Arabs say 'aye' to Obama speech

Arabs reacted with amazement and enthusiasm to Thursday’s address to the Muslim world by US President Barack Obama. Most dismissed out of hand the contention of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who said earlier in the day that the peoples of West Asia share a “deep hatred” of the US.

Khamanei was speaking on the 20th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khamenei declared: “The nations in the region hate the United States from the bottom of their hearts because they have seen violence, military intervention and discrimination. The new US government seeks to trans- form this image. I say that this will not be achieved by talking, speech and slogans. They have done things that have deeply hurt the nations in the region... action is needed and one cannot remove this deep hatred by words, speeches and slogans.”

Ahmad Youssef, senior adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, called the address “a great speech and a landmark” because Obama rejected the idea that the Muslim world and the US are on a collision course.  Youssef compared the address to the famous “I have a dream” speech of US black leader Martin Luther King. Youssef stated, however, that Palestinians should not be called upon to recognise Israel until the Israeli occupation has ended and a Palestinian state is created.

Independent Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti said that Obama suggested that the US would accept a Palestinian unity government including Hamas, opening the way to dialogue with Hamas. Barghouti said Obama must follow up his address by avoiding the “trap of creating a peace process without peace”. He said that the US must exert pressure on Israel to accept the two-state solution.

Change of tone

Egyptian analyst Omar Kaki praised Obama’s “change of tone” from that adopted by the Bush administration. Obama spoke about “Palestine” rather than “Palestinians”, showing that he intends to work to end Palestinian statelessness.

Arab Christians also listened to the address with great in- terest. Sophia Saadeh, a Lebanese academic and author, said: “It was a very good speech. He was honest in confronting the issues.”

Palestinian commentator Marwan Bishara refused to be “dazzled” by Obama’s performance. Bishara said the US cannot simply deploy troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan because this is “illegal” while he accused Obama of using selective language when speaking about nuclear weapons in the region.