I don't know many people in the Middle East that did not listen to Obama's speech in Cairo. The people that I know think highly of President Obama and his speech was well anticipated.
I have been trying to gauge serious reaction to the speech. Not official government reaction nor the reaction on main street or the Hara as we say in Arabic.
I read some Arabic language internet forums frequented by political activists where the speech is being taken very seriously. For me, however, the most important response that I eagerly anticipated was that of Azmi Bishara. This brief diary highlights parts of that response.
For some time Azmi Bishara has been the preeminent political pundit in the Arab world, particularly in the eastern mediterranean region. His views are closely watched and his analysis typically permeates into official positions of foreign ministries as well as groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Hizbollah. He is a secular leftist former Knesset member, which is Israel's parliament. His influence on the perspective of the Arab and Muslim intelligentcia should not be underestimated. Indeed, his opinions are often pivotal.
Azmi Bishara's writings usually appear in the Israeli Arabic language online newspaper arabs48.
Following Obama's speech Azmi Bishara gave an interview on al-jazeera. Some of his views follow. I'll add my own notes after each dot point to reflect what I think Azmi has in mind.
American policy has always been geared towards American interests. One cannot hope that they will reflect Arab interests.
Nor presumably charge that they reflect Israeli interests. This is a departure from a nascent and dominating idea in the Arab world that US foreign policy is dictated by its pro-Israel lobbies, while intrinsic US interests have been rendered passive or ignored. It is perhaps the most important consequence of the Obama speech. Recently, I had the sense that the thesis of John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt has been greatly exaggerated among some Arab writers and activists.
It is time to identify and develop Arab national interests.
Here the idea is that we are now on equal footing with the US and with Israel. Each has its national interest we have to identify our national interest and interact on this level playing field. This is a rather positive reaction. It conveys the idea of normal diplomatic relations between the Arab world and the US. It signifies that Obama has regain the trust in the Arab world. He is a leader of a nation whose foreign policy is motivated by self interest. The requirement is not even handedness but that each player is self interested.
Obama has adopted the position of the Zionist left.
In Bishara's nomenclature this refers to the position of Meretz, Israel's pro-peace party which distinguishes itself from Bishara's notion of Israel's left by remaining encumbered theoretically with Zionism. In other words, the speech was Zionist ideologically but remains pro-peace. This is a positive development. Further, the Zionist left in Israel has become marginal. Thus, Obama's outlook is not that of the median Israeli voter but the extreme left of the Zionist political perspective. Once again it points to a divergence between US foreign policy and that of Israel.
The chess pieces in the Palestinian-Israeli game have remained unchanged.
Obama has yet to make a substantive move. The ball is in Obama's court now and the strategic outlook for Arabs and Palestinians remains unchanged. This is a common view among Arab pundits. However, here Bishara is saying that the Arab world must remain cautious. Let us see what the US will do and let us see how US foreign policy interests emerge.
Azmi then proceed to highlight some points of caution.
- Obama's opposition to settlements is weaker than the opposition of former secretary of state James Baker.
- We need to remember that had Arabs not resisted in iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon Obama would not have been here talking to us. He is here because US foreign policy (under Bush) has failed.
- However, one must understand that Obama's perceived criticism of Israel is not directed against the status quo of Israeli foreign policy but against the Natanyahu government. Natanyahu has taken up positions that would have been contrary to the interests of even the Bush administration.
That is, don't be surprised if Obama becomes more conciliatory toward the settlements and Israeli policy should Natanyahu's government fall.
Nevertheless, we welcome Obama's policy towards the Palestinians.
We all welcome Obama's refreshing speech.
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To close this diary I'll highlight al-jazeera's Arabic headline A mixed reaction to Obama's speech
http://aljazeera.net/...
al-jazeera is the Arab worlds mainstream news channel and has some influence on Arab public opinion. Here is one thing that appeared there:
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference reacts positively to Obama's speech. In its opinion the speech was constructive and it is pleased with Obama's support of its international role.
Obama has introduced the notion of Islamic world into official American foreign policy. This is something that could be viewed as new and positively. However, one needs to be cautious not to be overly reductionist. There great heterogeneity in the Muslim world.