Egyptians upset Obama hasn't abandoned Israel yet
To 'balance' the 'pro-Israel' Thomas Friedman, the New York Times ran an op-ed on Sunday from an Egyptian author named Alaa Al Aswany (who apparently does not write English - the article was translated from Arabic), who complains bitterly about the fact that President Obama has not sufficiently abandoned Israel yet (Hat Tip: Hot Air). We saw Mr. Obama as a symbol of this justice. We welcomed him with almost total enthusiasm until he underwent his first real test: Gaza. Even before he officially took office, we expected him to take a stand against Israel’s war on Gaza. We still hope that he will condemn, if only with simple words, this massacre that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, many of them civilians. (I don’t know what you call it in other languages, but in Egypt we call this a massacre.) We expected him to address the reports that the Israeli military illegally used white phosphorus against the people of Gaza. We also wanted Mr. Obama, who studied law and political science at the greatest American universities, to recognize what we see as a simple, essential truth: the right of people in an occupied territory to resist military occupation.As usual with the Arabs it's 'my way or the highway.' That's gotten them pretty far in the past sixty years, hasn't it?
But Mr. Obama has been silent. So his brilliantly written Inaugural Speech did not leave a big impression on Egyptians. We had already begun to tune out. We were beginning to recognize how far the distance is between the great American values that Mr. Obama embodies, and what can actually be accomplished in a country where support for Israel seems to transcend human rights and international law.
Mr. Obama’s interview with Al Arabiya on Jan. 27 was an event that was widely portrayed in the Western news media as an olive branch to the Muslim world. But while most of my Egyptian friends knew about the interview, by then they were so frustrated by Mr. Obama’s silence that they weren’t particularly interested in watching it. I didn’t see it myself, but I went back and read the transcript. Again, his elegant words did not challenge America’s support of Israel, right or wrong, or its alliances with Arab dictators in the interest of pragmatism.
I then enlisted the help of my two teenage daughters, May and Nada, to guide me through the world of Egyptian blogs, where young Egyptian men and women can express themselves with relative freedom. There I found a combination of glowing enthusiasm for Mr. Obama, a comparison between the democratic system in America and the tyranny in Egypt, the expectation of a fairer American policy in the Middle East, and then severe disappointment after Mr. Obama’s failure to intercede in Gaza. I thus concluded that no matter how many envoys, speeches or interviews Mr. Obama offers to us, he will not win the hearts and minds of Egyptians until he takes up the injustice in the Middle East. I imagine the same holds true for much of the greater Muslim world.
The cartoon above (shown last fall after the conventions were over) does a pretty good job of summarizing how Mr. Al Aswany sees President Obama. But the cartoon is a lie.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:45 AM
10 Comments:
I found no diffrence between Ayatullah in Iran and Haniyah in Ghaza and you in Israel
Till when we still live in your religious wars?
Isn't enough?
Let your people live,no matter where the bordr line stands
Look at Europe and see how prosper it.
The Arab World has done a heckuva job destroying itself without the Zionist entity's assistance. Bear in mind most Arab countries share no border at all with Israel so Israel can't be the cause of their backwardness. But its always useful to have the Jews around as an alibi.
Give Obama some time and he will swing to Alaa Al Aswany’s way of thinking. Obama is practiced in the art of deception. Israel will be abandon is tiny steps.
Obama has said he will “restore America’s image with the Arab world” and he will. Israel will be marginalized in a clever way.
As a side note, these articles did not occur by happenstance. You will be smeared by the NYT for the remainder of the Obama Administration. You can see how the NYT and the WaPo despise you.
Dr Wael this is not the West's religious war, it is the Muslim jihadis using the Quran as a religious obligation to kill kafir.
The West is even in denial about the Muslim world attempting to force Islamic Supremacism down the West's throat.
Dr Wael is correct. The kaffirs have three choices: to convert to Islam, to die or to live as persecuted dhimmis. That is Islam in its true form.
I wonder what would Dr. Wael and other appeasers would do if war was imposed on them and their families. Read Hamas covenant and get familiar with concepts of "Dar al-Harb" and "Dar al-Islam".
Dr Wael, Give us a break and make your wars alone. The Islamic fanatic world have it's own merits for wars against every one including among themselves, you should not invent a cause for a war, but the very existence of the opponent. See 911 for example, which has nothing to do with the Israeli-Arab conflict. The western democrats' progressive states also wage wars when ever they can (Among themselves and against dictatorships and now against the growing Muslims' enclaves in the 'western world') . See only the last century until these days – hundreds of conflicts! I find no difference between you, "Enlighten Westerners" and the Islamo-fascists. Keep fight who ever you want but do us a favor and solve your problems with out involving Israel in you problems. Don't turn into Israel for help when the war will knock on your door.
It is only a matter of time before Obama attempts to throw Israel under the bus. I say attempt, for Israel won't budge then.
Dr. Wael,
I'm looking at Europe. I'm looking at Malmo. I'm looking at Amsterdam. I'm looking at Madrid. I'm looking at London. You think there are no religious wars in Europe?
Everywhere Islam goes, it leaves death and destruction in its wake. Islam is stuck in the 8th century. I won't commit suicide by yielding to it.
Sorry.
"Egyptians upset Obama hasn't abandoned Israel yet "
Hey, cut the guy some slack. As soon as it comes up on his teleprompter he'll deal with it.
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