Posted by US president Barack Obama begins his first state visit to the Arab World today (03.06.2009). The expectations are immense. After meetings with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia to discuss the Middle East peace process, Obama will travel to Egypt on Thursday, where he will deliver a speech to the Muslims of the world.
Diário de Notícias – Portugal | 03/06/2009
The daily Diário de Noticias comments on the clear demands of US President Barack Obama for Israel to stop establishing new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories:
“Shortly before his Middle East trip the US presient criticised … Israel’s expansionist measures and insisted that the government of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu accept the two-state solution. The guarantees of peaceful coexistence that Israel quite rightly expects of its neighbours are one thing. But the new zealots who want to … take over Judea settlement by settlement to fulfil Jehovah’s promises to God’s chosen people are quite another. … Now the US will no longer close its eyes to all this. … The great American friend has finally realised that the current situation prevents the founding of a Palestinian state. The time for skilful diplomacy, with painful concessions on both sides, has come.”
Mediapart.fr – France | 02/06/2009
On Thursday the US president will give a speech to the Islamic world. The online newspaper Mediapart comments:
“A new era has dawned with Barack Obama. … The 44th president of the United States has built up an image of reconciliation, with his personal experience (as an African and American, and as a Christian with a Muslim middle name [Hussein]), his style of governing … and his handling of the problems he has encountered until now. But in wanting to dance at two weddings – and more – Obama is threatening to inflate people’s hopes to the bursting point. … He cannot be content merely to deliver a pretty speech full of pathos and platitudes. Besides, his ‘speech to the Muslim World’ has now been transformed into a ‘speech to the Arab World’. … Nevertheless even words can be dangerous, because they stir up hopes that must not be disappointed. And in the Middle East this has all too often been the case.”
Večer – Slovenia | 03/06/2009
According to the Slovenian daily Večer, US President Barack Obama is every bit the pragmatist:
“One thing is clear: Obama will above all attempt to ease the tensions between the West and the Islamic World brought about by his predecessor George W. Bush. This is important not only for the cooperation between two religions and cultures, but for global cooperation and security as a whole. With his Muslim roots, Obama has shown himself to be a pragmatist in recent months. If he doesn’t solve the conflict altogether, at least he won’t worsen it. But Obama too has his own problem. Even if people are not talking about it publicly, a majority of the Muslim world resents the fact that he broke his promise to close the Guantánamo Bay prison immediately. … If he also breaks his electoral promise to withdraw the US army from Iraq by mid 2010, all the pragmatism in the world isn’t going to help him.”
La Stampa – Italy | 03/06/2009
The liberal daily La Stampa stresses the significance of the venue for Barack Obama’s speech to the Islamic world:
“Each one of his speeches [up to now] has been delivered at a place that is closely bound up with the meaning of the message. … American presidents travel a lot. … But the real talking takes place in Washington. That’s where the agreements and strategic friendships are established. The empire is a pyramid; the legitimation of the barbarians can only take place in the new Rome. But this time the pyramid is being turned upside down. Obama is talking to the Muslims in the places where they live. He talks to the Koranic schools of the Arab world from the lectern of a major Arab university. He addresses them as equals, visits their places as a pilgrim among pilgrims, the places where the conflict was born. … Perhaps Obama’s Middle East tour won’t be decisive, but this doesn’t change the fact that with this trip to Cairo Obama is writing a cultural chapter that makes the metaphor of the impossible come true: for the first time we are seeing the mountain that leads to the [Prophet] Muhammad.”
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