Region | Egypt
Presidents who have addressed Muslim affairs
Gulf News sifts through history to highlight the most significant presidential addresses to the Arab and Muslim world.
- By Magda El-Ghitany, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:36 June 3, 2009
Perhaps US President Barack Obama is arguably the first leader to enjoy such wide popularity among Muslims.
Many Muslims have placed high expectations on his speech in Cairo on Thursday to help them reach a fair solution to vital issues such as human rights and settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
But he is certainly not the first to address them. With the end of the Second World War and the rise of the US as a major global power, the country worked hard to secure its vital strategic interests in the Muslim/Arab world and has not stopped in its quest.
US foreign policy has historically evolved with the presence of oil in the Arabian Gulf, the need to support and protect Israel, its goal to contain Arab nationalism and Soviet/Communist expansion, the aftermath of September 11 attacks with its ensuing war on terror and finally its attempts to enforce democracy in the Muslim world.
Gulf News sifts through history to highlight the most significant presidential addresses to the Arab and Muslim world.
Harry Truman
A turning point for the US vision of the Arab/Muslim world was President Harry Truman's speech in which he recognised the state of Israel.
On May 14, 1948, Truman announced the US government's full recognition of the state of Israel. The speech only lasted for 11 minutes but was to change the region's dynamics forever.
T.Roosevelt
Former President Theodore Roosevelt visited Egypt in March 1909 and addressed people from Cairo University.
Roosevelt aggressively dismissed Egyptian demands for a constitution, describing their desire for independence and self-rule as "premature".
He said that Egypt (British occupied) still had a long way to go to achieve such a goal. Roosevelt repeated his thoughts on the Arab/Muslim world when shortly after his speech in Cairo he praised the British officials' governance of the Muslim world.
Speaking in London, he congratulated British officials for giving Egypt the "best" government it had in history. He advised the British colonialists to treat the Egyptians firmly, saying that it was in the interests of "civilisation" to treat "uncivilised" nations in this manner.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
In 1944, towards the end of the Second World War, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) sought to lay his hands on the Arabian peninsula's oil.
He met with Saudi Arabia's King Abdul Aziz Bin Saud in the middle of the Suez Canal (in the Great Bitter Lake). Following the historic Yalta conference, there was an informal agreement to bar Germany and Japan from the peninsula's oil supplies and the American share was secured.
Eisenhower
Following the rise of Arab anti-Western nationalism in the Middle East, the strong ties the USSR then had with the region, and Egypt's President Nasser's seizing control of the Suez Canal, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a proposal to Congress that demanded a proactive US policy in the region.
The "Eisenhower Doctrine", as the proposal was later known, laid the foundation for perceiving the Middle East as the battlefield for the Cold War.
It included $200 million (Dh734 million) to be provided in 1958 and 1959 to nations that were friends with the US in the region, and boost their economic and military capabilities.
The "Eisenhower Doctrine" was first implemented in 1958, when civil strife in Lebanon made the country's president seek American help. Around 15,000 US troops were sent to help quell the disturbances.
John F. Kennedy
On May 11, 1961, John F. Kennedy sent six letters to Arab leaders: President Chehab of Lebanon, King Hussain of Jordan, Prime Minister Qasim of Iraq, King Saud of Saudi Arabia, and Imam Ahmad of Yemen.
In his letters he recognised the importance of the Palestinian question for all Muslims and Arabs. "I know deep emotions are involved. No easy solution presents itself. The American government and people believe that an honourable and humane settlement can be found and are willing to share in the labours and burdens, which so difficult an achievement must entail, if the parties concerned genuinely desire such participation.
"We are willing to help resolve the tragic Palestine refugee problem on the basis of the principle of repatriation or compensation for properties, to assist in finding an equitable answer to the question of Jordan River water resources development and to be helpful in making progress on other aspects of this complex problem."
Addressing development he wrote: "With a view toward improving the welfare of the people of the Middle East, the United States is prepared to continue to support national development programmes",
George W. Bush
It was President George W. Bush's speech before the Congress on September 20 2001, following the September 11 attacks, that marked the beginning of the "war on terror" policy that took place on Muslim lands for the following eight years.
In his speech, he asked the famous question: "Why do they hate us?" referring to terrorists. Bush outlined the US new policy towards the Muslim world - which resulted in almost a political redrawing of the Arab world following the fall of Iraq. Sectarian conflicts and the immense rise of Iran as a key political player in the region followed.
He also started his war against Al Qaida and the Taliban regime. Bush addressed Muslims directly in his speech, emphasising that Islam is not the target of the US war on terror, that it is not America's enemy but only the terrorists that act in its name.
"I... want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends. It is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them... [terrorists] want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan..."
Magda El-Ghitany is a New York-based journalist specialising in Near Eastern affairs.
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