaction would have been if a Palestinian man or woman had assassinated one single Israeli leader and what the Israeli reaction would have been if Egyptian soldiers had killed three Israeli policemen in cold blood "by mistake."

They wonder what pictures would have been shown on Western TV channels and in the Western press, what articles would have been written and what reports would have been widely disseminated had the death of an Israeli leader been celebrated in Gaza and the West Bank the way the death of the Palestinian leader was celebrated in Israel.

Many Arabs and Muslims believe that if any, or all of the above incidents had truly taken place, they would have triggered earth-shaking conflicts, led to more bloody battles and fueled more prejudice and more hatred toward Arabs, Muslims and Islam in the West. They believe they would have been a pretext for the arrest, the imprisonment, and the torture, and the killing of more innocent Arab and Muslim men, women and children and the invasion of Muslim lands.

God has endowed women with a capacity for patience so they may realize their dreams and the dreams of their children. He granted them hearts that ache at the sight of dead bodies, crying orphans, mourning widows, wailing widowers, shivering homeless people and innocent victims of bloody conflicts.

Condoleezza Rice is an intelligent, highly educated, highly accomplished woman. She belongs to a race that suffered injustice, courageously fought bigotry and triumphantly defeated discrimination. We have no doubt she possesses a heart that throbs with pain at the suffering of humanity and the sight of blood. We believe that she has the patience to work closely with friends of America to realize our dream of peace.

She is an excellent pianist. She can compose the symphony of solidarity, compassion, love and peace that the whole world is waiting to hear. She is perfectly qualified and capable to conduct a harmonious, multinational orchestra that produces music that mends the divisions in the international community and heals the festering wounds in its ailing body.

The sad, bloody events in our region have defeated previous efforts to bring to an end the raging violence in the Middle East. We hope and pray that when Rice assumes the lofty and important responsibilities of the Secretary of State of the world's superpower, she will be able to assure Arabs and Muslims, by action not by words, that the presence of US troops in Iraq is temporary and that the democracy and the freedom that America is keen to promote in our world are not a 21st century Trojan horse.

Rice's burden, I know, is heavy and the challenges awaiting her are great. May a love for justice guide her steps toward global peace! And may she become the first Secretary of State to succeed where others have failed.

Comment: Condoleezza Rice is indeed an intelligent, highly educated woman whose race suffered injustice, fought bigotry and defeated discrimination. In the past, millions of her race were enslaved by Arabs in Africa and more recently Arabs killed hundreds of thousands in the Sudan during a protracted war to deprive them of independence. Lies and backhanded compliments have always been among the Arabs' diplomatic assets. They never admit to terrorism or aggression, no matter how blatant, and the conquest of non-Moslem territory (jihad) is their religious duty. Once conquered it becomes sacred Arab soil. The war on terrorism is a war on Islam because nowadays most of the world's terrorists are Moslem.