A New Beginning With Muslims - President Barack Obama
Obama Speech Seeks to Alter Muslims’ View of U.S. - Zeleny & Cooper, NYT
The Mediator Takes on the Middle East - David Paul Kuhn, RealClearPolitics
Time is Ripe to End Arab-Israeli Conflict - Shimon Peres, Times of London

• Obama in Cairo
  • Urges 'New Beginning' with Muslims
  • Obama: Islam, US Share Principles
  • Obama Says Iran Has Right to Peaceful Nuclear Energy
  • Iran Rips Obama Before Speech
  • Obama Rejects Israeli Settlements

We Are No Longer a Christian Nation - Ann Althouse, Althouse
Imagine If This Happened Under Bush - Philip Klein, AmSpecBlog
Obama and Democracy on the Nile - Michael Crowley, The Plank
Now Obama Even Sounds Like Bush - Abe Greenwald, Contentions

Obama Reaches Out To Islamic World

While reading the first two pages of President Obama's Speech, I made the following editorial suggestions:

1. Substitute Nation for God

2. Substitute Relationship for Partnerships

3. Substitute Actions for Extremisms

4. Insert Actions between extremists

5.Cross out Of Its

6. Substitute persons for extremist

7. Substitute A Hand Full Of Al-Qaida Leaders

8. Insert Dogmatic Forms Of before Violent

Those of us readers who are interested, let's discuss and critique the, "Beginning of the Speech" without consideration of what comes Next?

I'm waiting awhile before I read the rest of the speech...I would appreciate some feedback on my suggested
revisions...

Osama Speaks as Obama Lands in Saudi Arabia

Al Qaeda Leader: "Obama Has Planted New Seeds of Hatred."

var addthis_pub = 'abcnews';




Pakistan Expanded Taliban Offensive in Swat Valley
Pakistan recently expanded it's military offensive in the Swat Valley where the Taliban and the army already have fought each other twice. Although the provincial government wanted to salvage a peace deal it signed with the Taliban in February, that deal appears to be in tatters. Bin Laden blasts Pakistan's actions in Swat as "part of an American, Jewish, Indian conspiracy".


http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=7743936&page=2

Hot Peas going in this jumping rope match..Get your pop corn and Corona Beer Here!

Let's do a Group edit on the speech? (first two pages first and then the whole speech).

Responses to Obama in Cairo: the best of the talking heads -- Foreign Policy Blog

Obama's Tough Tour de Force in Cairo -- David Corn, CQ Politics

Speech Was a Series of Moral Equivalences -- Jonathan Tobin, Commentary

A Familiar Ring: Like Bush, But Effective -- Michael Crowley, New Republic

Long Odds on Israeli Settlements -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

Can Obama Live Up to His Speech? -- Shmuel Rosner, The New Republic

Obama's Astonishing Message on Palestine -- Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy

A Great Sell, But Are Muslims Buying? -- Max Boot, Commentary Magazine

Was Cairo the Right Place to Speak? -- Larry Diamond, The Plank

The False Equivalencies in Obama's Cairo Speech -- Max Boot, Contentions

What Obama Promised in Cairo -- Robert Naiman, Huffington Post

Obama in Cairo: Not a Game Changer -- Lisa Curtis, The Foundry

An Awful Speech -- Commentary

INSTANT VIEW: Reaction after Obama addresses Muslims -- Reuters

Obama's outreach: The view from Dubai -- The Global Post

Don't lecture us: Arabs tell Obama -- Yahoo News/AFP

Palestinians judge Obama by his deeds rather than words -- China View

Has Obama Defeated the Israel Lobby? -- Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy

Reaction To Obama's Speech In Cairo -- CBS News

Obama Calls For New Beginning Between US, Muslims -- Yahoo News/AP

CAIRO – President Barack Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims" Thursday and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East.

"This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," Obama said in a widely anticipated speech in one of the world's largest Muslim countries, an address designed to reframe relations after the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Read more ....

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his highly-anticipated address to the Muslim world on June 4, 2009 in the Grand Hall of Cairo University in Cairo. U.S. President Barack Obama discussed Middle East peace with his Egyptian host on Thursday ahead of a much-heralded address to the world's Muslims, seeking to heal a wide rift between America and Islam. Photograph by: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images

More News On President Obama's Speech In Cairo To The Muslim World

TRANSCRIPT: Prepared Remarks of President Obama in Cairo: President Obama's speech at Cairo University. -- FOX News
Obama speaks in Cairo: Live blog -- USA Today Live Blog
Key Points: President Obama's Cairo Speech -- CBS News
Obama in Egypt: Freedom of Religion Central to Peace Among People -- ABC News
Obama calls for new beginning between U.S., Muslims -- Reuters
Obama Calls for New Beginning in US-Muslim Ties -- Voice of America
Obama vows 'new beginning' with Islam -- AFP
Obama Calls for New Beginning With World's Muslims -- Washington Post
'America, Islam are not exclusive,' Obama says in Cairo -- L.A. Times
Obama reaches out to Muslim world -- BBC
In Cairo, Obama Calls for End to Israeli Settlements -- FOX News
Obama defends religious freedoms in Cairo speech -- AP
Obama: Extremists exploit tension between Islam, West -- Reuters/Alertnet
Obama acknowledges US history with Iran -- AP
Obama: no permanent US presence in Afghanistan -- AP
Obama: equality should be a woman's choice -- AP
Obama: U.S. 'not at war with Islam' -- CNN
Obama Aims to Repair Ties With Muslim World -- Wall Street Journal
For Obama’s Speech, Cairo Streets Empty -- New York Times
Egyptians Crave Deeds More Than Words -- New York Times
In speech in Cairo, Barack Obama seeks 'common ground' with Islam -- Politico
What Obama will try to accomplish in Cairo -- Christian Science Monitor

From one Cairo speech to another
Thu, 06/04/2009 - 7:08pm By Christian Brose

Watching President Obama's speech today in Cairo was like déjà vu all over again for me. I played a part in that other Cairo speech, and today brought back memories of how exciting an event like this is, how taxing it can be on those involved (I was sick and borderline hallucinatory back four years ago), and how a U.S. motorcade can grind traffic in Cairo to an absolute halt. I remember seeing one furious driver standing beside his car shaking his fist at us as we whizzed by back in 2005. Hearts and minds, hearts and minds...

As a kind of veteran of Cairo speeches, I give Obama mostly high marks, bearing in mind what the speech was supposed to be. It was gauzy sentiment, expressions of principle, on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand ecumenism, gestures of courtship, sweet nothings, and some harmless pandering -- and that is what it needed to be. The context for Obama's Cairo speech was quite different than Rice's Cairo speech. A lot happened in the past four years. Whether you think recent U.S. policy was necessary or not, we can all agree that it was unpopular, that it produced tension and mistrust. A speech won't resolve that of course, but any president at this moment would want to try to clear the air a bit and signal a fresh start (even if the policies are often similar). And Obama did that without really rubbing anyone's nose in it. As for whether this was more of his "apology tour," well, Rice told her audience in Cairo that, for 60 years, the U.S. government sided with autocrats over democrats for the sake of stability, and failed to achieve it. That's an apology if ever there were one, and it was effective. Soft power has its limits, but also its purposes.

Ambrose Bierce once called diplomacy "the patriotic art of lying for one's country." Obama, instead, committed himself to "speak the truth as best he can." Which he did, sort of. He spoke truths, but not particularly hard ones: The United States is not at war with Islam. We're not an empire either, and we don't want to be in Iraq forever. Democracy and human rights are great things. So is freedom of religion. Women have rights too, and deserve education. We'll engage with everyone respectfully, at least the ones who renounce violence first. A world without nuclear weapons is a great goal, especially if it includes Iran. Israelis and Palestinians both have legitimate concerns, but also urgent responsibilities -- essentially what's been in the Roadmap for years: renouncing and fighting violence for Palestinians, and freezing settlements for Israelis.

You could call this truth-telling. You could also call it difference-splitting. Either way, none of it is really earth-shattering, but it's what Obama had to do, and he did it with his characteristic thoughtfulness and gravitas.

Still, I can't help but feel frustrated that I've been watching Obama closely for more than two years now, and after an hour-long speech in Cairo today, I still don't have a clear read of which way he'll come down on the looming hard decisions for which there is no middle ground, try as he may to carve some out. He talked about violent extremist groups and democratic elections. Well, Hezbollah is about to win one (partly) in a few days. Then what? He talked about democracy and the non-linear path that it often takes. Well, I'm not sure where on that path the Egyptian or Saudi governments are, and surely today's speech won't stop them from imprisoning peaceful dissidents, and worse. So, then what? How hard will Obama strain those relationships for the sake of human rights, if at all? Will he then speak some truth to our authoritarian friends about how America's support for democracy is being harmed by their abuse of their people? Or for that matter, how hard will Obama push his own Congress and State Department to restore the funding that was recently cut for democratic reformers in Egypt? He also talked about the war in Afghanistan, which may very well get worse before the new commanders, troops, civilians, and resources can make it better over the coming year, and many in Obama's own party may start heading for the door. Then what? I have no idea.

Today's speech in Cairo wasn't the time to get into plans and specifics, but that time is coming. It's a truism to say that rhetoric can't solve all or even most problems, and that actions matter most. Well, some really unpleasant realities are about to intrude on this "new beginning." And as the last several years have shown, reality has a nasty habit of stinking up the place. For all the things Obama needed to say (and that I support him saying) to his Muslim audience today, I as an American am still left with more questions than answers.

Obama in Cairo -- a modest step forward
Thu, 06/04/2009 - 2:25pm By Peter Feaver

For my part, I thought the speech was a workmanlike effort laboring under the impossible burden of great expectations. I am keen to credit the President Obama's good intentions and, for the most part, I think he did what he had to do. I did not see any howlers -- egregious mistakes that would torpedo the effort. Nor did I see any "aha's" -- moments of rhetorical epiphany when the president (or his speechwriters) captured perfectly a hitherto elusive truth. Perhaps the real news of the speech is that there is no news. In a time and a world where there is too much news -- especially these days in that region of the world -- perhaps the absence of news is a good thing.

I was reading closely to see if the president would commit the mistake so often committed by pandering politicians and academics, especially those who are tone-deaf on religious matters: trying so hard to flatter Muslims that one insults the faith of Christians (and others). I think the speech avoided that, though I will be interested to see how many people agree with me. Certainly one could find missed opportunities in this area in the speech. Indeed, one could code the entire section on "religious freedom" as one big "missed opportunity."

But it is perhaps unfair to expect Obama to really "tell it like it is" in a speech whose primary purpose was to begin the delicate process of translating Obama's celebrity status into a diplomatic asset in the ideological struggle formerly known as the global war on terror. Yes, Obama treads exceedingly lightly on the global persecution of Christians, or the role of Arab political elites in promoting myths about 9/11 or Jew-hating and Christophobic myths. Yes, the president trades in some false if convenient rhetorical subterfuge of his own -- the bogus "war of choice vs. war of necessity" dichotomy, or the statement (surprising from a self-proclaimed "student of history" on the eve of the anniversary of the invasion of Normandy) that "no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other." Yes, there are some carefully chosen code-words and phrases that have the effect of creating false moral equivalencies: For example, does Obama seriously believe that tax rules on charitable giving impose upon American Muslims religious constraints comparable to, say, what evangelical Christians endure in Saudi Arabia?

Yet, there are also carefully chosen phrases that represent progress, sometimes over rhetoric from the Bush administration and sometimes over Obama's own earlier campaign rhetoric. I think "Muslim communities" is better than "Muslim world," for instance. And I was rather surprised to hear him say, "I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein," the circumlocution that most Bush administration people use to describe the positive side of the ledger on Iraq -- so surprised, in fact, that I am willing to give him a pass for sullying that thought with the utterly tendentious caveat that followed: "I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible." (Is there anyone so blinkered that they believe supporters of the Iraq war would disagree with that bromide?)

And there are enough gestures to true candor -- for instance, calling out the cowardice of terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, or the forceful restatement (without credit, of course) of President Bush's rhetoric about universality of democracy's appeal -- that will be useful if the speech, as I respect, receives rave reviews. To the audiences giving the speech a standing ovation, those snippets of candor can be put to good use. To misappropriate another bit of scripture, be ye not just hearers of the word but doers also.

We can and should view this speech as a step forward. A modest step, perhaps, but in the right direction.

ABU AARDVARK

6/4/09

My first take on The Speech

Marc Lynch

President Obama's speech today in Cairo met the bar he set for himself. In an address modeled after the Philadelphia speech on race, he forewent soaring oratory in favor of a thoughtful, nuanced and challenging reflection on America's relations with the Muslims around the world (not "the Muslim world", which for some reason became a major issue in American punditry over the last few days). As he frankly recognized, no one speech can overcome the many problems he addressed. But this speech is an essential starting point in a genuine conversation, a respectful dialogue on core issues. After the initial rush of instant commentaries and attempts to inflame controversy pass, it should become the foundation for a serious, ongoing conversation which could, as the President put it, "remake this world."

Before I get into the substance of the speech, a few preliminary notes.

First, Obama made an admirable effort to speak a few words in Arabic, even if he mangled the pronunciations (hajib instead of hijab, al-Azhar). As anyone who has traveled abroad knows, a little effort learning local languages signals respect and goes a long way. He also effectively interspersed quotes from the Quran, without it being too obtrusive -- I would have liked to have seen some bits from the great Islamic philosophers, but oh well.

Second, the rollout of the speech already stands as one of the most successful public diplomacy and strategic communications campaigns I can ever remember -- and hopefully a harbinger of what is to come. This wasn't a one-off Presidential speech. The succession of statements (al-Arabiya interview, Turkish Parliament, message to the Iranians) and the engagement on the Israeli-Palestinian policy front set the stage. Then the White House unleashed the full spectrum of new media engagement for this speech -- SMS and Twitter updates, online video, and online chatroom environment, and more. This will likely be followed up upon to put substance on the notion of this as a "conversation" rather than an "address" -- which along with concrete policy progress will be the key to its long-term impact, if any.

Third, I am going to refrain from commenting on the Arab response for now. That will take a few days, at least, to unfold. The usual suspects will appear on the media, and some will have valuable things to say, but I want to wait to see the talk shows on the major TV stations, op-eds, forums, blogs, and more. A cautionary note, though --- English-language Egyptian blogs are likely to be a particularly poor initial "focus group" for judging the response. But listening to the response and engaging in the debate which emerges will be key, for American officials and for the American public. Because Obama's address sought to reframe the conversation, we won't know whether it succeeds until we see how the subsequent political debate unfolds.

OK, now to the speech itself. This was a challenging, thoughtful speech which will be picked at and discussed for a long time. It wasn't as revolutionary as some might have hoped, but that's not surprising -- the ground is so well-trodden that it would have been astonishing to see something genuinely new. Instead, it struck me as a thoughtful reflection and invitation to conversation, with some important nuance which might easily be missed. It was neither "just like Bush" nor a total departure from past American rhetoric. I will only focus here on some of the most interesting and important aspects from my perspective -- and I have intentionally not read any other commentary or talked to anyone about it, in order to keep my own impressions fresh for now.

Violent Extremism. Obama's lengthy early discussion of violent extremism was politically necessary, if a bit excessive -- the most Bush-like part of the speech in some ways, but not others. He made clear the reality of the threat posed by al-Qaeda and invoked 9/11 to provide context for American efforts in Afghanistan. But crucially, without drawing attention to it, he pointedly did not refer to a "Global War on Terror." He took care, as in his Turkey address, to correctly place the challenge on the marginal fringe of Islam:

"The enduring faith of over a billion people is so much bigger than the narrow hatred of a few. Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism - it is an important part of promoting peace."

This deflates rather than exaggerates the threat, while still taking it seriously -- his lengthy discussion of violent extremists should reassure skeptics who feared he would ignore it, but hopefully without dominating and driving out the other messages. Throughout the speech he took care to present a vision for a convergence between the values, interests and aspirations of those vast majorities. Such a convergence must not be held hostage to those few violent extremists, he made clear, while also forcefully repeating that those extremists will be combatted. He did well to insist that the U.S. was changing course on deviations from its ideals -- torture, Guantanamo -- without belaboring the point. All of this was fine, similar to the Turkey speech, and was what needed to be said.

It worries me, though, to hear him say that the U.S. must remain in Afghanistan and Pakistan until "we [can] be confident that there [are] not violent extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can." By that standard, U.S. troops probably can never leave... but that's a topic for another day.

Israelis and Palestinians. I'm still struggling to grapple with this truly astonishing portion of his speech. I don't think I have ever heard any American politician, much less President, so eloquently, empathetically, and directly equate the suffering and aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians. This is the one part which I have to quote:

Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killed - more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, ignorant, and hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction - or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews - is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.

On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people - Muslims and Christians - have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than sixty years they have endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations - large and small - that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.

For decades, there has been a stalemate: two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes compromise elusive. It is easy to point fingers - for Palestinians to point to the displacement brought by Israel's founding, and for Israelis to point to the constant hostility and attacks throughout its history from within its borders as well as beyond. But if we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth: the only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.

This is quite possibly the most powerful statement of America's stake in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the urgent need for justice on both sides that I have ever heard. He posed sharp challenges to Israelis and Palestinians alike, directly addressing the realities of Palestinian life under occupation and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza while also empathizing with Israeli fears. He positioned the U.S. as the even-handed broker it needs to be: "America will align our policies with those who pursue peace, and say in public what we say in private to Israelis and Palestinians and Arabs." Left unsaid, but clearly in the background, was the fact that he has been matching those words with deeds by forcefully taking on the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

He also offered a powerful analogy to the American civil rights campaign and other global experiences to argue that "that violence is a dead end. It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered." I really like this analogy, which he extended well beyond America's shores. Some Palestinians will likely complain, though, that their own attempts at non-violent activism too often get crushed beneath Israeli bulldozers. How will the U.S. and the international community support such non-violent action and redeem such moral authority?

Iran and "Resistance". The section on Iran was artful, though not as exceptional as some other parts of the speech. He did well to offer to move beyond the past and to offer a way forward, but with few new details about that course. The key may be not in the comments on nuclear weapons or even on the offer of dialogue, but in this line: "The question, now, is not what Iran is against, but rather what future it wants to build." This seems to be a nod to the reframing which I have been urging for months now: challenging the "Resistance" narrative which has increasingly dominated regional discourse. This reading is reinforced by an essential absence: the whole notion of a new cold war of "moderate states" confronting "radical states" -- the regional alliance against Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah advocated by the Bush administration, the Israeli government, and certain Arab leaders such as Hosni Mubark -- was totally absent from the speech. While Obama did not confront the Resistance narrative directly, his entire speech sought to challenge it in practice -- offering partnership, declining to endorse the old lines of division or attempt to rally those forces in a new conflict, and challenging all sides to articulate what they are for rather than what they are against.

Democracy. Many people have worried that Obama would not address issues of human rights and democracy in the speech. He certainly did not offer a Bush/Rice style grand call for democratic transformation of the region -- but, it again has to be noted, those grand calls for democratic transformation accomplished virtually nothing and had been abandoned within a year. It's not like Bush left a legacy of active democratization which Obama is supposedly abandoning. Rather than repeat the old buzzwords to please those invested in the democracy promotion industry, Obama did something more important by addressing head on some of the most vexing issues which have plagued American thinking about democracy in the region. This, to my eye, was the key statement:

America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments - provided they govern with respect for all their people.

As I noted yesterday, that suggests clearly that the U.S. will accept the democratic participation of peaceful Islamist movements as long as they abstain from violence --and respect their electoral victories provided that they commit to the democratic process. He made a passionate defense of that latter point, that victors must demonstrate tolerance and respect for minorities and that elections alone are not enough. But he clearly did not prejudge participants in the electoral game -- the old canard about Islamists wanting "one man, one vote, one time" thankfully, and significantly, did not appear.

Liberalism and Faith. Finally, Obama offered a genuinely challenging reformulation of how to think about religion in public life: "We cannot disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism." There's a lot packed into that simple statement, which I think gets to the heart of the hypocrisies and bad faith of much of the Western public discourse about Islam (particularly, but by no means exclusively, on the right). He defended the right of Muslim women to wear the hijab if they so choose, while passionately defending their right to education and to full participation in public life. And this links back to his lengthy, forthright discussion with which he began his speech: "Islam is a part of America." Too often, an idealized, supposedly secular America is juxtaposed against religious Islamic countries -- but the America where I live is one filled with religious people of all faiths who bring that faith into the public realm on a daily basis for better or for worse. Recognizing that reality, and how the U.S. has and has not successfully managed the tensions between liberalism and religion, strikes me as potentially productive.

There was much more in the speech, and much more conversation to come. But those are my initial thoughts on Obama's challenging speech. Tomorrow I will begin assessing the responses in the Arab world.

Obama's Worthy Gesture by Rami G. Khouri
Obama sought a new beginning, which we all badly need. So let’s now put away the Bible and Quran classes, and get down to the tough business of forging better policies.
more...

A New Middle East Alliance by Patrick Seale
The grouping of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria may not yet be a full-fledged alliance, but numerous common interests seem to be pulling them in that direction.
more...

Obama Should Think Chicago by Rami G. Khouri
Arabs aren't really interested in how glorious Obama thinks Islam is. Rather, he should focus on human rights -- and that all people have the same rights. And he should tell us what America wants to do about that.
more...

Chomsky: What Obama Didn't Say in His Cairo Address Speaks Volumes About His Mideast Policy

Noam Chomsky, AlterNet

World: The U.S. has played a decisive role in sustaining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Obama gave no indication that its role should change.

Obama's Cairo Speech: A Home Run?

Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation

World: President Obama hit almost all the right notes today in his possibly game-changing speech aimed at repairing America's rift with the Muslim world.

Obama's Cairo Speech: A Home Run?

Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation

World: President Obama hit almost all the right notes today in his possibly game-changing speech aimed at repairing America's rift with the Muslim world.

Can a Speech Change the World?
Terence Samuel
June 5, 2009 | web only


In yesterday's Cairo address, Barack Obama did not speak with the confrontational tone adopted by past presidents when discussing threats to America. Rather, he sought to transform the way the United States engages with the Muslim world by using a language of understanding.

Obama speaks at Cairo University. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Obama in Cairo: Words, Words, WordsJustin Raimondo asks: will Obama walk the walk?

Obama Versus OsamaIvan Eland says the imperial mentality lives on

Breaking BibiPat Buchanan says US Israel-centrism is over

Israel Rejects Appeals in Obama's Speech

Israel's Indiscriminate Use of Indiscriminate Weapons

Israeli Military Declares West Bank City a 'Closed Military Zone'

Muslims' Guarded Optimism After Obama Speech

Obama Appeals to Muslim World for 'New Beginning'

White House Reassured Jewish Leaders Ahead of Obama Speech

Obama's Cairo Speech Widely Hailed at Home

Obama to Muslims: Put Up and Shut Up by Paul Craig Roberts

Obama in Cairo – Still Accumulating, Not Expending Capital by Daniel Levy

Breaking Bibi by Patrick J. Buchanan

Obama's Speech by Ximena Ortiz

Muslims See Shift in Obama Speech, No Breakthrough

Obama, Like Bush, Just Doesn't Get It by Jacob G. Hornberger, 6/4/2009

Action Must Follow Obama's Words by Tariq Ramadan, 6/4/2009

Jennifer Loewenstein
How Much Really Separates Obama and Netanyahu?

Franklin Lamb
Watching the Speech in Lebanon

View From Israel

SLATE

6/4/09

And Now for the Hard Part

Obama's speech was impressive, but its impact may not be felt for a generation.

Fred Kaplan

The significance of President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo, Egypt, this morning—whether it marks a turning point in American foreign policy or just a string of lofty sentiments—will depend on what happens next, on what his administration does in the world, and on what other nations do in response.

And yet, if Obama does have an impact—if substantive progress is made in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, in luring Iran away from nuclear weapons, in isolating and defeating jihadist terrorists, in boosting the political fortunes of moderate Muslims—this speech will have had something to do with it. It may well be seen as a pivotal event, the necessary prelude to real change.

On its face, Obama's address was about the ancient values and principles that the United States and Islam share. But underlying this idea was a plea to move beyond the labels and stereotypes of religions and ideologies—to push them into the background, as facts that define some aspects of ourselves but that don't determine our actions or attitudes—so that we can deal with one another on the basis, as he put it, of "mutual interest and mutual respect."

In other words, this speech, like many of Obama's speeches on foreign affairs, was a plea for a return to realism.

Obama used similar language when speaking with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at theG20 talks last April. "What I believe we began today," he said at a joint press conference afterward, "is a very constructive dialogue that allows us to work on issues of mutual interest." The two sides had differences, and Obama didn't paper over them; in fact, he raised some of them explicitly and at some length. But he said he wouldn't let them get in the way of issues—such as terrorism, nuclear proliferation, regional conflict, and international trade—in which the two nations had shared and vital interests.

This marked a welcome contrast to George W. Bush's tendency to demand that disputes be settled before common interests were pursued—a self-defeating approach, given that in many parts of the world the United States no longer had the leverage to impose its will so cavalierly.

Obama could make this point at the G20 talks without rousing much ire at home. The Cold War has long been over; it wasn't remotely shocking to see American and Russian presidents treating each other as peers in the community of nations.

However, for an American president and the leader of a Muslim nation, or at least certain Muslim nations, to carry on diplomatic relations—that would be quite alarming, both to many Americans and to many Muslims. One point of Obama's speech this morning was to switch off the alarm so that when this sort of diplomacy gets under way in full force, it won't seem so abnormal or set off huge waves of protest.

Polls show that many Americans see Islam and terrorism as practically synonymous. The same is true in the Muslim world for America and colonialism. Obama's principal aim was to shatter or at least begin to soften this perception.

Obama has spoken about the importance of perceptions on other occasions as well. At a press conference toward the end of the Summit of the Americas in April, he explained why the act of talking and listening to other countries might make a difference. It won't transform international politics, he acknowledged. "Countries are going to have interests," he said; sometimes their interests will diverge from ours, and that's not going to change. However, he continued, "at the margins," countries will be "more likely to want to cooperate than not cooperate." And if it turns out their resistance to U.S. policies is "based on old perceptions or ideological dogmas," he said, then maybe "we can actually solve a problem." There will still be "very tough negotiations on a whole host of issues," Obama went on. "That's not going to change because I'm popular … or leaders think that I've been respectful toward then. On the other hand, by having established those better relations, it means … there's more confidence that working with the United States is beneficial, and they are going to try to do more than they might otherwise have done."

Today's speech at Cairo University was the first major elaboration, and will prompt the first real test, of this doctrine. Obama has clearly signaled that in the coming weeks and months he will initiate serious talks with the leaders of Iran, Syria, and other predominantly Muslim nations in order to make headway toward solving a host of urgent international problems. These talks will not be politically sustainable—they'll be rejected in many quarters as illegitimate—unless Muslims' popular view of America and Americans' popular view of Islam are demystified, defanged, and humanized.

This change in attitude may only nudge the countries a bit closer to one another's positions. As Obama said at the Summit of the Americas, it may make them more likely to cooperate only "at the margins." But that degree of prodding may be enough.

Then again, it may not be.

Obama made several bold statements today in Cairo. He rejected the legitimacy of Israeli settlements but also denounced Holocaust deniers and plainly said the Palestinians would have to accept Israel's existence and focus on building their own society. And he said that both sides of the conflict know what they have to do. "Privately," he said, "many Muslims recognize that Israel will not go away" just as "many Israelis recognize the need for a Palestinian state." And so "it is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true."

The problem is that not everyone does know these things to be true—and among the deluded are factions with considerable power and influence in Israel, the Palestinian territories, and elsewhere. It may be self-evident that, as he put it, "fault lines must be closed among Muslims as well, as the divisions between Sunni and Shia have led to tragic violence, particularly in Iraq." But how does he, or anyone, propose that the Sunni and Shiite—whose enmity dates back centuries—suddenly close ranks and make peace? A few times in his speech, Obama said that many of these conflicts arise because people "remain trapped in the past."

The title of Obama's speech was "A New Beginning." But new beginnings are among the hardest ventures for people to undertake. We are all creatures of our cultures, our terrains, our histories. We are all "trapped in the past"; the past, after all, is the only experience we know. To shove off this safe rock requires some incentive, some assurance that however terrible life might be now, this new course will be better—or at least won't be worse.

That's the challenge of the diplomacy that lies ahead—to devise these incentives and assurances, to make the mutual interests sufficiently palpable and compelling that they're translated into cooperative policies. It may be that the tensions are too intractable to smooth over just now; it may be that the extremists and rejectionists hold too much sway in their respective lands to be overwhelmed by the force of sweet reason. It may take a generation for Obama's vision to take hold.

He probably realizes this. It may be why he chose to deliver the speech on a college campus. If his ideas don't gain traction with today's political elites, maybe one of tomorrow's will remember the spectacle of an American president named Barack Hussein Obama (when he pronounced his name this morning, the crowd cheered), who seemed familiar with Islam's historic contributions and who said "Peace be upon him" after uttering the name of the prophet (more cheers)—a president, in short, who didn't seem so otherworldly or hostile and who, having been elected by a majority of Americans, implied by his very existence that maybe the United States isn't so otherworldly or hostile either.

This breakthrough may take a while. But whenever it comes about, if it ever does, today's speech may be looked upon as the spark that set it in motion.

THE NATION – THE DREYFUSS REPORT 6/4/09

Three Tests for Obama After "The Speech"

Robert Dreyfuss

I'm arriving tonight in Tehran, where I expect I'll get a lot of interesting reaction to President Obama's speech yesterday. (My own reaction was posted here, at length, yesterday.)

But I want emphasize one thing today: that by not mentioning "terror" or "terrorism" in his 55-minute address, Obama has formally turned the corner on the post-9/11 nightmare conjured by by President Bush and his ilk. If Obama sustains this, it has enormous potential not only to improve US relations with the Muslim world. It will utterly alter the discourse inside the United States, which for nearly eight long years has been distorted by the fear-mongering, Muslim-bashing, Osama-inflating, homeland security-worrying neoconservatives and their political allies.

As I pointed out yesterday, Obama stunned right-wing and centrist Israeli and pro-Israeli observers by referring with equanimity to Hamas, describing the Palestinian organization as having legitimate support among ordinary Palestinians and calling on Hamas to join the dialogue. A top Hamas official, Ahmad Yousef, an adviser to Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader and prime minister, said:

"The things he said about Islam and the Palestinian suffering and their right to have a state is great. It is a landmark and a breakthrough speech."

Now comes the test of Obama's sincerity, in three immediate senses. We all get to taste the pudding and see if there is any proof in it.

The first test comes tomorrow in Lebanon, whose election will determine whether or not Hezbollah and its allies, including a chunk of Lebanon's Christian bloc, gain a majority and will lead the new Lebanese government. The results won't be known until Monday, at the earliest, and it's a complicated, multi-confessional election that is certain to be marred by vote-buying, intimidation, and sectarian voting en bloc. But if Hezbollah and Co. win, it will be a severe test of Obama's willingness to embrace political Islam. Were Obama to reject any contacts with a Lebanese government under a pro-Hezbollah majority, it will undo much of the positive spin in the Muslim and Arab media that has so far given Obama plaudits.

The second test comes June 12, in Iran. The election there pits President Ahmadinejad against two reformist rivals -- ex-prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and cleric Mehdi Karrubi, a former speaker in parliament -- and a conservative rival, Mohsen Rezai, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guard. The results there might not be known until after June 19, because if none of the four wins an outright majority, there will be a two-man runoff. If one of the reformists wins, it shouldn't be hard for Obama to welcome his victory and renew his offer to sit down and talk. But, and here's the test, if Ahmadinejad wins -- with his radioactive rhetoric about the Holocaust and his defiant anti-Americanism -- will Obama be able to reach out to Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, for talks? To do so will require Obama to sell the idea of talking to Ahmadinejad to a skeptical US public, already conditioned by Bush, the neocons, and yes, Hillary Clinton, into react in knee-jerk fashion to the Iranian firebrand. But talk we must. No doubt the Obama team is already trying to figure out how to sell that at home. I hope.

The third test, of course, involves Hamas itself. Rather than treat Hamas like it was carrying swine flu, Obama should encourage Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- the two countries he just visited -- to help put the Palestinian Humpty Dumpty back together in a new Fatah-Hamas unity government in advance of scheduled January elections. Announcing, as Bush did, that the United States will have no contact with such a coalition effectively undermines its very creation, since Hamas has no incentive to join one. Obama should gesture, ever more overtly, in support of exactly such a coalition. Yes, the Israeli right will go bananas.

But the neocons and the right, including the Republicans, are already denouncing Obama for undermining Israel, abandoning the holy democracy mission, and ending the Global War on Terror (GWOT). (My favorite quote is from the always entertainingly stupid Michael Rubin, of the American Enterprise Institute, who foamed at the mouth over Obama's de-emphasis of Project Impose Democracy. "Bush can look in the mirror and know that he liberated fifty million people," wrote Rubin, neglecting to mention that Bush killed about a million of them in the process. "Obama will look in the mirror and admire how handsome he is."

Well. Perhaps the pudgy Rubin can't do the same when he gazes into his bathroom mirror. But the emerging apoplexy on Planet Neocon is a sign that Obama did something right in Cairo. Interesting, isn't it, that with Hamas praising Obama, the only criticism of the Cairo speech is coming from (1) the neocons and their allies, and (2) Osama bin Laden, who is clearly panicking about Obama's play for mainstream and conservative Muslim opinion. Strange bedfellows, indeed.

NATIONAL SECURITY
A New Beginning In Cairo
During the election campaign President Obama to deliver a speech "at a major Islamic forum" in order "to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular." It's doubtful that Obama has ever given a speech as hotly-awaited around the world as the one he delivered yesterday at Cairo University. Opening with the traditional Muslim greeting -- assalaamu alaykum, "peace be upon you" -- the President declared, "I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition." Recognizing the historic contributions of Islamic civilizations, as well as his own experiences in Muslim Indonesia as a child, the President also acknowledged the difficult sometimes history between Western and Muslim-majority countries, including the legacy of European colonialism. He then discussed seven main challenges shared between the United States and Muslim communities around the world.

THE CHALLENGE OF EXTREMISM: "The first issue that we have to confront," the President said, "is violent extremism in all of its forms." Obama insisted that "America will defend itself, respectful of the sovereignty of nations and the rule of law [and] in partnership with Muslim communities which are also threatened." In a sign that he intended to distinguish -- as President Bush often failed to -- between Islamic political movements, like al Qaeda, that advocate violence and groups that pursue their aims through politics, Obama invited members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to the speech. Having established some credibility on the Arab-Israeli issue by taking a hard line on Israeli settlements, he told Arab leaders that "the Arab-Israeli conflict should no longer be used to distract Arab people from other problems." Over the past months, Iran's nuclear program has been an increasing source of tension in the region. Noting "our shared interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons," Obama said that "any nation -- including Iran -- should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)." As with his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, Obama's stressing of the NPT was consistent with his moves to place American national security policies more firmly within a multilateral framework. In a later response to Obama's speech, Iran's supreme leader restated that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons. One young Iranian said, "[Khamenei] likes Obama! ... Did he say anything negative about him? Or the US? It’s all about the Bush administration."

RECLAIMING DEMOCRACY PROMOTION: The Bush administration's attempts to make democracy promotion a priority suffered severely from its association with the Iraq invasion. "The crown jewel of Bush's democracy agenda was Iraq," observed Matt Duss of the Center for American Progress. "The people in the Middle East don't want to see that experiment repeated in their own countries." Acknowledging this, Obama said, "No system of government can or should be imposed by one nation by any other." But, he added that it "does not lessen my commitment...to governments that reflect the will of the people." In what some have noted as a "shift in tone" toward movements such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Obama said that "America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them." Discussing religious freedom, which he said "is central to the ability of peoples to live together," the President cautioned that "we can't disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretense of liberalism." He said that womens' rights "are by no means simply an issue for Islam...our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity -- men and women -- to reach their full potential." Freedom House recently reported that, although there has been some recent progress, women in the Middle East "continue to face discrimination and significant barriers to the full realization of their rights." On economic development and opportunity, Obama acknowledged that changes wrought by globalization "can bring...fear that because of modernity we will lose control over our economic choices, our politics, and most importantly our identities." Many scholars have noted this loss of identity as a key factor in the rise of extremism. Recognizing this, the President promised to "host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world."

THE RESPONSE AT HOME AND ABROAD: Obama's speech received a mixed reaction from American conservatives. Former Bush speechwriter David Frum called the speech "worse than feared" and claimed that "a victimological approach" to Islamic history "now commands the assent of an American president." National Review editor Rich Lowry called it "a mixed bag," but when judged on whether it will "help isolate Islamic extremists," he considered it a success. Even Iraq war architect Paul Wolfowitz offered grudging praise, saying, "I could have used less moral equivalence, but he had to get through to his audience, and it's in America's interest for him to get through." Many other observers were pleased. Freedom House executive director Jennifer Windsor praised the speech, saying, "President Obama took an important step today to reaffirm U.S. support for democracy and human rights." Ghaith al-Omari, advocacy director of the American Task Force on Palestine, said, "I feel that he spoke to my emotions, and showed a sense of recognition of the dignity of Palestinians." Saneya Mohammed Rizk, a Cairo University professor, said the President "was very focused and mentioned many critical elements to us. ... He has the intent to cooperate with us, and that is good." The Financial Times reported that "even Saudi Islamists expressed their satisfaction with the speech," with activist Mohsen al-Awaji calling it "a beautiful speech." Mustafa Hamarneh, the former director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Jordan, told the New York Times that the president "spoke really like an enlightened leader from the region, more than like a foreigner. ... It was very unlike the neocolonial and condescending approach of the previous administration."

Obama’s Cairo Speech: Significant, Eloquent—and Perhaps Just the Beginning By William Pfaff — Obama’s speech was distinguished by the quality of his previous major speeches, that of speaking as an adult to adults. He promised to say what he thought, and did so on all of the topics he addressed.

Full Text of Barack Obama's Speech to the Muslim World - Wall Street Journal.

Obama Addresses World's Muslims - Paula Wolfson, Voice of America. US President Barack Obama says it is time for a new beginning in relations between America and the world's Muslims. The president said they should unite to confront violent extremism and promote the cause of peace. President Obama says, after decades of frustration and distrust, it is time for candor ... for dialogue ... and a fresh start. "I have come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition," the president said. He spoke in a packed auditorium on the sprawling campus of Cairo University. But his intended audience was far broader: more than one-billion Muslims around the world. "I am convinced that in order to move forward we must say openly to each other the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors," President Obama said. "There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another, and to seek common ground." The president spoke of his own perspective as a Christian with Muslim relatives who spent part of his youth in predominantly Muslim Indonesia. "That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it is not," he said. " And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." President Obama said problems must be dealt with through partnership, and tensions must be faced head on. He said extremists are playing on their differences, and are killing people in many countries of many faiths. "The enduring faith of over a billion people is so much bigger than the narrow hatred of a few," President Obama said. "Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism, it is an important part of promoting peace."

Obama Cites Shared Principles in Reaching Out to Muslim World - Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service. President Barack Obama reached out to the Muslim world today, urging a new beginning that rises above historical tensions and is built on commonly held principles that reject violence and promote cooperation and stability. Obama, speaking at Cairo University in Egypt, told a predominantly Muslim audience that violent extremists have exploited longstanding tensions and misunderstandings to further divide the United States and Muslims around the world. “The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile, not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights,” he said. “This has bred more fear and distrust.” Emphasizing that the United States “is not – and never will be – at war with Islam,” Obama said it will “relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.” Obama dismissed any notion that the 9/11 attacks were justified. “Let us be clear: al-Qaida killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody,” he said. “And yet, al-Qaida chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale.” With affiliates around the world, Obama said, these extremists are trying to expand their reach. “These are not opinions to be debated,” he said. “These are facts to be dealt with.” Obama said his first duty as president is to protect the American people, and said he won’t compromise that responsibility as he works to promoting international cooperation in standing up to violent extremists. The president pointed to the situation in Afghanistan as an example of America’s goals and the need for the United States and the Muslim world to work together.

Obama Chides Israel, Arabs In His Overture to Muslims - Laura Meckler and Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal. President Barack Obama waded into the heart of the Middle East conflict Thursday by forcefully reiterating his support for a Palestinian state and admonishing the Arab world to pursue peace with Israel as he made his long-awaited appeal to mend the rift between America and the Muslim world. In a wide-ranging speech before students at Cairo University that celebrated the common values of the two cultures, Mr. Obama called for a "new beginning" in the relationship. "I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," he said to repeated applause in the ornate-domed Great Hall. "But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. " Most notable in the hourlong address was Mr. Obama's reiteration of his support of a state for Palestine, and his rejection of continued construction by Israel of new settlements on disputed land. The policy puts Mr. Obama in direct conflict with the new government in Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu. The president also demanded that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, recognize Israel and renounce violence.

Obama Calls for End to Discord with Muslim World - Christi Parsons and Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times. President Obama's sweeping call Thursday for a "new beginning" between the United States and the Islamic world was greeted by Muslims of many countries as a conciliatory gesture aimed at setting aside suspicion and moving ahead on problems that include terrorism and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The 55-minute address at Cairo University, which was widely translated and sent across the Internet, did little to sway hardened enemies such as Iran. But it did find qualified support from unexpected voices, such as members of the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip and Islamist intellectuals in Pakistan. Many listeners were disappointed that Obama did not lay out detailed changes in US foreign policy. Nevertheless, interviews from Egypt to Turkey and Iraq suggested that they believed he was distancing himself from the George W. Bush era and was prepared to engage the Islamic world with openness and trust.

Obama Calls for New Beginning With World's Muslims - Scott Wilson, Washington Post. President Obama asked Thursday for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world" in a speech that urged Islamic nations to embrace democracy, women's rights, religious tolerance and the right of Israel to coexist with an independent Palestinian state. In an address designed to change perceptions of the United States in the Arab Middle East and beyond, Obama reviewed the troubled historical legacy between Islam and the rest of the world, from colonialism through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the uncertainty surrounding cultural and economic globalization. "So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity," Obama told an audience of hundreds gathered in a domed hall at Cairo University. "This cycle of suspicion and discord must end." Even as Obama spoke, however, the Arab satellite network al-Jazeera aired new excerpts of an audiotape message issued yesterday by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, urging Muslims to "brace yourselves for a long war against the world's infidels and their agents."

Addressing Muslim World, Obama Pushes Mideast Peace - Jef Zeleny and Alan Cowell, New York Times. In opening a bold overture to the Islamic world on Thursday, President Obama confronted frictions between Muslims and the West, but he reserved some of his bluntest words for Israel, as he expressed sympathy for the Palestinians and what he called the “daily humiliations, large and small, that come with occupation.” While Mr. Obama emphasized that America’s bond with Israel was “unbreakable,” he spoke in equally powerful terms of the Palestinian people, describing their plight as “intolerable” after 60 years of statelessness, and twice referring to “Palestine” in a way that put Palestinians on parallel footing with Israelis. Mr. Obama’s speech in Cairo, which he called a “timeless city,” was perhaps the riskiest of his presidency, as he used unusually direct language to call for a fresh look at deep divisions, both those between Israel and its neighbors and between the Islamic world and the West. Among his messages was a call for Americans and Muslims to abandon their mutual suspicions and do more to confront violent extremism. But it was Mr. Obama’s empathetic tone toward the Palestinians that attracted the most attention in the region and around the world.

Obama: 'New Beginning' with Muslims - Christina Bellantoni, Washington Times. Seeking no less than a restart of relations with the Islamic world, President Obama on Thursday conceded past wrongs, quoted from the Koran and even invoked his full name - all in an appeal to Muslims from Indonesia to Morocco to unite around common ideals of rights, freedom, security and respect. In calling for a "new beginning," he singled out some Islamic nations as examples of religious tolerance, he delivered a stern lecture to Holocaust deniers, doubters of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Palestinian terrorists, and he harked back to the glory of Islamic civilizations through the centuries. Using his 55-minute speech - the longest of his young presidency - to about 2,500 people at Cairo University, Mr. Obama said that rather than a fundamental disagreement, the U.S. has always held deep respect for and good will toward Islam, dating back to one of the nation's earliest documents, the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli.

Obama Delivers Strong Attack on Israeli Settlements in Speech to Muslim World - James Hider, The Times. Before a crowd of robed Muslim clerics, dissidents who have served time in jail, students from across the region and besuited government officials from authoritarian regimes, President Obama made an historic speech yesterday to try to mend America’s battered ties with the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims. From such a diverse audience he received as many cheers for espousing women’s rights as he did for quoting the Koran or championing the principle of a free Palestinian state. Mr Obama made obvious attempts to win Muslim hearts and minds - reminding them that Thomas Jefferson taught himself Arabic, and praising the Islamic world as a beacon of learning during Europe’s Dark Ages - but refused to shy away from the difficult issues of religious extremism, human rights abuses and nuclear proliferation that plague the region.

Barack Obama Attempts to Recast Image of America in Muslim World - Richard Spencer, Daily Telegraph. In a speech given to an audience at Cairo University but directed at more than 1 billion Muslims around the world, he said a "new partnership" would stress common principles between civilisations. "So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the co-operation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity," he said. "This cycle of suspicion and discord must end. "I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect." The speech, which he had promised to make even before he was elected, was the centrepiece of his tour of the Middle East which also included talks with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. He met the long-serving President Hosni Mubarak before going on to the university, and ended the day with a trip to the Pyramids. Some even compared his mission to the celebrated Cold War speeches of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan in Berlin.

Barack Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World - John Lyons, The Australian. Barack Obama vowed last night to forge a "new beginning" for Islam and the US in a landmark speech to Muslims around the world, evoking a vision of peace after years of "suspicion and discord". In what may be a defining moment of his administration, the US President laid out a new blueprint for US Middle East policy, vowing to sweep away mistrust, forge a state for the Palestinians and defuse a nuclear showdown with Iran. In the domed Great Hall of Cairo University, Mr Obama warned that the US bond with Israel, the source of much Arab distrust of Washington, was "unbreakable". And he rejected "ignorant" rants by those who deny the Nazi Holocaust. But in a sharp break from the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, Mr Obama - who was greeted with a standing ovation as he stepped up to the podium - rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to halt the expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

In Obama's Speech, A New Approach to Middle East: Candor - Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor. Did President Obama in his Cairo speech signal a new toughness towards the Arab-Israeli peace process? Past presidents have opposed Israeli settlements in the West Bank. In Cairo, Mr. Obama said plainly that the US will not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity. Past presidents have supported the two-state solution, with Israel and a Palestinian nation living side by side. In Cairo, Obama insisted that each side needs to recognize the other's right to exist. With these and other points, Obama was not so much making new policy as forcefully explaining the implications of policies that exist, says Frederick Barton, codirector of the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "His speech had this element of candor that his immediate audience [in the Middle East] is not familiar with," says Mr. Barton. Obama's 55-minute address was heavily promoted by the White House, both in the US and the Middle East. Given its importance, it is almost certain that Obama and his speechwriters considered carefully every phrase, nuance, and emphasis.

Obama Hints Acceptance of Elected Islamists - Eli Lake, Washington Times. President Obama hinted Thursday that the United States would for the first time accept the results of Middle East elections won by Islamist parties. In contrast to the Bush administration, which boycotted groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah even after they performed well in elections, Mr. Obama said, "America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments - provided they govern with respect for all their people." Those words carry particular significance because on June 7 Lebanon is expected to hold an election where Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group, could win a plurality of votes. It was also a message to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, whose members running as independents won 88 seats - 20 percent of the Egyptian national assembly - in 2005 despite widespread cheating on behalf of the government.

Using New Language, President Shows Understanding for Both Sides in Middle East - Glenn Kessler and Jacqueline L. Salmon, Washington Post. There was no mention of "terrorists" or "terrorism," just "violent extremists." There was the suggestion that Israeli settlements are illegitimate and the assertion that the Palestinians "have suffered in pursuit of a homeland." There were frequent references to the "Holy Koran" and echoes of Muslim phrases. President Obama, who aides say spent many hours "holed up" in the past week revising his Cairo speech, clearly believes in the power of his oratory to win people to his point of view. In many ways, he used his address to promote American values, but his efforts to use new language to recast old grievances have already prompted debate and consternation in some quarters. At the same time, he avoided specific complaints about the lack of freedoms in the Muslim world. Instead, he spoke of the need to obtain concrete political goals, such as the fair administration of justice. He made no mention of his host, President Hosni Mubarak, a snub surely noticed by Egypt's autocratic ruler of nearly three decades.

Varying Responses to Speech in Mideast Highlight Divisions - Michael Slackman, New York Times. On one level, President Obama’s speech succeeded in reaching out to Muslims across the Middle East, winning widespread praise for his respectful approach, his quotations from the Koran and his forthright references to highly fraught political conflicts. But Mr. Obama’s calibrated remarks also asked listeners in a region shaken by hatred to take two steps that have long been anathema: forgetting the past and understanding an opposing view. For a president who proclaimed a goal of asking people to listen to uncomfortable truths, it was clear that parts of his speech resonated deeply with his intended audience and others fell on deaf ears, in Israel as well as the Muslim world. Again and again, Muslim listeners said they were struck by how skillfully Mr. Obama appropriated religious, cultural and historical references in ways other American presidents had not. He sprinkled the speech with four quotations from the Koran and used Arabic greetings. He took note of longstanding historical grievances like the stain of colonialism, American support for the Iranian coup of 1953 and the displacement of the Palestinian people. His speech was also embraced for what it did not do: use the word terrorism, broadly seen here as shorthand for an attack on Islam.

Divided Region, Diverging Reviews for Obama - Dale Gavlak and Joshua Mitnick, Washington Times. President Obama's much-heralded speech on US relations with the Islamic world provoked sharply differing reactions on both sides of the Middle East's great divide. Many Israelis worried that the president had said too much, while many in the Muslim world cautioned that Mr. Obama's talk Thursday of a "new beginning" is less important than what his administration will do to reshape America's image and policies in the region. The Muslim world wants to see "implementation, not just talk on the Palestinian issue," said Jamil Abu Bark, spokesman for Jordan's powerful Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement. "It doesn't need a speech, but action. We want action on the ground." But Mr. Obama's call for an even-handed treatment of Israeli and Palestinian grievances brought a wary response from the government of conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and outright rejection from the Israeli settlers on disputed lands, whom Mr. Obama again singled out for criticism in Cairo.

Many Muslims Praise Tone of Speech, but Call for Action - Maragret Coker, Wall Street Journal. Muslims in the Middle East and beyond praised US President Barack Obama for the tone of his speech Thursday, but they had more of a mixed reaction to the substance of the address. Mr. Obama won over many Muslims for delivering what many viewed as a respectful address - peppered with the moral message Muslims receive at weekly homilies and the straightforward talk they rarely get from their own leadership. "The Holy Quran tells us, 'Be conscious of God and speak always the truth,' " said Mr. Obama, quoting the Muslim holy book in his hour-long speech at Cairo University. "That is what I will try to do." Ahmed Farouk, a 25-year-old movie producer, listened in an Egyptian coffee house near the university. He pumped his fists when Mr. Obama quoted the Quran and smiled when the president talked of the need to cooperate in the battle against extremists, the quest for democracy and women's rights, and the need for respect and understanding between Americans and Muslims.

Muslims Not Sure President Obama's Speech Means Real Change - Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times. He came with goodwill and pretty sentences, but the question kept echoing: Were they enough? President Obama's much-anticipated speech Thursday to the Muslim world sought to dissolve the mistrust between Islam and the West by highlighting his personal appeal as he called for an end to intolerance and violence and a move toward a shared future. It was a carefully textured blend of history, the president's experience with Islam and the need to quell religious extremism. Few world leaders today can match Obama's eloquence and charisma, and it was clear that the president wanted the world's 1.5 billion Muslims to see America through the prism of his enormously popular image. The words were a start, but the question here remains: Is Obama the face of genuine change in US foreign policy or will he merely offer a sparkle of promise before he is overwhelmed by troubles from the bombed alleys of the Gaza Strip to the mountains of Afghanistan?

In Cairo, Praise for Obama's Remarks - Howard Schneider, Washington Post. The fact that Barack Obama chose Egypt as the location for Thursday's address to the Muslim world endeared him to the locals, who are always proud to host a foreigner and even prouder when it shows off their history. The fact that he came to downtown Cairo, instead of heading to the Sinai beach resorts where diplomatic gatherings are often held, told them he was serious about connecting on a personal level. And when he started sprinkling his speech with words from the Koran, and balanced support for Israel with a strong call for a Palestinian state, the deal was closed. "I didn't expect him to go this far" in confronting the region's core problems, said Tarek Ali, 44, a driver for a government agency. "He really seems to want to move forward." That initial conclusion seemed unanimous among the crowd of men gathered at a local coffee shop to watch Obama's Thursday speech. Although Obama was blunt about the United States' "unbreakable bonds" with Israel, that statement was quickly followed with others about Palestinian "suffering" since Israel's founding in 1948 and the need to curb Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and establish a Palestinian state.

Palestinians, Israelis Have Mixed Reactions to Obama Speech - Luis Ramirez, Voice of America. It was a speech to which many Israelis were not looking forward to. President Barack Obama had stepped up his calls for a total freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank and for Israel to allow Palestinian statehood - things that Israel's leadership refuses to do. In the end, the speech had something for everyone. He pleased many Israelis by calling for Palestinians to abandon violence, saying the Islamist militant group Hamas must recognize Israel's right to exist, and calling for the prevention of a nuclear standoff with Iran. Many Palestinians were pleased to hear the US leader repeat his call for an end to Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, and for Israel to realize the only way to resolve the conflict is - in his opinion - the two-state solution. A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the speech was a good start towards a new policy that recognizes the suffering of the Palestinians. Political analyst Mahdi Abdel Hadi, director of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs in East Jerusalem says the speech contained no new ideas, but went a long way to making people feel good about the new US administration's policy in the Middle East.

'Israel Shares Obama's Hope for Peace' - Herb Kienon, Jerusalem Post. Israel cautiously applauded US President Barack Obama's sweeping speech in Cairo Thursday, even as it was gearing up for tough negotiations with the Americans in the coming days over how to transform some of the rhetoric into a program. During the 56-minute address to some 3,000 invited guests at Cairo University, Obama reconfirmed and pledged continued US support for Israel, but was uncompromising in his demand for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and called for a "stop to settlements." Regarding the settlements, Obama - to perhaps the loudest applause he received during his address - said, "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop."

President's Words Worry Israel's Backers - Barbara Slavin, Washington Times. During a major address in Egypt on Thursday, President Obama reached out in friendship to Muslims around the world and distanced himself from Israeli policies more than any other president in decades. Although Mr. Obama said the US bond with Israel is "unbreakable," analysts pointed to subtle but significant shifts in language that indicated that Mr. Obama was not in lock step with the Israeli government on issues including Iran and Palestinian grievances. "This is a very different approach than other presidents have used," said Lee H. Hamilton, president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and co-chairman of the 2006 Iraq Study Group. Mr. Obama won praise from many analysts, including Mr. Hamilton, for speaking out in Cairo against Muslims who deny the Holocaust or indulge in anti-Semitic behavior.

Supreme Leader of Iran: Muslim Nations 'Hate America' - Thomas Erdbrink and William Branigin, Washington Post. Iran's supreme leader dismissed President Obama's speech at Cairo University Thursday, saying the Muslim world continues to "hate America." And he criticized the United States and its allies for asserting that Iran seeks nuclear weapons, which he insisted are forbidden under Iran's brand of Islam. Speaking shortly before Obama delivered his address, in which he called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that "beautiful speeches" could not remove the hatred felt in the Muslim world against America. "People of the Middle East, the Muslim region and North Africa - people of these regions - hate America from the bottom of their heart," Khamenei said at a gathering to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and Khamenei's predecessor as the predominantly Shiite Muslim country's supreme religious leader.

The Cairo Speech - New York Times editorial. When President Bush spoke in the months and years after Sept. 11, 2001, we often - chillingly - felt as if we didn’t recognize the United States. His vision was of a country racked with fear and bent on vengeance, one that imposed invidious choices on the world and on itself. When we listened to President Obama speak in Cairo on Thursday, we recognized the United States. Mr. Obama spoke, unwaveringly, of the need to defend the country’s security and values. He left no doubt that he would do what must be done to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban, while making it clear that Americans have no desire to permanently occupy Afghanistan or Iraq. He spoke, unequivocally, of the United States’ “unbreakable” commitment to Israel and of why Iran must not have a nuclear weapon. He was also clear that all of those listening - in the Muslim world and in Israel - must do more to defeat extremism and to respect the rights of their neighbors and their people.

Barack Hussein Bush - Wall Street Journal editorial. One benefit of the Obama Presidency is that it is validating much of George W. Bush's security agenda and foreign policy merely by dint of autobiographical rebranding. That was clear enough yesterday in Cairo, where President Obama advertised "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world." But what he mostly offered were artfully repackaged versions of themes President Bush sounded with his freedom agenda. We mean that as a compliment, albeit with a couple of large caveats. So there was Mr. Obama, noting that rights such as "freedom to live as you choose" and "the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed" were "not just American ideas, they are human rights." There he was insisting that "freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together," and citing Malaysia and Dubai as economic models for other Muslim countries while promising to host a summit on entrepreneurship. There he was too, in Laura Bush-mode, talking about the need to expand opportunities for Muslim women, particularly in education. "I respect those women who choose to live their lives in traditional roles," he said. "But it should be their choice." Mr. Obama also offered a robust defense of the war in Afghanistan, calling it "a war of necessity" and promising that "America's commitment will not weaken." That's an important note to sound when Mr. Obama's left flank and some Congressional Democrats are urging an exit strategy from that supposed quagmire.

The Cairo Appeal - Washington Post editorial. President Obama was the first to say yesterday that one speech cannot erase the accumulated hostility and mistrust between many of the world's Muslims and the United States. But his address in Cairo offered an eloquent case for American values and global objectives - and it looked to be a skillful use of public diplomacy in a region where America's efforts to explain itself have often been weak. Mr. Obama uttered verses from the Koran, spoke about the success of US Muslims, debunked extremists' claims and defended the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians. He returned repeatedly to the theme that most of the differences between Muslims and the West can be eased by "a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another and to seek common ground." That idealistic sentiment, which lies at the heart of the president's political ideology, may or may not prove true with respect to challenges such as the Israeli-Arab conflict and Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. But Mr. Obama's address - which was broadcast live on al-Jazeera and other popular satellite channels - offered a stout defense of core US interests while managing to sound very different from the post-Sept. 11 Bush administration. Mr. Obama said that "the first issue we have to confront is violent extremism," but he did not use the word "terrorism" and exonerated Islam from responsibility.

Obama Gives a Bush Speech - Washington Times editorial. President Obama sounded like he was channeling President George W. Bush during his Cairo speech yesterday. Much of the substance of Mr. Obama's address, titled "A New Beginning," sounded like the same old song. One could easily remove the biographical references, redact a few of the sentences that are clearly critical of specific Bush administration policies, and pass it off as old Republican talking points. Check Mr. Bush's remarks at the Islamic Center of Washington on Sept. 17, 2001, six days after the Sept. 11 attacks, in which he said, "America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country." Likewise, Mr. Obama stated, "Let there be no doubt: Islam is a part of America." Mr. Bush believed that, "Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes." Mr. Obama upped the ante, noting that "the US government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab,and to punish those who would deny it."

Obama in Cairo: Something Old, Something New - Christian Science Monitor editorial. President Obama billed his Cairo speech to the Muslim world as a "new beginning." In some important ways, it did signal a fresh start. But there's also no getting around the "old" work that needs to be done or the abiding principles that must guide that work. Mr. Obama's speech had almost the feel of an inaugural address – historic sweep, lofty idealism, American vision, and a call to action, but aimed at an audience of more than a billion Muslims. His very biography lends a fresh credibility to ideas and policies that are actually not so fresh. It's hard to imagine any of his predecessors, for instance, quoting and referencing the Koran so extensively and being so enthusiastically applauded for it. Obama attempted to blow away the cobwebs of blame and finger-pointing that have collected on the Middle East peace process. "Privately, many Muslims recognize that Israel will not go away. Likewise, many Israelis recognize the need for a Palestinian state. It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true," he said. That includes the United States, which needs to reclaim its role as an honest broker, including applying pressure to Israel that it has been reluctant to use in the past.

Obama in Cairo - Los Angeles Times editorial. Rhetorically, at least, President Obama moved mountains in the land of Muhammad. Speaking from Cairo University to the world's estimated 1.5 billion Muslims, the American president made a frank appeal for a new relationship based on mutual respect. Language matters, and this was an eloquent address of historic and moral importance meant to turn the page on strong-arm politics and ultimatums. The first US president of color and the son of a Muslim, Obama brought his personal credibility to the podium, not to apologize but to acknowledge the country's past mistakes and to set an agenda for the future. Certainly words alone will not bring peace to the Middle East or persuade America's enemies to abandon their anger. As Obama noted, "recognizing our common humanity is only the beginning of our task." Still, this was a new beginning. In recent years, US relations with Muslim nations have been shaped largely by hostilities, from the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington to the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The US role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been an open wound bleeding distrust and anger. While vowing to confront violent extremism and defend Americans, Obama sought to end that era with a declaration: The United States is not at war with Islam.

America and Islam - The Times editorial. Few speeches have been as eagerly awaited in the Middle East as President Obama's address in Cairo University to the Muslim world. And few speeches have been as carefully crafted, as powerfully delivered or as comprehensive in charting a new beginning between civilisations locked for the past decade in destructive mutual incomprehension. If the President's promises could be delivered, if his aspirations could be achieved and if his respectful tone could be adopted across the region, many of the toxic issues roiling the Middle East might become less intractable. One speech, as he acknowledged, cannot alone remove the obstacles or soften the animosities that have built up over decades. What it can do is to lay out intent, demonstrate engagement and win the respect of an audience that has come to expect only the worst from America. Mr Obama has shown extraordinary strength and sensitivity in understanding how America's soft power must be used to achieve what eluded the use of military might. From the opening traditional Muslim greeting to his final and apposite quotations from the Koran, the Torah and the Bible, he showed himself at ease with Islamic culture and customs. He referred to his own name, Muslim forebears and personal memories of Muslims in Indonesia and Chicago; he reminded his audience - and the West - of civilisation's debt to Muslim learning; and he dismissed the crude stereotypes that America and the Islamic world now have of each other with telling examples of past tolerance and engagement.

A Masterly Speech from Barack Obama, But was Anyone Listening? - Daily Telegraph editorial. Mr Obama sought to shake both sides out of their self-pitying trough of prejudice and despair. His speech amounted to a blast of militant common sense. But will it make any difference? He identified some glaring ills of the Muslim world, particularly anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and an absurd view of America as a pantomime villain. Tragically, these are not the preserve of an extremist fringe: they have entered the mainstream. An ordinary visitor to Egypt soon finds that many people genuinely blame the CIA or Mossad for the terrorist attacks on September 11 2001, a crackpot conspiracy theory that is widely believed across the Muslim world. The American leader has shown his willingness to repair his country's relations with Islam. He has spelled out the steps that both sides must take to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. But Israel's hardline government has already spurned his call for a freeze in settlement expansion. Will Mr Obama quietly accept this veto - or exert direct pressure on Israel? The harshest question of all, however, is for the Middle East itself: does this region have the capacity for rational dialogue?

Obama's New Era in International Diplomacy - Daily Star editorial. Barack Obama's long-awaited address to the Muslim world has proven to be an event of global magnitude, and a dramatic, international projection of the bully pulpit of the American presidency. Obama's speech in Cairo was an unprecedented display of rhetorical power, coming in an important context: the last eight years of neoconservative policy based on the clash of civilizations mentality. This week, the leader of "the free world" projected his country's peaceful side, to around 1.5 billion people in 50 countries. The address was totally in line with Barack Obama's personal history; it was also a significant departure with traditional politics, just like the precedent-setting choice by the American electorate last November. Obama has committed his country to solving the Arab-Israeli struggle and its own long-simmering confrontation with Iran, as part of an agenda that includes confronting violent extremism and boosting democracy, religious freedom and women's rights. This can constitute a new era in international diplomacy, provided that Washington follow up with determination and evenhandedness.

Great Expectations - Jerusalem Post editorial. It was with mixed feelings that we watched President Barack Obama deliver his extraordinary speech to the Muslim and Arab worlds in Cairo yesterday. Critics will see the speech as incredibly naive. Yet it was also the most meaningful and coherent attempt by an American leader since 9/11 to dissociate the world's 1.5 billion Muslims from demagogic elites preaching worldwide jihad and hatred of non-believers. It is not insignificant that Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden took the president's power to persuade seriously enough to try to preempt him by issuing fresh rants. It must have galled them to see hard-line imams and Muslim Brothers listening attentively in the audience. A Gallup Poll, taken before the speech, showed 25 percent of Egyptians approving of the US under Obama, compared to 6% under George W. Bush. In A city where Holocaust denial is part of the popular culture, it was good to hear Obama telling Muslims: "Six million Jews were killed," and saying otherwise is "ignorant, and hateful." To no applause, he proclaimed: America's ties with Israel are "unbreakable."

The Chicago View - David Brooks, New York Times opinion. President Obama’s Cairo speech characteristically blended idealism with cunning. At one level, the speech was an inspiring effort to create a new dialogue in the Middle East. Obama came to a region in which the different groups have their own narratives and are accustomed to shouting past one another. Obama, as is his custom, positioned himself above the fray and tried to create a new narrative that all sides could relate to. In the Obama narrative, each side has been equally victimized by history, each side has legitimate grievances and each side has duties to perform. To construct this new Middle East narrative, Obama strung together some hard truths, historical distortions, eloquent appeals and strained moral equivalencies.

The Settlements Myth - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post opinion. President Obama repeatedly insists that American foreign policy be conducted with modesty and humility. Above all, there will be no more "dictating" to other countries. We should "forge partnerships as opposed to simply dictating solutions," he told the G-20 summit. In Middle East negotiations, he told al-Arabiya, America will henceforth "start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating." An admirable sentiment. It applies to everyone - Iran, Russia, Cuba, Syria, even Venezuela. Except Israel. Israel is ordered to freeze all settlement activity. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton imperiously explained the diktat: "a stop to settlements - not some settlements, not outposts, not natural-growth exceptions." What's the issue? No "natural growth" means strangling to death the thriving towns close to the 1949 armistice line, many of them suburbs of Jerusalem, that every negotiation over the past decade has envisioned Israel retaining.

Can Barack Obama's Soothing Rhetoric Douse the Muslim Militants' Flames? - Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph opinion. Short of declaring his intention to convert to Islam, it is difficult to imagine what more Barack Obama might have said during his speech yesterday to demonstrate his seriousness about healing the poisonous rift between the West and the Muslim world. After invoking the traditional Muslim welcome - "Assalaamu alaykum" or "Peace be upon you" - the President proceeded to explain how, despite his being raised a Christian, his father's family came from generations of Muslims. He acknowledged the enormous debt Western civilisation owes to Islam, from the development of algebra to the elegant refinement of calligraphy, and stressed the Islamic faith's espousal of religious tolerance and racial equality. He reminded his audience at Cairo University that John Adams, one of America's founding fathers, wrote that "the United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquillity of Muslims".

Negotiating for the Other Side - Danielle Pletka, Washington Post opinion. Yesterday in Cairo, President Obama underscored his desire to "move forward without preconditions" and negotiate with Iran "on the basis of mutual respect." So far, no takers from Tehran. But even if there were, the bottom line is that whether it's Iran, North Korea or the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, there has been little to show for years of jawboning. Worse, the history of such negotiations should give pause to the public and to Congress. Too often, US negotiators have become unwitting advocates for their adversaries, getting so caught up in the negotiating process that they cannot countenance its collapse - or their own failure - even in the face of undeniable evidence that the discussions are not succeeding. Consider the task of Dennis Ross, Obama's "special adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia." From 1993 to 2000, as President Bill Clinton's "special Middle East coordinator," Ross brought enthusiasm and deep knowledge to the job. But the peace process he hoped to facilitate was constrained by US laws that reasonably required the Palestine Liberation Organization to abandon terrorism and to recognize Israel before receiving aid from the United States.