Posted on 01/10/2008 9:23:29 PM PST by indcons
They may not have a vote, but civic-minded people in the Middle East are watching the U.S. presidential race closely, and some have already chosen their favorite candidate.
"My favorite is unquestionably Sen. [Barack] Obama. He presents a new face of America to the Middle East, and to the world at large," Hafed Al Ghwell, a Libyan-American with the Dubai School of Government, told ABC News.
"I think [Obama] is capable of restoring the image of America as a beacon of democracy," said Fadi Salem, a Syrian engineer, also with the DSG.
The Illinios Democrat seems to have captured the hearts, minds and newspaper pages of the Middle East.
Even before winning in Iowa, Obama appeared to be the local favorite, as evidenced in the region's English language press. An op-ed in Egypt's Daily News called him "a breath of fresh air." Another, in the Daily Star of Lebanon, said he is "a global candidate for a global age."
"To see an African-American come this close to the White House, less than 50 years after the end of segregation ... is an accomplishment for which all Americans can be proud," wrote an editorial in Arab News, a Saudi Arabian newspaper. "Democrats, in particular, must quietly feel glad that the days of the Birmingham Barons and Bull Connor are behind the party."
Though Obama is, himself, a Christian, his father's Muslim heritage, and his own multiracial makeup, are seen as a huge plus a sign to many here that he may be able to understand the region and what it would take to achieve peace and stability.
In one editorial, Lebanese political analyst Chibli Mallat pointed out that the name Barack is short for "Mubarak," an Arabic word, meaning "the blessed one." In a point of unsolicited advice, Mallat suggested Obama should highlight, not bury, that heritage.
"You should be proud of your Muslim legacy," wrote Mallat. "Make it a central plank of your campaign to become world leader. There is no contradiction between this and the Christian convictions you have. ... Become a uniquely ecumenical president, in a world increasingly in the throes of religious strife."
New York Sen. Hilary Clinton has equal or greater name recognition in the Arab world, but her popularity seems scant. Despite widespread admiration for her husband and nostalgia for his foreign policy, Clinton does not benefit much from his reflected glow.
"As a candidate for that high office, she has left a lot to be desired, and it is getting worse," wrote Tom Plate in Dubai's Khaleej Times.
"Take her recent retreat on global trade her apparently newfound doubts about the value of all free-trade deals. What a disgusting display of dime store grandstanding," he wrote.
On the Republican side, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are still relative unknowns, while local columnist Linda Heard called former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani the "Middle East's worst nightmare." Even though Giuliani has business ties to the Arab world, those are outweighed by what is perceived as a commitment to the Bush administration's foreign policy.
"Whereas, post 9-11, Giuliani was generally considered a competent, nice guy, keen to roll up his sleeves in order to put his city to rights, in recent months, the mask has come off," Heard wrote in Gulf News, a paper printed in the United Arab Emirates.
Ghaleb Darabya, a Palestinian executive education specialist, noted that Arabs still take offense at Giuliani's decision to return a multimillion-dollar gift from Saudi Arabia's Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal, to a relief fund for the victims of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Giuliani is known for his tough stance and his leadership after 9/11 he was able to bring people together. But if you ask people in this region, they know him for rejecting the donations that were made by Arabs who wanted to help American families," Darabya told ABC News.
Arizona Sen. John McCain resonates with Darabya as the candidate of character.
"[McCain] represents some honesty and integrity ... He has what it takes to lead the Republican party," Darabya said.
When asked what the new American president's priorities should be, experts in the Middle East point to a handful of perennial, predictable issues: the Iraq War, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and resolving diplomatic standoffs with Syria and Iran. But while the issues may be the same as in the last political cycle, the feeling in the region is that they are much more critical now.
"These already dangerous times are becoming even more dangerous. We can only stand by helplessly as the American people decide their fate and ours," Heard wrote. "With the future of the planet in their hands, it's time they made the right choice."
Maryam Shahabi contributed to this article.
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures
Thanks G76. On the Dhimmicrat side, it’s a race between Wahhabi and Al-Qaeda, with an all-American ambulance chaser coming in third.
Everyone, have a great day!
I couldn't agree more. ...with the last part, at least. Take that advice, Barack -- make your Muslim heritage the focus of your campaign.
(But wait until after you win the Dem nomination).
lol
Don’t Arabs still have slavery?
Slavery was officially “abolished” last among Gulf Arabs during the 1950s-1970s. If you leave the cities & go deep inside the desert communities, you will still see small-scale slavery. In the cities, there are many indentured servants from various countries, who are beaten, abused, & in some cases executed at will. Slavery or not, Middle Easterners look down on blacks (that’s putting it lightly, frankly) & unlike westerners, aren’t ashamed to express it in public.
...An encounter with a pastor as he loitered on some church steps reminded Wright of his calling. He eventually returned to Howard University to finish bachelor's and master's degrees in English with a focus on African spirituals. At the University of Chicago Divinity School, he earned another master's in the history of religions with a focus on Islam. He planned to earn a doctoral degree his Ph.D. and teach at a seminary. ---------
The same MO as mohammad. Learn all you can, plagiarize, start you own cult. And find a new 'prophet' - here comes Obama!
Wright discovers his calling while 'loitering on some church steps'? Obama has an epiphany on his way down the aisle?
I'm an aussie. I can smell CULT from here.
Lol, Kerry the ‘hot air’ clown!
From left to right, Michelle Obama, then Illinois state senator Barack Obama, Columbia University Professor Edward Said and Mariam Said at a May 1998 Arab community event in Chicago at which Edward Said gave the keynote speech. (Image from archives of Ali Abunimah)
...Ali Abunimah is a well-known Chicago-based activist for Palestinian causes. He has a harshly anti-Israel attitude. He has also written that he had met Obama about half a dozen times at various Palestinian and Arab-American events, including a May 1998 community fundraiser at which the late Edward Said was the keynote speaker (there is a photo of Said with Senator Obama and his wife).
Edward Said was a severe critic of Israel; he developed a school of study about the Middle East based on denunciation of so-called "Orientalism" that has influenced many Middle Eastern professors to take an anti-Israel view. The entire field of Middle Eastern studies has been so corrupted that Congress has raised an alarm about federal funding going to professors with an anti-American, anti-Israel agenda. These are the ideological heirs of Edward Said.
...largely thanks to Said's influence, those American academics who once devoted themselves to the scholarly study of the Middle East were replaced by a new cohort who devoted themselves to the denunciation of the United States and the celebration of America's enemies.
If the United States was caught unawares on 9/11, Edward Said's name belongs high on the list of those responsible.
Said based both his academic work and his political advocacy upon his identity as a Palestinian refugee. He often told the story of his birth in Jerusalem and his family's loss of its house in that city during the war that began (as Said seldom mentioned) when six Arab armies attacked Israel after it declared its independence in 1948.
Said's claims turn out to be less than fully true, as Justus Weiner demonstrated in a lengthy article in the September 1999 issue of Commentary. Said's family's principal residence was Cairo, and it was in that city that Said was born and raised. Said's wealthy father, an American citizen, sometimes sent the young Said to Jerusalem to visit relatives, and Said may even have attended school there for a time, but the image Said created for himself as (in Weiner's phrase) the "avatar of Palestinian suffering" was almost purely bogus...
-----
The further it goes, the more sordid it gets...
I don't think I've ever read a newspaper story that mentioned democrats' racist past.
I do believe the BALL is rolling!
Its BARBIE time. Roll out that keg of Foster's!
Yep! Once you make it on the cartoons, you know the ball is rolling...LOL!
If I find any more I’ll post them.
ROFLMAO INDEED!
I will stand up and say that that DOES disqualify him - or anyone else of Muslim heritage - from holding the office of the presidency. Islam by it's self-declared nature is anathema to everything the democratic West embraces in philosophy and policy.
And I'm also disturbed that Obama spent a good share of his formative years living OUT of the United States. This contradicts the spirit - if not the letter - of the Constitutional requirement that a president be "native born". I believe the framers intent was that a person qualified to become president be born AND raised "as an American". In those times, the fact that you were born here almost guaranteed that you were raised here, as well.
That's my opinion, and I realize others' may be different.
- John
Bump for later
Obama's conduct in Kenya, as a Senator, in supporting his cousin, Odinga, to attempt to bring Kenya entire under Sharia Law shows that he does not believe freedom to be the natural state of man, but rather submission of freedom to Islam,and in its place the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, revenge ideology of a faith which hates democracy. This also means no presumption of innocence until proven guilty, no trial by jury, none of the constitutional protections set out in the Bill of Rights of our constitution.No stare decisis in law, no right to a speedy trial, no right to confront your accusers with evidence, no due process, the list goes on and on.
I'd say that disqualifies Obama as a candidate for the presidency, and also disqualifies him from his senate seat. He swore to uphold the constitution of the USA. In supporting Islamofascism, he has violated his oath of office, and should be summarily turfed out of his seat in the Senate.
Most people do not yet have a grasp of the facts that support this conclusion, and I have been repeatedly called racist for my views. It has nothing to do with Obama's race, but it has to do with his patriotism.
These facts are readily available to anyone who can spend a few minutes reading them:
How Obama and 1st paternal cousin Odinga Tried to Bring Kenya Under Sharia Law and Failed, The Dose
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