ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the principal concerns of the people living in the area and the image of life in the Middle East as it appears in the public space in the Western world after 11 September 2001. Among other things, the Middle East is identified with Islamic fundamentalism, which equates with terror, dogmatism, inflexibility and a threat to the world's stability and peace. From the borders of Afghanistan to the Atlantic coast of Morocco and from Tehran to Aden, political Islamic movements and personalities identify America, the West and Israel as the satanic enemies of Islamic civilization. In Tunisia the secular regime also recognized the wisdom in not repeating its previous attempts to conduct an all-out campaign against political Islam, but acknowledged the limits of a collaborative religious regime. The term 'Christians in the Middle East' covers a mosaic of sects, denominations and churches that should not be lumped together.
