Region | Egypt
Key issues avoided in Obama speech, analysts say
If the Saudi political scientist Sadaqeh Fadil was asked to rate US President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo on Thursday on a scale of ten points, it would get six.
- By Jumana al Tamimi, Associate Editor
- Published: 23:11 June 4, 2009
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tour theSultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo.
Dubai: If the Saudi political scientist Sadaqeh Fadil was asked to rate US President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo on Thursday on a scale of ten points, it would get six.
Fadil, like many analysts across the Arab region, said he was expecting the speech to tackle certain issues in more detail, mainly the Palestinian question -or to mention some other issues, namely the Israeli nuclear arsenal.
While there seemed to be a consensus the hour-long speech included outlines of the US administration policies towards the Arab region, and reflected a "change" from the previous US administration, expectations were higher than what was actually said.
"Personally I didn't expect the speech to include details," Fadil, who is also a member of the Saudi Shura Council, said in an interview with Gulf News.
Yet, "as an Arab and a Muslim observer, I was hoping it would include criticism of the US policies of the former administration of George W. Bush.. I was expecting the speech to be more frank on the Palestinian suffering. I was hoping that the speech would mention the huge Israeli nuclear arsenal."
Obama spoke on different issues ranging from terrorism, tolerance in Islam, women and education, as well as the Arab-Israeli conflict.
But his words on the Palestinian questions were not sufficient nor just, according to analysts. Others believe the speech was too general.
"He [Obama] equals between the victim and the aggressor," Ishaq Al Farhan, Secretary-General of the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, said.
The US president "has not called on Israel to remove the colonies [on the West Bank and Gaza], nor to implement the UN resolutions to the Palestinian question. He [just] called to stop the colonies activities," Al Farhan told Gulf News in an interview.
However, some analysts warn of expectations being too great at this stage. Others believe Obama's speech showed that US policies towards the Arab region will continue as they are.
"Obama spoke in detail about the Jews suffering, their rights, goals and Israel," Palestinian political analyst Hani Al Masri said.
"But he didn't give the same space [in his speech] to the Palestinian suffering... He avoided the hint of the core problem: the occupation and he didn't say there is an [Israeli] occupation and this is a dangerous weak point in the speech," Al Masri said in an interview with Gulf News.
"The issue is not to freeze colonies activities. Colonies are part of the occupation," he added.
Furthermore, Obama "avoided" mentioning important issues, including the borders of the future Palestinian state.
Obama's description of the Arab peace initiative as just a "beginning not an end" constitutes a "dangerous thing", according to the West Bank analyst.
Such a position might be interpreted as "a hidden call" for Arabs and Muslims to normalise relations with Israel. The Arab initiative, calls for a complete Israeli withdrawal to June 1967 lines and for a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.
Obama's call for democracy, free elections and emergency laws were all "enough for the time being, and we are waiting for more effective steps in the future," Jamal Eid, head of the Cairo-based Arab network for Human Rights, said.
He said he turned down the invitation to attend the speech for many reasons, including the presence of the Israeli Ambassador to Cairo.
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