promoting a newly published book worldwide (my 20th) titled " Islam in the West: perceptions and reactions" (Oxford University Press). Comments: Back cover Islam and the West: Perceptions and Reactions by Abe Ata and Jan Ali makes a significant contribution to one of the most important issues facing our world. No two civilizations have been as closely intertwined in history as Islam and the West, but in recent times Islamic extremism and Western Islamophobias threaten to polarise our world. Abe and Ali’s work is multi-disciplinary and multi-perspective, and it gives us a constructive exchange of ideas that helps us unpack the mis-perceptions, distrust and prejudices that stand in the way of good dialogue and understanding. It presents a vision of intercultural relations that affirms the importance of resilience, tolerance, respect and trust. Professor Jane den Hollander AO , President and Vice-Chancellor Deakin University Doctors Abe Ata and Jan Ali are to be congratulated on bringing together an expert and balanced collection of analyses of Islam within the context both of its character and history and the tensions and prejudices against it in current attitudes by others. That Islam is a complex and widely misunderstood religion is only just being recognised in societies like Australia, which have otherwise seen it only through mass media descriptions of various terrorist episodes or civil wars. Their well chosen and informative contributors go a long way to present a much better understanding of the realities than such typical comments. Dr James Jupp, AM, FASSA; Visiting Scholar at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; General Editor, Bicentennial Encyclopaedia of the Australian People (Cambridge University Press) The picture of the West reacting to the perceived threat of Islam provides a clear example of standing over against another group as a way of sustaining an identity. Being over against a “wicked” other justifies extreme positions and then the merry-go-round begins and the “wicked” other plays the victim card and bringing their colleagues onboard. It seems that so many of these “wicked” others are the alienated and nihilistic youth and the fact that so many of them are Islamic is incidental. As Olivier Roy claims, these youths are using Islam and in fact their violent radicalism is really the “Islamisation of radicalism” to provide the context within which their nihilistic revolt can make sense. There is, therefore, a need for books such as this to provide information that will enable people to situate moderate Islam in a context that enables others, particularly Westerners, to gain a deeper knowledge of Muslims and to appreciate, accept and benefit from their participation in a multicultural society. Br. Peter Bray, FSC, EdD, Vice Chancellor, Bethlehem University (Palestine), West Bank of Jordan