"Our Muslim brothers are getting killed at the hands of the Serbs, but unfortunately Arab governments have shown little public support to them in order not to anger imperialist powers," said a Jordanian shopkeeper to The Times of India. Change the sentence to read "Muslim governments" and you capture what many Muslims feel about the more than fifty Muslim/Arab countries of the world. It's easy to accuse these governments of doing nothing. But is it fair or even accurate to do so?

A closer look at the reaction of Muslim countries reveals that they are caught in the same schizophrenic dilemma as the rest of us. Do they support NATO's selective and downright hypocritical raids (without United Nations approval) when they could easily become the next target? Or do they remain silent while the Kosovars are killed, persecuted and displaced?

As expected, some countries - notably Iraq and Libya - have openly condemned the bombings. Understandably, these nations have some legitimate self-interest concerns. But, other countries have condemned Serbia's acts of ethnic cleansing, sent humanitarian support and called for a peaceful resolution of the dispute. In fact, Jordan has even recalled its diplomats.

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has refocused its Bosnia contact group, which comprises Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Senegal, and Morocco, to also serve as the Kosova contact group. OIC chief Azzeddine Laraki has called on the international community to increase assistance to the Kosovars and to push the United Nations to help stop the exodus. Laraki has also called for war crimes indictments of all persons responsible for human rights atrocities. Moreover, echoing the sentiments of some of its member nations, the OIC has also expressed its willingness and readiness to take part in peacekeeping operations.

In addition to assisting the aid effort, the OIC, along with a number of countries, including Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Tunisia and Morocco, have tried to use whatever limited international political clout they have to remedy the situation. The efforts have included meetings with the European Union and the Russians. And perhaps more countries should have followed the Jordanian lead and withdrawn their diplomats from Yugoslavia.

On an individual basis a number of nations have made considerable contributions. As of April 22nd, the private donations from Saudi Arabia alone amounted to over $26 million. The United Arab Emirates has set up a full-fledged refugee camp in Albania and is building an airport. Tunisia has sent aid and set up a medical clinic that treats about 300 patients daily. In addition to sending aid, Turkey has taken in more than 20,000 refugees. Even nearly bankrupt Pakistan has chipped in and offered to take refugees and provide peacekeeping troops. Almost every Muslim entity - including the Palestinians - have contributed in some way or the other.

So the perception that Muslim countries are doing nothing to aid the Kosovars is simply that, a perception. In fact, this was my impression before researching this piece. But with reference to this issue, it's important to keep in mind two things: 1) the western media has not found the Muslim contribution interesting enough to report; and 2) Muslims often times prefer not to publicize and make a media circus of charitable work.

There are lessons to be learned from all this however. Muslims in the West cannot be totally dependent on the mainstream media, allowing it to set the community's agenda. For too long, the Muslim community, though critical of the media, has operated with the assumption that something is the gospel truth once its covered by a major newspaper or television station, and that an issue is only important when the media highlights it. Would Muslims be as concerned had the Kosova crisis not been beamed into homes via CNN, the BBC and other media outlets? Why are we not as concerned about the Kurds? What about Eritrea and Ethiopia? What about the Muslims in Mindanao in the Philippines? What happened to the daily bombardment of Iraq? What happened to the fundraising dinners to help all these other causes? Will our Kosova fundraisers end as soon Nightline deems the issue not worthy of coverage?

Muslims need to stay on top of issues in the Muslim world, even if the news directors think they are not sensational enough for prime time. As Shaikh Mahfoud Nahna, the Algerian Islamist leader, noted during a trip to North America, Muslims living in the democratic West are in the best position to help Muslims the world over by using their constitutional rights to set the nation's agenda. Of course, such lobbying efforts will only work if the community is well aware of the real issues facing the Muslim world and not what the media dictates.