This territorial conflict between Christian/Muslim Palestinians and the Israelis was exploited by the religious extremists, and was turned into a rallying call for jihad, thus emphasizing the religious dimensions with repercussions from Morocco to Indonesia. After 60 years, to many in the Arab and the larger Muslim world the core issue remains the Israeli-Palestinian territorial conflict. The toughest part will be translating these words into actions where all parties see and feel the change on the ground. The operative word in reaction to the President’s speech was “action.” In many ways, giving the speech was the easiest part. We need to translate these words into tangible results.” In an open letter to the Al-Ahram Weekly, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, wrote that “policies can only be improved by adopting a collection of actions and attitudes.” Now, we as Arabs have to do our part to take the necessary steps to respond to these positive gestures. He described the speech as “historic” and added, “This is a very good beginning. Similar sentiments were echoed by another prominent TV commentator in a call to me. I hope he will be able to transform these words into actions.” Likewise, former head of one of the largest business organizations called to offer congratulations on a “great” speech and said he is “now ready to visit the U.S.” after an eight year hiatus. ![]() He replied, “We just want to be treated with respect.” As The President used his second quotation from the Koran, the man sitting next to me impetuously stood up and shouted “Obama, I love you!” After the speech, he said “we have been waiting for this for a very long time. I asked him what his expectations were from President Obama. ![]() Senior Advisor, Business for Diplomatic ActionĪt President Obama’s speech yesterday, an elderly bearded man holding a prayer beads in hand sat next to me at the Cairo University as we waited for the long anticipated speech. administration or not, and what will Muslims and Arabs do to help Obama in this endeavor. However, the critical question remains – will these words to be translated into actions and policies by the U.S. I would say that Obama won the first round in the battle of winning Muslim hearts and minds. and Muslim world, and he called on all Muslims to focus on common ground and to decrease the differences between peoples. Generally, Obama was honest in addressing differences and commonalities between U.S. Obama made it clear that all these parties should work together to change the stereotypes about each other and forge new avenues for improved relations. Second, Obama tried to satisfy all parts in the Muslim world and Middle East, mentioning Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Shi’ites, Sunnis, and Copts. In laying out these issues, Obama was very clear and direct in calling for to a new beginning in the relationship between Muslims and United States. and Muslims – Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Arab-Israel conflict, democracy promotion, and women’s rights. First, the President addressed all of the key issues that currently shape the relationship between the U.S. President Obama’s speech succeeded on several levels. Senior Fellow at Al-ahram Foundation and Expert on Middle East politics Relations with the Islamic World asked leading experts and policy-makers from the United States and the Muslim world to submit their thoughts on the speech.Ĭommentary from: Egypt | India | Malaysia | Pakistan | United Kingdom | United States , the Saban Center at Brookings’ Project on U.S. On June 4, President Obama delivered what was billed as a “major speech to the Muslim world” in Cairo, Egypt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |