The True Face of Obama

Recently, I’ve received many e-mails from friends I respect urging me to look at the many responses from Arabs, and specifically young Arabs, to Barack Obama’s speech at Cairo University on June 4th that have been posted on Youtube. In his speech, President Obama expressed his administration’s interest in turning over a new leaf with the Islamic World and his wish to close the book on the Bush era.

There is an almost frantic amount of activity online alerting Arabs to “Obama’s true face,” replaying selections from a speech he gave in front of the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) during the presidential election campaign. In this speech, he reiterated many well-known aspects of American policy towards Israel, including his commitment to procure Palestinian recognition of Israel’s right to exist as well as an understanding of Jerusalem as the united and eternal capital of Israel. In speaking to AIPAC, Obama recognized Israel’s steps towards fighting terrorism and emphasized that the U.S.-Israeli alliance is based on a foundation of shared interests and values. According to the president, Israel deserves America’s financial and political support as well as a right to security and military supremacy in the region stretching from “Gaza to Tehran.”

These points, which were met with much applause, supposedly serve as evidence of Obama’s lack of sincerity when he more recently spoke at Cairo University. In contrast to the speech he gave in front of AIPAC, President Obama said in Cairo that he wanted to work towards a new beginning between the United States and Muslims world-wide, a beginning focused on mutual interests and mutual respect. He said that America and Islam are not, in fact, far removed and that there is no reason for them to be in opposition to each other. In addition, Obama reassured the audience that he would work towards implementing a two-state solution as the only way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

There are both Arabs and Muslims who allege that Obama’s intention to change American policy towards the Islamic world are impossibly idealistic; these same critics are working to decipher the true meaning behind Obama’s words with amateur analysis of president’s past rhetoric. However, past speeches were given in a completely different context and, even if Obama was truly disingenuous, there would be plenty of people in the Arab World ready and willing to produce ample evidence of past schisms between the administration’s words and actions.

I am not interested in defending Obama, but rather in defending our right to achieve a “new and different history.” Obama does not seem to be working for the interests of the Arabs and Muslims, nor for the Jews and Israelis. He was looking out for his own interest in becoming president when he gave the speech to AIPAC and he was looking out for the interests of his country by deciding on a new policy towards the Islamic World. Therefore, there is no such thing as the true face (or the deceitful face) of Obama.

What is certain is that we need to use Obama’s speech in order to extract from it some practical benefits for both the Arab cause and for Arab immigrants in the U.S. and in Europe. This is especially true because Obama did not outline any clear or practical steps in order to implement the things he spoke of. If we, the “Arab opposition,” continue to be uncooperative, then we will lose the opportunity afforded by having a black man in the White House. This is also the case with the Arab regimes as well, who are seem unable to come to a consensus on a tangible peace program and so are unable to make any positive progress with the Obama administration. It seems they too will lose this historic opportunity.

We have to remember that the Israelis responded Obama’s speech in Cairo with anger, much like our own reaction to his speech in front of AIPAC. If the sequence of events had been the other way around, and President Obama had changed his position to favor the Israelis instead, would they reject his new position, analyzing and criticizing what Obama said in the past like we Arabs are doing now?

No. I think that they would seize the moment and open a new page of history.