A U.N.-backed body working to raise awareness between cultures said it was setting up a $100 million project to make films to promote harmony between the West and Islamic countries. Queen Noor of Jordan said the fund had already raised $10 million and would be backed by British businessman Richard Branson, video-sharing web site YouTube and the company that produced Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" among others.

It is significant that an institution such as the U.N. now recognizes the importance of promoting understanding and harmony between the West and Islamic countries.  Muslim Americans have a  key role to serve in this endeavor as  intermediaries between the two cultures who have a foot in each and a stake in both.