Tony Blair's sis-in-law calls Western media out for igniting Islamophobia.

ISLAMABAD: A persistent negative portrayal of Muslims in Western media was igniting hatred and creating a massive Islamophobia, British TV Presenter Lauren Booth revealed on Wednesday.

Booth is also widely acclaimed as a broadcaster, journalist and activist. She is also the author of "Finding Peace in The Holy Land."

During her address on "Islam and the West: Bridging the Gaps," at Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, she added that was making the lives of Muslims difficult and even forcing them to train their children and girls with the art of self-defence to brace a constant threat.

Sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Booth is one of most high-profile converts to Islam in the West.

She firmly asserted that the real job of Muslims was to hold onto their faith and not lose it in the face of violence.

Booth called the frequently used term "Clash of Civilization" as highly inappropriate. She maintained that the objectives of Islam had never intended for a clash among civilizations but to alleviate and upgrade them to an improved level.

She maintained that contrary to the much-propagated narrative, the religion does not hold back modernization and rekindles it.

Booth shed light on various methods and tactics of Western media rhetoric, which were being used to paint a darker picture of Muslims globally.

Mediums of information and entertainment including newspapers, channels, films, cartoons and even video games were said to be used as tools to spread hate-filled propaganda.

She cited cases of negative framing of Muslims by the Western media where the reality was morphed to give a completely contradicting view.

Booth opined that the common people in the West were being deprived of basic knowledge and comprehension of Islam.

Instead, a false image of the religion was consistently being sold to them by people with an agenda to master the art of persuasive storytelling...