Region | Palestinian Territories
Wanted: More than just words
To many Arabs and Muslims, US President Barack Obama's "gestures" towards them were, during the first two weeks, properly well-chosen moves.
- By Jumana Al Tamimi, Associate Editor
- Published: 23:15 February 4, 2009
Dubai: To many Arabs and Muslims, US President Barack Obama's "gestures" towards them were, during the first two weeks, properly well-chosen moves.
But it is still a beginning, and actually the start has further encouraged more expectations of more steps from the President, who received cheers of millions of Arabs and Muslims, like the rest of the world, during and after the race to the helm of the sole superpower.
"The first phase of Obama's policy to improve the US image has started," Iranian analyst Sabah Zanghani told Gulf News, "with statements given here and there and [by stating] how he [Obama] is determined to change (things)."
Obama's statements have received "massive attention from the US and international media, and [accordingly] raised big expectations [among people]," Zanghani added.
Obama became the first US president to mention Muslims in his inauguration address when he described the US as a "nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers".
Furthermore, being sworn in using his Arabic middle name Hussain "sends a powerful signal", noted experts. Even the US media signalled out using the name "Hussain", and noted there were prior guesses whether he might use the name "Barack H. Obama".
Obama is planning to address the Muslim world from a Muslim capital during the first 100 days in office, according to reports.
"Now, my job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in the well-being of the Muslim world that the language we use has to be a language of respect. I have Muslim members of my family, I have lived in Muslim countries," he said in his first interview after his inauguration. Notably, he gave it to an Arabic channel, Al Arabiya.
However, many experts and scholars are noting fixing America's image requires more than statements. It requires "more courage" in US policy, as Zanghani put it.
"The Muslim world is looking forward to a new American policy towards its just causes," Abdul Aziz Al Tuwaijri, Director-General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( ISESCO) wrote in a recently published article.
"Will America, in its new era, be a friend to the Palestinian children while they are being subjected to killing and aggression? Will America be a friend to the Arab and Muslim nation, which suffers from many problems as a result of imbalance of international justice scale, and America's silence towards the crimes against humanity committed by Israel in Palestine and by American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan?"
Shortly after his inauguration, a group of Muslim scholars, experts, political activists sent an open letter to Obama, urging him to end the injustice inflicted on Arabs and Muslims for peace to prevail and for America to restore its image.
"Civilisation can't flourish and peace and security can't be enjoyed by the world unless justice prevails on the ground and dominated international relations," the letter said.
Improving the US image abroad, which was damaged as a result to the US actions following 9/11 terrorist attacks, is one of Obama's inheritance from his predecessor George W. Bush was the task of improving the US image abroad, which was damaged as a result to the US actions following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Interestingly, Obama's inauguration ceremony was the most covered new event in the world within the same day since the September 11, 2001 attacks, a media coverage analysis said.
"The event [inauguration] has occupied 60.54 per cent of all news space coverage over a period of 24 hours," a Montréal-based Influence Communication, which conducts media monitoring and analysis for the media coverage, said.
The Middle East regional coverage over a 24-hour span to the inauguration ceremony was 30.72 per cent, comparing to 71.12 per cent in North America.
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