Public opinion of the United States in Pakistan is shaped by a number of factors, the most important of which are Washington’s policies toward Islamabad.  Perceptions in Pakistan of how America’s Muslim minority is treated also plays a role, albeit one that is secondary.

For the benefit of our readers in Pakistan, below is a segment from a news program that attempts to capture the complexity of how Muslims are treated in the United States.  The context is somewhat contrived, and as a New Yorker I can’t judge as to how representative Texas (where the scene occurs) is, but I think in the end its depiction is fairly accurate.  A significant anti-Muslim bias exists among a minority of Americans.  While this is cause for alarm, the vociferousness with which many other Americans speak out on behalf of their fellow countrymen who happen to be Muslims is cause for admiration.