Pakistan: Obama ’seems to know more about Islam than our own leaders’
Many welcomed the US president's conciliatory tone and references to Islamic history. Skeptics pointed to the price Pakistan pays for ongoing US involvement in Afghanistan.
By Issam Ahmed | Correspondent 06.04.09
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – President Obama’s speech was broadcast live on Pakistan’s plethora of private TV channels (there are dozens) and dissected by analysts throughout the night.
The morning’s newspapers, both Urdu and English, carried previews as their lead stories. The TV speech attracted a mostly educated, middle- to upper-class audience, and it wasn’t exactly the show-stopper in the tea shops and bazaars that it might have been had he been speaking from Pakistan, but the US president’s words were widely followed nonetheless.
Pundits and politicians alike welcomed Obama’s quotations from the Koran, references to Islamic history, and the conciliatory tone. Though Obama made a few direct references to Pakistan, much of the talk focused on Obama’s declaration of an “unbreakable” bond with Israel.
Says Samad Khurram, a Harvard University student who watched the speech in his Islamabad home with four friends: “I thought he was on target on everything, except Israel. He mentioned the humiliation upon the Palestinian people but not the loss of life: It’s hard to ignore the disparity and the numbers speak for themselves.”
Mr. Khurram, nevertheless, was impressed by the fact that “he spoke to Muslims like a Muslim…. He spoke as an insider and that was very welcome. As a speech, it was amazing, right down to the symbolism of the venue.”
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who leads the right-leaning Tehreek-i-Insaaf (Movement for Justice) party, struck a more skeptical tone.
Appearing on Geo News television, he said: “As long as America continues to occupy Afghanistan, Pakistan will suffer from terrorism,” adding that the speech gave nothing more than a vague assurance America would not stay in Afghanistan forever.
Speaking to the Monitor, Sherry Rehman, former information minister and a member of Parliament for the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, says: “We should welcome the speech. He spoke with respect, he knew how to pronounce Muslims’ names, and he’s shown a willingness to take on the issues.”
She adds: “It’s not a strategic shift, but more a welcome step in the right direction. At this stage, we do need to see more meat on the bones. If you want to talk about South Asia, the United States still has the same military goals.”
Defense analyst Talat Masood, a retired general, says the speech “went right to the heart of the issues that bedevil US-Muslim relations. He was very candid, very clear, and categorical in his desire for a two-state solution and his unwillingness to accept more settlements in the West Bank.”
One taxi driver was particularly impressed when Obama quoted the Koran on how killing one person is equivalent to killing humanity. “He seems to know more about Islam than our own leaders,” said Imtiaz, who wanted to give only his first name.
Other reactions around the world
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2. Arthur | 06.05.09
Speaking of an “unbreakable” connection with Israel was just smart. Obama laid out the starting points for discussion, then he went on to talk about what needed to be fixed. We can reaffirm our support of Israel, based on historic links and shared horror over the treatment of Jews, without buying in to all of the actions and mistakes that Israel has made in the last decades. It is simple, we do not believe that two wrongs make a right and I thought Obama did a good job of making that point, without dwelling on specifics. Bad things have been done by all parties, now it is time to focus on where we want to get to, rather than where we have been.
I am not sure what sort of playbook Israel is using, or not using, but there are smarter things they could and should be doing instead. We do Israel no favors by rubber-stamping all of their actions.
3. Obama the Fake | 06.05.09
OBama is just another fool for saying that European Ashkenazi Jews have a right to violently take land from Palestinians in 1948 but the Palestinians should not resist violently.
Every Israeli PM has been a TERRORIST - in the strict sense of the word - look up King David Hotel bombing, Deir Yassin killings, assassination of Lord Moyne & Count Folke Bernadotte and other terrorist acts committed by Jews in their quest to STEAL LAND.
If the USA wants to show the Islamic World it is serious about peace, then it needs to sanction Israel for its nuclear weapons. Cutting off financial and military aid to the Israelis will get the message across.
Since when does condoning the theft of land lead to World Peace?
No Two State Solution - the only just solution is One State - Palestine.
4. FG | 06.05.09
The worst crime ever committed against the Jews was the Holocaust and Germans were responsible. Why cant there be a second country for Jews in Germany? Lets ask Germany to share land.
5. Arafat | 06.05.09
Let’s get the facts straight. Jews have inhabited Israel for over 5,000 years. There are historical records (the Bible) and even ruins (the wailing wall) to prove it. About 2,000 years ago the Roman Empire kicked the Jews out of their homeland and into Germany, among other places. Then about 50 years ago Jews returned from Germany back home.
The “Palestinians” (who never had their own nation ever) are just the people who wandered into the vacant space. They have no more right to Israel’s land than Iranians who wander into Iraqi land after the American Empire cleans out Iraq.
6. Maigari | 06.05.09
Well, President Obama has stated where he stands. It is now up to the palestinians to determine their own stand vis-a-vis US Israeli alliance. Just like Obama said the US cannot impose democracy on others, The US should also respect the choice of orthers.
lebabon are looking down the ‘barrel” of US guns if they vote Hizbollah because Israel wont accept a Hizbollah victory. Earlieer Hamas was ostracised for the same reason but at least now we know who is a DEMOCRAT1 Little wonder it is Saudi Arabia and Egypt that are launch pads of contact with the Muslim world.
7. CH | 06.05.09
I agree with Obama. What good has fighting with the Israelis done in the last 50 years? Palestenians throw rocks, the Israelis cut off the water. Someone sets bombs, the Israelis put up a wall. The way to beat the Israelis is economically, and through funding of a lobby as powerful as AIPAC in Washington. A lot of the money that the EU sent to Palestine was used up by Arafat for other priorities and never made it to the street. Clean up the corruption in Palestine, unite, and develop Gaza & the West Bank. A lobby will be needed to secure a land bridge to unite the territories, as it will be vital to Palestine’s security and development.Israel cannot survive without aid from the US. Their monetary dependency on the US is their Achilles Heel. Use it.
8. Getting the Facts Right | 06.05.09
Abraham was an Iraqi - an Arab - who wandered into Palestine.
No one is saying Semitic Jews (Arabs) did not live in Palestine - they did.
But the ancient Semitic Jews left of their own accord over the centuries and were killed by the Catholic Church during the Inquisition in Europe by white Christians - not by Palestians or Muslims (two different groups with some overlay).
Modern Jews are over 90% European Ashkenazi Jews - who are descendants of the Khazars (a Turkic people from the Caspian Sea - not related to Semitic Jews from the time of Moses or David).
Thus, these European Ashkenazi Jews have NO “Historical Claim” to Palestine.
The Bible is not a historically accurate document since it has been mis-translated and edited too many times over the past “3,000 years” to have any reliability - also no other historical document supports the Torah/Bible. Mankind existed in various civilisations in many different parts of the world before the story of the Torah/Bible even starts.
The “Wailing Wall” has never been proven to been a part of any “Second Temple” or any sort of Jewish religious structure - despite attempts to make it seem so.
And those are the facts.
9. Alida | 06.06.09
I am struck, but not surprised, by the hostility and anger in some of the comments posted here. It is my view that Obama embodies the leadership the world needs on this deeply contentious issue. It is now our turn to step up to the challenge: a courageous act indeed to open hearts and minds in the face of such fear. What is our deepest wish? Happiness or suffering?
10. robert a | 06.06.09
Consider trying to return all conquered land throughout the world to the original inhabitants or their descendants. Of course the problem presents an impossible Gordian knot with no Alexander in the wings. For one, most of the Middle East would be Christian. The group of Arabs calling themselves Palestinians need to suck it up and turn the land they now inhabit into a modern, productive entity by whatever means necessary. Instead they seem to enjoy cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Seems to show they haven’t reached the first level in the hierarchy of intelligence.
11. Foteen | 06.07.09
To Arafat,
Get real! The Isrelites ripped off Palestine from its innocent earlier occupants following the exodus from Egypt and the years in the desert. This was a murderous, larcenous, bloody conquest, nothing less! Read the book of Joshua in your Bible. It’s all right there!
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1. Waldo5 | 06.04.09
It’s too bad that Mr. Obama talks of an “unbreakable” alliance with Israel. Does that mean that Israel can do no wrong? As I remember, the last war Israel fought with Hamas in Gaza was over the failure of Hamas to release ONE Israeli soldier, the rocket barrage from Gaza (which killed less than a dozen? Israelis) and other trivia. For that Gaza suffered some 4000 fatalities, some of whom died or were injured by poisonous shrapnel. Gaza is today a total wreck and will take years to recover. Israel punishes thousands for the supposed guilt of a very few, i.e. mass punishment. It uses a sledge-hammer to kill one mosquito. “Eye for an Eye” practice can only leave both sides blind. When will Israel realize that its age-old clinging to outworn, outmoded, no-longer workable, ancient 613 so-called “laws” in its Torah—should remain in history and forgotten?