Obama Egypt Speech: Venue Choice Draws Fire

President Obama's decision to address the Muslim World in a speech on June 4th in Cairo, Egypt -- one of the most authoritarian Muslims countries in the Middle East - begs the question: is Egypt the right place to address such issues or not?

On May 8, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called Egypt "the heart of the Arab world," and the trip "an opportunity for the President to address and discuss our relationship with the Muslim world."

In March 2009, Ipsos conducted a poll of 7,000 people across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. According to the polling outfit, Egypt has the least favorable approval rating compared to the other Arab countries in the Middle East. And President Obama received 48 percent of average favorability ratings as a whole, while Egyptians gave him a favorability rating of 35 percent.

Egypt, however, with its authoritarian regime, notoriously poor human rights record and extremely unpopular government (characteristics of the usual U.S. ally in the Middle East) is an easily criticized choice for the president.

"The state run media has been whipping up hysteria about 'Egypt's importance' and I'm sure this has affected some people, but the majority does not think high of Obama in Egypt," said Hossam el-Hamalawy an Egyptian journalist and blogger for Arabawy.org. "And yes, this will help the ailing Mubarak to solidify his power."

The Israeli-Palestinian issue, the future of 'War On Terror' policies and the future of the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are among the issues that are expected to be addressed by the president.

"Egypt obviously puts him right in the middle of the Middle East -- so he speaks not only from the Islamic world but from the Arab world, indeed from what has traditionally been considered the most important and intellectually and culturally central Arab country," said Mark Danner, a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror.

"It is worth pointing out that Washington's relations with Mubarak declined appreciably during the Bush administration and this might help revive them," added Danner.

According to the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report about 17 percent of 1.5 billion estimated Muslims in the World live in the Middle East, and not all of the people in the Middle Eastern countries are Muslim. Beyond the numbers and figures there are the political implications of this trip that make President Obama's address from Cairo questionable.

"Obama's visit to Egypt is an affirmation that the White House is committed to sponsoring the dictatorial Mubarak regime," says Hossam el-Hamalawy. "I don't want him to come to Egypt. I want him to sever all ties with the Mubarak's dictatorship, withdraw immediately all US troops from every single Arab and Muslim country, cut completely the aid to Israel. All things that he will never do."

"One, not much noticed, fact is that this no doubt worked into Obama's decision not to release the so-called 'torture' photographs," explained Danner, adding that, "They would have come out just before he arrived in Cairo and the images probably would have dominated the news."

"We give Cairo more than a billion dollar a year. We need Mubarak's help when it comes to our plans for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and he is going to Egypt to appease [President] Mubarak," Says Reza Aslan, scholar of religion and the author of the New York Times Bestseller, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam and How to Win a Cosmic War.

"But I wouldn't have chosen Egypt, not at all," added Aslan. "Egypt is a despotic government. It's a dictatorship and police state. It's a government that has continued to suppress any kind of democratic force, whether is it the secular left or the Muslim Brotherhood and it has proven that it's ready for a kind of political reform that we need from our allies."

"Plus, more importantly, Egypt is not the Muslim world," explained Aslan adding that, "The Arabs are not the Muslim world. Arabs make eight percent of World's one and half billion Muslims."

President Obama's pick of Egypt has raised questions and doubts about what he aims to address; the Muslim World or the Arab countries?

"He [President Obama] should be more careful not to speak about the Muslim world as if there is "one" Muslim world; there is no 'one' Muslim world," said Olivier Roy, a research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the author of "Globalized Islam" and "The Failure of Political Islam."

"There is a population of Muslims with different interests, different citizenship and different views of the world," added Roy. "I think that Obama should be more open to the diversity of the Muslim world instead of testing the unity of the Muslim world. There is not a unity of the Muslim world."

"It is a mistake to speak about Islam in the framework of any given country but, to me, Cairo may be the worst choice," explains Roy. "Addressing Muslims from Cairo is supporting [President] Mubarak who has a political agenda; it means to endorse his political agenda and it means also makes the issue of Islam hostage of the Middle East crisis, which for me is a mistake. So, in this sense, Indonesia would have been better."

"I just wish he would leave us alone to face our regimes and focus on the internal problems in America and the current global financial crisis," said Hossam el-Hamalawy.

"I was greatly disappointed that he didn't go to Indonesia, which is not only the largest Muslim country in the world, but a thriving democracy and just had an amazing elections, and a country that represent the future of Islam, not Egypt," stated Aslan. "It's a country that exposes a moderate and pluralistic conception of Islam."

On Jan. 21, 2009, President Obama used a few words in his inaugural address reaching out to the Muslims around the world, emphasizing that the U.S. was seeking "a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect".

Last month in a speech in the Turkish Parliament Obama said that the United States is not at War with Islam and will never be. "The United States has been enriched by Muslim-Americans," President Obama said in the speech. "Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know, because I am one of them."

Some believe that President Obama might ask the Egyptian government for more political freedom, release of political prisoners and open up the society to different political parties.

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Comments

[WilliamL]

Please.

Obama goes to the middle-east in an attempt to make peace, repair all the damage that has been done, and yet the man just can not get a break from some on where he stands.

Maybe he sd. go to each one of those countries in the region and say the exact same thing and then maybe some folks would be pleased.

Perhaps speaking in a country that does the record they do on rights was his point.

I wd. like to see him go to East Timor and speak to the people there, apologize for supporting Suharto and his slaughtering of the E. Timor people. Ford shook Suhartos hand just before, it may have been the day before, but either way, that would be a good thing to see.

Those who want to split every single hair might consider back off or preparing their campaign now for 2012.

[johnsopinion]

"Egypt, however, with its authoritarian regime, notoriously poor human rights
record and extremely unpopular government (characteristics of the usual U.S.
ally in the Middle East) is an easily criticized choice for the president."

So, does this mean we should have held the past Obama election process
in Canada, or maybe Brazil? How about Germany?

[CigarGod]

What?

[zanzig]

On the news tonight while a vox pop was being done, the camera flashed on a shop selling tourist junk including a T-Shirt that proclaimed "Obama - the new Tutankhamen of the world".

[ArtsyJane]

Quote: "...Egypt is a despotic government. It's a dictatorship and police state. It's a government that has continued to suppress any kind of democratic force...."

Not to rub it, but I would be hard-pressed to name a significant Muslim nation that does not fit this description.

Indonesia is very populous, but it isn't situated in the Middle East and is not of Arabic ethnicity. And it's not like it's a perfectly sane democracy either.

The choice of Egypt is very symbolic. It is a major Muslim and Arabic nation, it is in the heart of the Muslim world and the Middle East, and Cairo is a major cultural centre of the Muslim and the Arabic culture. Not to mention, it is the cradle of our civilization. Yes, Egypt currently does not have a democratic regime, but, again, who does? Morocco? Syria? Lebanon? Somalia? Pakistan?

The University of Cairo as his venue of choice is in itself a great symbol - the home of knowledge, enlightment, and youth, the home of hope and the future.

Obama's speech is a major step forward; symbolically and culturally it is the beginning of a new bridge between our two worlds. If a major Muslim leader wanted to address the Western world, where would he go? Paris? London? Rome? Athens? New York? Somewhere around there for sure. Well, it's the same with Cairo.

[CigarGod]

I thought Mesopotamia was the "cradle of civilization".
Further, none of the top three or four Holiest sites in Islam are in Eqypt.
As for democracy in a Muslim country, the Palestinian Territories have the highest democracy rating.

[Macready]

yes, it is the right place . . . Egypt has been working very hard to establish peace in the Middle East . . the ceasefire agreement they put in place lasted for 18 months until the israelis deliberately broke it . . .

stop with all this human rights record in the country to stop interaction and dialogue . .the US doesn't win a blue ribbon or a gold star for its human rights record either . . .

your attitude only serves to stiffle dialogue and create barriers . . . it bridges nothing . . just produces stalemates and antagonism

[StoicRep]

Obama chose Egypt because he is the incarnation of Amenhotep the fourth/, who he resembles.

If you do not but that, perhaps you will buy this. He identifies with the downtrodden Muslim. He sees Eqypt ripe for "change". That is why he is there. Generalizing, he is also probably sympathetic with Iran. The last Arab group he cares about are the Saudis, who he views as a corrupt lot.

His plan is to empower the Muslim underdog and to extricate the US from Middle East concerns, by obtaining energy from some other source. He sees nuclear weapons for Arab state as establishing parity. He sees nuclear power plants as an alternate "green" energy source for the Arabs.

But Hey, What about Israel? And what of the price of oil until we attain energy independence? What of terrorists getting nuclear materials or access to bombs? Obama thinks if they get what they want, they will stop the terror, which incidentally started in Egypt. Are there always islamic extremists, or are they just violent protesters?

[commarcos]

I think it is important to point out that while of course all Muslims throughout the world share different interests and beliefs, they quite often come together, as long as they are somewhat moderate, and take care of each other when in need because of the very fact they are Muslim. Another point is that it is important for Obama to appeal to Arabs and Arab Muslims. To do that Egypt is a good place to start not because of the government in power but because of the cultural symbolism of Egypt to the greater Arab world. Arab movies, music, and pop culture mostly come out of Egypt. Their colleges are some of the most influential in the region. The US has a history in Egypt, mainly a bad one. It can be argued quite easily that if we had not worked so hard to destroy secular nationalists the Middle East would look a whole lot different today, probably for the better. At least far better then fundamentalist Islam or brutal dictators both of which we supported in the past and continue to support today. If there is a better place for him to speak at this point in time, I am all ears. By shear numbers it would be Indonesia, China, Pakistan, and India. I am sure people could find an argument for many places. Egypt to me makes as much sense, if not more so, then any other place. The true importance lies in what he says anyway.

[xlntcat]

How can a poll of 7000 be generalized to a billion across very diverse countries? All you can say from that survey is that it is relevant to that particular 7000 people.

[oldgeek1]

Egypt is the perfect choice. It has honored the Camp David accords and has been a moderate country.

If anyone is looking for a country in the middle east (other than Israel) that has a government that has standards of conduct that we as Americans are accustomed to, that country does not exist.

[WritusMaximus]

Well, Egypt is a secular country, where religious extremists have had a hard time organizing, let alone acting out their beliefs. Me thinks Obama knows, hence Egypt his choice.

[Chardin]

Who cares 'where' Obama speaks. He could be speaking from a lawn chair at Camp Minnehaha. The bottom line is that where Obama speaks is really Reuters and Al Jazeera.
Obama, the man, the country, speaks in code language to each individual listening.

The fixation we've developed with 'this ruler' or 'that faction' or this despot or that
'moderate' is missing the point. In the end, if there's an obstruction..go there. If there's malignancy,
go there. But, know that the voice that says something of value--let's hope he does and not more gobble de gook as per Palestine/Israel- (purse strings please!) will travel like pollen, person to person, globally. The idea of 'country' as 'staging area' turns the world into a Hollywood set. That said, the Pope photographed in front of the wall in the Holy Land had a powerful effect in calling for a two state solution and sovereignty for Palestine. Nevertheless, we create hostilities by these constant divisions
and reinforcement of excoriation and 'ghetto-izing' of whole countries because their 'rulers' are questionable or culpable. A homeopathic dose of humanity to humans is needed to break these prejudices down. The real borders and walls are in our minds- and in the need to hate someone.

Not more hatred. As to Indonesia. tough to be a Christian there at the moment.

[MrBU]

According to the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report about 17 percent of 1.5 estimated Muslims in the World live in the Middle East. Thus, not all of the people in the Middle Eastern countries are Muslim.
..........

I think you meant 1.5 Billion. Even then, be careful with statistics. The above is true only if the total population of the middle east is (significantly) more than 255 Million. Maybe true, but cannot be inferred from your data.

Secondly, why pick on Egypt, while other countries in ME are equally or more dictatorial?

[We-Are-The-Ones]

My question as well. Why pick on Egypt when "Egypt, however, with its authoritarian regime, notoriously poor human rights record and extremely unpopular government (characteristics of the usual U.S. ally in the Middle East).

Folk just want to criticize every choice.

I wish the President all the success and the beginning of healing with this speech.

[BatedBreath]

Pray tell what Arab regime is not dictatorial? Arabia? Syria? Yemen? Even Lebanon is a monarchy. Iraq, you say? Ummm, I think the less said about Iraq the better. So if Obama is speaking in the Middle East about a Middle East problem, where would all the wingnut (left and right) pundits suggest he give his speech? Egypt is perfect because it is a Muslim country in the region that has made peace with Israel and also has contact with the Palestinians. What better place is there?

[MarkOfBrooklyn]

There are not Turkey and Paistan are the only muslim countries that has a semblance of regular "western" political practice. Cairo may have some problems but its near the heart of the violent Jihadi world that needs calming. It has a good balance of islamic scholarshi­p/history/­political order/ and economic stability.

[mergina]

Oh what difference does it make? No matter what country he speaks from it won't be right for someone. I wish he would throw Human rights and Womens rights in the speech somehow.