Obama's Hope Spreads to the Middle East

A curious thing has happened as Americans were choosing their first black president. Democracy suddenly ceased to be a bad word for many genuine democrats in the Middle East.

In the aftermaths of the war on Iraq and as part of President Bush's attempts to win the hearts and minds of Arabs, a public democracy campaign was launched aimed at injecting Arabs with the democracy virus. Millions of dollars and years later, the effort has been pronounced as a failure. Democracy salespeople had a problem selling their goods while the Bush administration was occupying the Arab country of Iraq, supporting the continued occupation and illegal settlements of the West Bank while simultaneously placing a worldwide financial siege on a truly elected Palestinian government.

Arabs easily dismissed the democracy surge by simply pointing to what was being done by Americans, and in the name of Americans, in the region. Scenes and images from the Abu Ghraib prison to Guantanamo poured cold water on these efforts to convince Arabs of democracy, U.S. style. The arguments passed around in coffee shops and sitting rooms throughout the Arab world were that American democracy is in reality a facade. That while elections do take place on the surface, a behind-the-scenes process led by a handful of people really decides who rules America.

This has continued to be the lead anti-democracy argument ... until this week.

The election of Barack Obama, America's first black president with Islamic roots and a platform that calls for ending the war in Iraq and talking to Iran without conditions, shattered these arguments.

A new, more robust argument has been born with this election. Obama and his savvy campaign team won over millions of voters not only in America but around the world. The campaign's emphasis on the youth (youths are the majority of the Arab population) and the Internet allowed so many young people in the Arab world to follow the entire process. One Palestinian Obama supporter from Gaza would wait until electricity would come on, and then connect to the Internet, and using the free online Skype account he would call voters in Ohio or Pennsylvania trying to persuade them to vote for the senator.

The election of Obama shattered all previous stereotypes and succeeded in reinvigorating and re-energizing true democrats throughout the Arab world. However for many in the Arab and Islamic worlds the litmus test of any sane U.S. foreign policy will be how it will deal with the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestine and the arrogant violation of international law through the support of illegal Jewish settlement building in occupied territories and the construction of a wall deep inside Palestinian lands.

Obama seems to be serious about one promise regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. He has said that he will not wait four or eight years to get involved but will pursue peace in the Middle East from day one. This became evident last week when one of his senior advisers -- Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs professor Daniel Kurtzer -- made yet another visit to the region. Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Israel, met with senior Israeli and Palestinian leaders and will no doubt play a senior role in the Obama administration.

The next U.S. president will have an easier role in trying to bring about peace in the Middle East. His philosophy of talking to one's enemies will certainly be an improvement to the Bush military unilateralism and political exclusionism. And although Obama has favored talking to Iran but not to Hamas, it is hard to see that he will block some type of indirect talks with the Palestinian Islamic movement for ideological reasons. When President Obama looks into the Palestine-Israeli conflict, he will not be ignorant of its history and the justness of its cause. Obama's days in Chicago put him in touch with people like professor Rashid Khalidi, the late Edward Said and Palestinian activist Ali Abu Nimeh, just to name a few of the people who have met and influenced the former Chicago University professor.

But perhaps the ace in Obama's pocket as he tackles this contentious conflict will be the official position of the U.S. government over the years. Washington has repeatedly opposed Israeli occupation of Palestinian land since 1967 and has called for its end. It has been consistently and publicly against settlement activities, and President Bush has articulated a policy that calls for a viable, contiguous Palestinian state on the lands occupied in 1967. The United States has also opposed Israel's unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem and along with every nation on the planet has refused to recognize Israel's application of Israeli law on its residents. Furthermore, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has stated publicly and repeatedly that a Palestinian state is in the national interest of the United States.

So if Obama wants to encourage Arab democrats and bring about peace in this volatile region, all he will have to do is to dust off U.S. policy positions toward the region and make sure that all parties implement it immediately and without hesitation. In addition to his stunning victory, this will provide Arab democrats with the ammunition needed not only to push for peace but also to bring about democratic reform in a region in bad need for an end to tyranny, radicalism and dictatorships.

Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University.

Follow Daoud Kuttab on Twitter: www.twitter.com/daoudkuttab

Comments

[Krikkit]

Saudi Arabia and other ME countries might go up in smoke if they try to institute democracy. How do you adopt civil liberties and political rights without empowering the very people whose first act in power would be to abolish them? Of course I'm talking about fundamentalist Islamism, born in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. SA dealt with their fundamentalists by shipping them as far away as possible -- giving them money to establish madrassas as far away as Indonesia. Egypt dealt with theirs by jailing and persecuting them. Neither worked. Nor will establishing democracy willy-nilly.

If they are serious about this, they need to start adopting limited civil liberties and political rights, going slow enough to thwart the Islamists, but not be so harsh as to trigger a terrorist backlash. The people need to get used to how these things work, to establish new traditions.

[Krikkit]

I have a friend who was Military Liaison to Saudi Arabia for many years. He told me that Arabs have their own understanding of what Democracy is, and it's quite bizarre from our perspective. Saudi Arabia has a King and any citizen of SA can petition the king to ask for something. That's their idea of Democracy -- access to the top power broker to ask for something.

The reason democracy has a difficult road in most countries without experience with it is because they view government in terms of who has the power. We know that democracy means that sometimes you have to accept that you do not have the power this time around. This is also why the experiment in transplanting democracy to Iraq was such a failure and led directly to sectarian war. Each faction wants to be the sole arbiter of power.

We were largely successful in establishing democracy because our English heritage paved the way. The Rights of Englishmen were established after centuries of bloody warfare and after Parliament was shoved down the King's throat.

[ohioan73]

I wasn't really clear on America's stance on the Israeli occupation of Palestine because I assumed that the US automatically took the side of Israel, seeing how we occupy and terrorize so many nations of the world in the name of fake Democracy. I felt as the middle easterners did, that America is a terrible, looming bully and it doesn't matter who we vote for, there will always be a war-monger or money-grubber in the White House. That has changed for me, too. Its like when your mom finally divorces your drunken abusive father who's psychotic whims terrify you and marries a nice, gentle soft spoken guy who listens and treats everyone with respect. I feel like a child who has been removed from the home of an abuser.

[blaqntelligence]

"Its like when your mom finally divorces your drunken abusive father who's psychotic whims terrify you and marries a nice, gentle soft spoken guy who listens and treats everyone with respect. I feel like a child who has been removed from the home of an abuser."

What an absolutely perfect context of the last four years and I've heard many.
IMHO, this is the best.
As long as America doesn't fall into the role of victim looking for a savior. Obama can only do so much and we MUST pick up the slack.

[RiyazGuerra]

Great piece Mr. Kuttab.

I sincerely hope Obama follows a more pragmatic approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and recognize the unique position the US is in regarding applying the needed pressure to both factions make the needed concessions to get the process moving.

[Lee323]

"A curious thing has happened..­..Democrac­y suddenly ceased to be a bad word..."

"We the People" voted for a leader for change. I hope that change can also extend to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and beyond. Curious and curiouser..... but possible. The internet, the global economy, and the global stakes in climate change surely point the way that we're all in this together.

Thanks for the great post from your unique perspective!

[jamie461]

For the first time in my lifetime, I have some guarded hope that a true long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian situation can be found. If Obama cannot do it, I am not sure who could.

[Krikkit]

Clinton could have done it, if all parties had been sincerely committed to establishing a lasting peace. No one, not even Obama, can make this happen as long as any of the parties have hidden agendas.

[Joel Horn]

I was in Israel this Summer and had many talks about US policy and about Obama. Many I spoke with were skeptical that Obama could change US policy but when they moved beyond that and spoke about the possibilities it was exciting. Obama will have a chance to start a fresh discussion, only time will see if the old hatreds will shut down the opportunities.

Joel Horn

[chaos4700]

I do hope that Obama will bring about a genuine change in US policy toward the Middle East. It's hard to know... in the United States we can only gamble on what a politician says and we have no guarantee (and largely, no way to enforce anymore) that their actions will be true to their promises. I keep hoping that Obama well take a long, hard look at the hand of cards the previous administration holds secret to its chest and that he will, ultimately, discard the ones which have taken us to the brink of collapse. Face up, preferably, so that we learn never to allow that to happen again.

Here's hoping we'll all have things to celebrate in the months to follow. I wish I could shake my cynicism but we'll see what unfolds.

[CoolPapa]

Thank you for this story, Daoud. This line speaks volumes to me: "One Palestinian Obama supporter from Gaza would wait until electricity would come on, and then connect to the Internet, and using the free online Skype account he would call voters in Ohio or Pennsylvania trying to persuade them to vote for the senator."

As a supporter of Sen. Obama and one who worked on the campaign, I believe that Sen. Obama and his team will be the best and brightest, they'll be a bit idealistic and a lot optimistic, and they'll do the right thing. Hopefully they'll have 8 years to move mountains. Thank you again.

[TakeSake]

Could there be something like an "Obama Dividend" about to take place? Perhaps he could use Presidents Carter and Clinton as his special envoys to the region, as I expect they still maintain some of the luster they earned while working on middle east peace, now so many years ago.