Obama wins praise from many Muslims

Douglas Carpenter

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Thu Apr-09-09 11:33 PM
Original message

Obama wins praise from many Muslims

Edited on Fri Apr-10-09 12:00 AM by Douglas Carpenter

link:

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=121380&d=9&m=4&y=2009

"CAIRO: A “turning point,” a “fresh breeze” — even a “light in the darkness.” Arabs and Muslims have been charmed by President Barack Obama’s first venture into the Islamic world.

Obama’s visit to Turkey this week was full of gestures calculated at showing he is a friend to Muslims, like his headliner sound bite that the US will never be “at war with Islam” and his mention of the Muslims in his family.

Even throwaway lines like a comment that he had to wrap up a town-hall meeting with Turkish students “before the call to prayer” showed he was no stranger to Muslims’ way of life.

To many, the town-hall format for a meeting with students in Istanbul on Tuesday sent a significant message. The sight of a US president being questioned by Muslims was dramatically different from the perception many had of Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush. Bush was seen by many Arabs and Muslims as domineering and dictating US policy on the Islamic world."

“Obama is much better than Bush,” Abed Taqoush, a 74-year-old flower shop owner in the Lebanese capital of Beirut said yesterday. “Bush was a war criminal. Obama seems to be a man of peace.” “I believe him,” he said of Obama — a phrase echoed by many yesterday.

But Obama’s charm also heightened expectations for a change in US policy in the Middle East, and many remain deeply skeptical that will happen. Nearly everyone across the region interviewed by The Associated Press said they wanted to see Washington push for the creation of a Palestinian state to resolve the Israeli-Arab conflict

snip: "It was a reminder that while the “clash of civilizations” may exacerbate tensions, the heart of Arab and Muslim anger at the West is over policies, particularly the 2003 invasion of Iraq and what is seen as US favoritism toward Israel. Many focused on Obama’s promise that the US would work for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. But there is also widespread concern Obama will not press the hard-line government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who so far has not expressed his support for a two-state solution."

snip: "Arabs and Muslims have also been encouraged by Obama’s plans for a US withdrawal from Iraq and the closure of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, plus his calls for dialogue with top Mideast rivals Syria and Iran.

Despite worries over policy, the Turkey trip did suggest that style and tone can at least open doors. Libya’s leader Muammar Qaddafi had a sort of backdoor praise. He described Obama as “light in the imperialist darkness,” saying he was “not arrogant like most former American presidents.” Even religious conservatives came away impressed. “The Islamic world should avail of this positive opportunity,” said Sheikh Nimaa Al-Abadi, a cleric at the influential Shiite seminary in the Iraqi city of Najaf. “The opening chapter of Obama in the Islamic world might be a real turning point.” "

link to full article:

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=121380&d=9&m=4&y=2009

.