Obama’s Words in Cairo

In Egypt, Obama told Arabs and Muslims that anti-Western sentiments do not justify dictatorships.

The bloody battle in Libya is rooted directly in the revolts of Egypt and Tunisia that put an end to two long lasting dictatorships. The spark that lit the fire in the Arab and Islamic world came when a Tunisian student immolated himself in an act of protest against the authorities for confiscating his fruit stand.

The revolts do not have a known initiator, leaders or any kind of elaborate intellectual discourse. The tyrannies have not been able to control the anger provoked by poverty, corruption, unemployment and the disappointment of the multitude of young people who have discovered global television and new technologies as a means to change the regimes that were formerly thought indestructible.

Barack Obama might be much criticized in the United States, where he was punished in the November legislative elections. However, it is worth rereading the speech he made at the University of Cairo on Jun. 3, 2009 in order to find the baseline of the discourse that upset the authority of so many autocrats, dictators and millionaire sheiks.

In his Cairo speech, Obama affirmed that Israel has the right to a secure existence, asking Arab governments to stop using the conflict in the Middle East as an excuse to neglect their own obligations.

The speech was witnessed by millions of Arabs, including Islamic leaders, who heard Obama’s words: “Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons.”

He said that the United States is not at war with Islam, and that there is no sense in upholding the hostility of recent years, adding that Muslim culture and religion form a substantial part of North American history.

Obama said that no system of government should be imposed upon one nation by any other. Further, he added that a transparent government is one that does not steal from its people, allows them freedom of choice and respects its minorities.

Furthermore, he said that government of the people by the people is not only a North American idea, but has universal value.

But it is not easy to change the historic relationship of confrontation between the West and Islam. Obama said that he acknowledges that these changes cannot happen overnight, and that no speech can eradicate years of mistrust. He devalued many excuses used by Arab and Muslim leaders to justify their authoritarian and corrupt regimes.

He admitted that “privately, many Muslims recognize that Israel will not go away. Likewise, many Israelis recognize the need for a Palestinian state.”

It is time to voice private opinions in public. The future is full of uncertainty. But deep down, something has changed.