Obama’s Worthy Gesture

BEIRUT -- President Barack Obama in Cairo Thursday provided a combination Bible and Quran class mixed in with some American civics lessons -- a touching, sincere performance that gets high marks for boldness and empathy, but nevertheless leaves a lingering hollowness in some areas.

We should judge him by his intentions, measured by what can emanate from a single speech. In this respect, there is good news and bad news. The good news reflects a new approach and a change in tone, rhetoric and style, offering some hope where haplessness and hypocrisy once ruled Washington's work in the Middle East.

Obama sketched out a series of issues -- including Arab-Israeli peace, democracy, Iraq, development, political violence, women, pluralism -- that are important to Arabs and Muslims. He grasped the grievances of ordinary men and women, and captured the nuanced, multi-sectoral realities of our societies. He spoke of our worlds as they are, not as Fox television, Israeli zealots, or Neo-conservative simpletons try to paint us.

Most significantly, his acknowledging our historical grievances about the conduct of Western powers in our region -- colonialism, exploitative proxy relationships, the 1953 coup in Iran -- and tacitly admitting past culpability, are tremendously important for removing the burdens of the past and starting afresh in our relations. 

He also articulated virtually equal national rights for Israelis and Palestinians. He asked both sides simultaneously to move on their commitments to making peace (i.e., guaranteeing Israel's security on its own is no longer the starting point for talks), and he reaffirmed his personal involvement in this quest. His comments on Hamas will be seen correctly as the start of an American public dialogue with Hamas, which is welcomed. Equally heartening was his pledge to work with any democratically elected government that respected all its citizens' rights -- a possible quiet nod to Hizbullah and Hamas. 

Framing his entire approach was his plea and pledge that we listen and learn from each other, and interact on the basis of mutual interests and mutual respect. This is why we love American values, which we mostly encounter in our societies on the level of words.

The bad news is that none of this is really new; he offered no substantive indication of whether this declaration of principles of American policy would be followed up with practical policy implementations; he continues to reflect basic contradictions and insensitivities in some aspects of American policies towards the Arab-Islamic world; and, he persists in allowing Osama Bin Laden to drive Washington's agenda, which is obsessed with "Islam" at the expense often of pursuing sensible policies.

The core weakness of Obama's speech and approach is his continuing confusion between religion and politics. He eloquently spoke of the place of Islam and Muslims in American society and history and his own life story -- which is impressive, but totally irrelevant. We who know and love both societies also know that Islam and America are soul brothers, a religion and a country deeply linked through values and faith. He wastes our time and his in preaching on this. He would do better to focus on the policy issues that are the cause of tensions between American policy and many Muslims, i.e., the foreign policy of a country and the sentiments and rights of individuals in other countries. Here, we need action, not just fine rhetoric -- but it sure is nice to hear positive, sensitive, comprehensive rhetoric for a change.

It is awkward for Obama to make violent extremism the number one issue in a list of challenges in a speech about and for the Islamic world. An absolute commitment to equal rights and justice as the number one issue would have been smoother. Similarly, mentioning Iran only in the context of the nuclear proliferation threat was un-cool.

Obama joins Jimmy Carter as the only American president since Kennedy who speaks from the heart, and whose sincerity is beyond doubt. His mentioning the American civil rights movement as an example of how nonviolent resistance can succeed was powerful and pertinent -- perhaps though, we receive it slightly differently than he meant it. His sincere review of the principles the United States will pursue in the Arab-Islamic world appears to the Arab world today the way the US Constitution did to African-Americans in 1956: a stunning commitment to human rights and values that is grievously contradicted by realities on the ground.

The fact that almost every fine principle articulated by Obama in Cairo was contradicted by harsh American policies throughout the region should not detract from the importance of his visit or the potential power of the ideas in his speech. Washington's hard policies still smother its soft power out here in the swamp. Obama's speech in diplomatic terms was more than putting lipstick on a pig -- perhaps closer to aftershave lotion on a camel. 

He sought a new beginning, though, 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. Obama's gesture deserves return gestures of equal magnitude from Arabs, Iranians, others in the Islamic world, and Israelis, starting with great but sincere speeches.

Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon.