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<font size=3><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.counterpunch.org/<br>
</a></font><font size=2 color="#990000">June 4 - 6, 2010<br><br>
</font><h1><font size=4><b>One Year After Cairo<br><br>
<br>
</i></font><font size=5 color="#990000">Obama's Speech: Promises Made;
Promises Unkept</b></font></h1><font size=4>By ESAM AL-AMIN <br><br>
</font><font size=3>One year ago President Barack Obama addressed the
Muslim World from the University of Cairo. The speech was
magnanimous, humble, articulate and well received by most Muslims
worldwide. It was strikingly different in rhetoric and tone from any
speech ever given by former President George W. Bush. Obama sought
“to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the
world”, emphatically declaring, “Islam is a part of America” and “is an
important part of promoting peace.” <br><br>
In that speech the President emphasized that one must be judged by his
deeds and that “words alone cannot meet the needs of our people.” Some of
the pledges he made regarding aid to Pakistan and Afghanistan have indeed
been appropriated by Congress. Other commitments he announced with
respect to the complete withdrawal from Iraq or cooperation with Muslim
communities in the business, trade, and scientific and technological
fields are supposedly underway. <br><br>
But during the speech the US president expressed his frustration and
complained that US policies are misunderstood by Muslims around the
globe. He begged for more understanding and acceptance and pleaded that
the “cycle of suspicion and discord must end.” <br><br>
So on the anniversary of his most celebrated speech, how does Obama score
on his most important declarations? <br><br>
Part of the answer to the frustration of the American policy makers with
regards to the battle to win the hearts and minds of Muslims around the
world may be found in the following report card. It lists ten political
promises Obama made before the world, half of which directly relate to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, demonstrating whether or not his words
matched his policies. <br><br>
1. Issue Closing Guantanamo.<br><br>
<i>Obama’s Words<br><br>
</i>“I have ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by early next
year.”<br><br>
<i>Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<br><br>
<i>Comment<br><br>
</i>With mounting pressure from Congress and the extreme right, the
administration backed down.<i> <br><br>
</i>2. Issue: Israeli Settlements.<br><br>
<i>Obama’s Words<br><br>
</i>“This construction (of Israeli settlements) violates previous
agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these
settlements to stop.”<br><br>
<i>Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<br><br>
<i>Comment<br><br>
</i>Twice last year Obama faced Netanyahu and twice the US president
blinked in front of the Israeli prime minister.<br><br>
<b>3.</b> <b>Issue: Lifting Gaza’s Blockade.<br><br>
</b><i>Obama’s Words<br><br>
</i>“Israel must also live up to its obligations to ensure that
Palestinians can live, and work, and develop their society. And just as
it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in
Gaza does not serve Israel's security.”<br><br>
<i>Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<br><br>
<i>Comment<br><br>
</i>The administration even financed the construction of a sixty-foot
underground steel barrier along the Egypt-Gaza border in order to tighten
the siege on Gaza; it also recently shielded Israel in the UN after the
flotilla massacre.<br><br>
4. Issue: Human Rights and the Goldstone Report.<br><br>
<i>Obama’s Words<br><br>
</i>“We reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the
killing of innocent men, women, and children.”<i> <br><br>
Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<br><br>
<i>Comment<br><br>
</i>Although the Goldstone Report concluded that Israel committed war
crimes and killed 1400 Palestinians during its invasion of Gaza (the
overwhelming number of which was non-combatant civilians including
hundreds of women and children), the Obama administration defended Israel
in all international forums including the UN’s Security Council and Human
Rights Commission.<br><br>
5<i>. </i>Issue: Palestinian Elections Results.<br><br>
<i>Obama’s Words<br><br>
</i>"We will welcome all elected, peaceful governments – provided
they govern with respect for all their people."<i> <br><br>
Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<br><br>
<i>Comment<br><br>
</i>On the contrary, the US supports the unelected Palestinian Authority
imposed on the Palestinian people in part by the US, as well as it trains
and finances its security forces (under Gen. Dayton). According to human
rights organizations, the PA has tortured hundreds and detained, without
trial, over one thousand of its opponents in the last year
alone.<br><br>
6<i>.</i> Issue: Imposition.<br><br>
<i>Obama’s Words<br><br>
</i>No system of government can or should be imposed on one nation by any
other.<i> <br><br>
Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<br><br>
<i>Comment<br><br>
</i>The Israeli government did not like the results of the Palestinian
elections favoring Hamas, and consequently imposed a crippling siege on
Gaza, which the US has tacitly supported and defended in their attempt to
undo the elections’ results.<i> <br><br>
</i>7<i>. </i>Issue: Reconciliation Between the Palestinian
Factions.<br><br>
<i>Obama’s Words<br><br>
</i> “We will say in public what we say in private to Israelis and
Palestinians and Arabs.” <br><br>
<i>Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<br><br>
Comments<br><br>
In public the administration says that the ongoing dispute between the
Palestinian factions is strictly a Palestinian affair; but in private it
has vetoed and obstructed any reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah,
pressured Egypt to continue its siege of Gaza, and threatened the PA with
the withdrawal of all financial aid if it reconciles with Hamas.<br>
<i> <br><br>
</i>8<i>. </i>Issue: Nuclear Weapons<br><br>
<i>Obama’s Words<br><br>
</i>“No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear
weapons.”<br><br>
<i>Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<i> <br><br>
Comment<br><br>
</i>While pressuring (NPT signatory) Iran and threatening to use
crippling sanctions against it, the US ignores Israel’s nuclear arsenal
and its refusal to sign the NPT.<br><br>
<i>9. </i>Issue:<i> </i>Use of Drone attacks and killing of civilians in
violation of the laws of sovereign nations.<i> <br><br>
Obama’s Words <br><br>
</i>“So America will defend itself respectful of the sovereignty of
nations and the rule of law.”<br><br>
<i>Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<i> <br><br>
Comment<br><br>
</i>Despite the countries' objections against the mounting civilian
casualties, the drone attacks under Obama have tripled in Pakistan and
Afghanistan, and expanded to other countries such as Yemen and Somalia,
even to the point of targeting US citizens for execution (i.e.,
assassination) without due process of law. <br><br>
<i> <br><br>
</i>10. Issue: Muslim Charities in the US<i> <br><br>
Obama’s Words<br><br>
“</i>In the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder
for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That's why I'm
committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can
fulfill Zakat.”<i> <br><br>
Promise<br><br>
</i>Not Kept.<br><br>
<i>Comment<br><br>
</i>No Muslim charity closed during the Bush administration has been
re-opened or had its assets returned. The administration even defended
the use of Bush’s illegal wiretapping against one charity in Oregon
prompting a federal judge to rule against the government. The
administration has failed so far to meet with any credible US Muslim
group to address the issue of the closed charities or the unjust
prosecution of their officers. <br><br>
Final Score: Promises Made: 10, Promises Kept: 0. <br><br>
<b>Esam Al-Amin</b> can be reached at:
<a href="mailto:alamin1919@gmail.com">alamin1919@gmail.com</a> <br><br>
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