Muslims want more than fine talk from Obama

BEIRUT (Reuters) - US President Barack Obama has awoken hope for redress of grievances in the hearts of
some of the more than a billion Muslims scattered in diverse communities across the globe.
To win their minds, sceptical after a war on terror waged by his predecessor George W Bush that many saw as
an assault on Islam, Obama must follow his speech to the Muslim world this week with evidence of real change
in US policy and outlook.
That, at least, is a common thread stressed by politicians and analysts from Muslim-majority countries - as is the
urgency of US action to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
From Kuala Lumpur to Kabul, from Ramallah to Riyadh, the messages for Obama throb with that central
concern, along with a yearning for a break from the divisive, militaristic, pro-Israel stance many Muslims
associate with the eight-year Bush era.
Its not too late to repair relations between the US and the Muslim world, said Tifatul Sembiring, President of an
Islamist party in Indonesia. But Obama has to give us some proof that there will not be another opportunistic
war, such as happened in Iraq.
Sembiring, who leads the PKS (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera or Prosperous Justice Party), homed in on the
Palestinian issue.
Are they (the Americans) serious about creating a real solution for Palestine? We are waiting for justice on this.
Obamas best chance to win over Muslims and Arabs was to use Washingtons leverage on its Israeli ally, said
Saudi political analyst Turad al-Amri. By pressuring Israel, Obama will win in more than one area - in terrorism,
the Iran file, Lebanon.
The US President has said Israel must halt all settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, a demand that
sets him on a collision course with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
For PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat, Obamas task was to ensure creation of a Palestinian state. People of this
region dont want to hear words any more. They want to see deeds, he said.
In Kabul, Afghan lawmaker Sabrina Saqib said Obamas roots, as a black American with a Muslim father, meant
he understood deprivation and would work to settle the Palestinian issue.
One speech will not work, but its good for a start, she said of Obamas planned address on Thursday. When
you pay homage to others and respect them, you enliven their spirit. The change of US language under Obama
must be translated on the ground, said Ali Baraka, deputy representative of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas
movement in Damascus. The first step would be to pressure (Israel) to stop its aggression against Gaza and lift
the siege on the Strip.
In Iran, Mohammad Marandi, a professor who heads North American Studies at Tehran University, said Obama
was slowly running out of time to repair the US image in the region.
He called for substantial change in US foreign policy towards the non-Western world, without detailing how Iran,
under scrutiny over its nuclear programme, might reciprocate.
Obamas decision to make Cairo the venue for his appeal to the Muslim world drew criticism as well as
understanding.
He could have thought out of the box and chosen Indonesia or even Malaysia to give a new shift in the paradigm
for addressing the Muslim worlds issues, said Dzulkifli Ahmad, strategist for the Opposition Pan-Malaysian
Islamic Party.
Choosing Cairo showed Obama was still well within that Middle East-centric approach, he said, adding that
President Hosni Mubarak was not viewed as representing the Muslim world.
Lebanese political analyst Ousama Safa said there was no escaping the rift fraying the fabric of Muslim-Western
ties.
We shouldnt hide behind our fingers, he said. There is an Arab Muslim-Western tension weighing very heavily
on global relationships, so its very relevant that Obama comes here. But Marandi, the Iranian scholar, whose
country is one of Egypts fiercest regional rivals, described Cairo as probably the worst possible choice
Obama could have made.