Region | Egypt
Lip service or conviction: Is US leader's sentiment real?
It was an offer for a new beginning by US President Barack Obama to the Islamic world, but many Gulf News readers are cynical of its outcome.
- By Anupa Kurian, Readers Editor
- Published: 22:44 June 4, 2009
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tour the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo on Thursday.
Dubai: It was an offer for a new beginning by US President Barack Obama to the Islamic world, but many Gulf News readers are cynical of its outcome.
The world was watching as he held forth at Cairo University and promised to work with Muslim nations to create a world free of nuclear weapons and where freedom of choice is the right of women.
Obama was clear on the US Middle East policy, which has had defining moments of change since his predecessor.
However, Palestinian expatriate Mark Freiwat was distinctively unimpressed. The 28-year-old banker said: "I would say the speech was as expected. It was just a new way of perceiving the same idea and the result will be the same!"
He agreed that there were some new points raised. "Obama touched upon some aspects of terrorism previously not mentioned, but the rest was all as expected."
Freiwat felt that although the US president said "the cycle of suspicion and discord must end," little would come of it.
He said: "Obama's speech was about appeasement ... pleasing the faction of US detractors who are against the country's anti-terrorism measures.
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"He was trying to please everybody. His denouncement of Israeli settlements is positive, but there is not going to be any result. The fact is that the political leaders are accepting of the status quo; it is the people on the ground who refuse to accept it."
Freiwat emphasised that there would be no change, especially as "it [Israeli-Palestinian] has been going on for over 60 years."
Ala'a Khalil, a Jordanian engineer agreed. He said that although the speech declared "America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own," nothing would be achieved.
The 23-year-old civil engineer said: "There is never any follow through ... something eventually ends up blocking the process."
As for Obama's speech itself, Khalil said it was "very typical of western perception and of a newly-elected president."
Egyptian expatriate Ezzat Mogazy struck a more positive note. The 30-year-old physiotherapist, said: "Obama's speech offers hope for the east and the west. Our world is shrinking, what happens in one country has impact on borders across the globe. We are all connected."
He echoed the sentiment conveyed by the US President's speech which noted "if we choose to be bound by the past, we will never move forward."
"We have to stop thinking in terms of Muslims and non-Muslims. People are tired of violence and divisiveness. Everybody has to broaden their perspective," Mogazy said.
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