Obama wins praise of many Muslims

[Douglas Carpenter]

Obama wins praise from many Muslims

link:

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=121380&d=9&m=4&y=2009

"CAIRO: A “turning point,” a “fresh breeze” — even a “light in the darkness.” Arabs and Muslims have been charmed by President Barack Obama’s first venture into the Islamic world.

Obama’s visit to Turkey this week was full of gestures calculated at showing he is a friend to Muslims, like his headliner sound bite that the US will never be “at war with Islam” and his mention of the Muslims in his family.

Even throwaway lines like a comment that he had to wrap up a town-hall meeting with Turkish students “before the call to prayer” showed he was no stranger to Muslims’ way of life.

To many, the town-hall format for a meeting with students in Istanbul on Tuesday sent a significant message. The sight of a US president being questioned by Muslims was dramatically different from the perception many had of Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush. Bush was seen by many Arabs and Muslims as domineering and dictating US policy on the Islamic world."

“Obama is much better than Bush,” Abed Taqoush, a 74-year-old flower shop owner in the Lebanese capital of Beirut said yesterday. “Bush was a war criminal. Obama seems to be a man of peace.” “I believe him,” he said of Obama — a phrase echoed by many yesterday.

But Obama’s charm also heightened expectations for a change in US policy in the Middle East, and many remain deeply skeptical that will happen. Nearly everyone across the region interviewed by The Associated Press said they wanted to see Washington push for the creation of a Palestinian state to resolve the Israeli-Arab conflict


snip: "It was a reminder that while the “clash of civilizations” may exacerbate tensions, the heart of Arab and Muslim anger at the West is over policies, particularly the 2003 invasion of Iraq and what is seen as US favoritism toward Israel. Many focused on Obama’s promise that the US would work for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. But there is also widespread concern Obama will not press the hard-line government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who so far has not expressed his support for a two-state solution."

snip: "Arabs and Muslims have also been encouraged by Obama’s plans for a US withdrawal from Iraq and the closure of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, plus his calls for dialogue with top Mideast rivals Syria and Iran.

Despite worries over policy, the Turkey trip did suggest that style and tone can at least open doors. Libya’s leader Muammar Qaddafi had a sort of backdoor praise. He described Obama as “light in the imperialist darkness,” saying he was “not arrogant like most former American presidents.” Even religious conservatives came away impressed. “The Islamic world should avail of this positive opportunity,” said Sheikh Nimaa Al-Abadi, a cleric at the influential Shiite seminary in the Iraqi city of Najaf. “The opening chapter of Obama in the Islamic world might be a real turning point.” "

link to full article:

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=121380&d=9&m=4&y=2009

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[Idealism]

1. Good article on a perspective not often heard from in the US

A nonexistent perspective for the past 8 years, thats for sure.

You really get the sense of how desperate residents of the Middle-East are for any sign that the status quo has been left behind. I recall many disillusioned voices in the United States sounding very similar because of Bush, too. In the end, we are all just searching for something better than the cruelty we know.

[Howardx]

2. one sentence mentioning i/p

gets it put in here? this is ridiculous.

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. to be fair - the mods didn't move it here - I posted it here as well as in the Presidential forum

I thought it was relevant to both forums.

[Howardx]

4. you can understand my dismay

the policy is ridiculous.

[Douglas Carpenter]

5. considering that the General Discussion Forum and Presidential Forum

are packed full of outlandishly divisive slug fest and the most ridiculous flame wars the human mind is capable of contriving - many times over issues of little or no importance - I would have to agree.

If there are Democrats who think Netanyahu/Lieberman should be defended, I think they are in a small minority and I cannot see how offending them will harm the integrity of the Democratic Party.

There are a lot more American who won't vote for the Democratic Party because they are afraid the Democrats will take away their guns, allow gay marriage or increase the number of abortions than because they are afraid the Democrats might start becoming marginally more sympathetic to the Palestinians and mildly more critical of Israel.