Interview by Gihan Shahine Fahmy Howeidy is a political analyst and expert on Islamic and Arab affairs For Fahmy Howeidy, President Barack Obama's choice of Cairo as a venue to address the Islamic world is not, in any way, an attempt to bridge gaps with that world. Howeidy further sniffs at media hype of the visit as being "historic". "It's a purely political visit," he snaps. "Religion has nothing to do with it." Howeidy explains that Obama has already sent many messages of goodwill to the Arab and Muslim worlds since he took office earlier this year, and then during his visit to Turkey and via a televised message to Iran. That President Obama chose to reiterate the same messages from Cairo is no more than "a nice gesture", in Howeidy's view -- a way of attaining popularity and, more importantly, to pave the way to political gains. Howeidy speculates that Obama's visit to Cairo is meant to suggest solutions for the Israeli- Palestinian conflict from a US perspective. Obama has been recently talking of the establishment of two neighbouring states, one Palestinian and one Israeli, which Howeidy insists is "pure nonsense". "[President] Obama did not mention any details about the borders of each state." Indeed, Howeidy is not in the least optimistic that President Obama will bring positive change to the region or settle conflicts. Neither can he see the president's visit as an opportunity for the Arabs. President Obama already enjoys public popularity; his record is far cleaner than that of his predecessor and his goodwill towards the Muslim world is sincere. "But politics is not about goodwill and speeches -- it is all about political weight and power," Howeidy insists. In this game, Arabs are losers as they do not have "any pressing cards" to play with. "We are just like a student who has not studied all year. How can you expect him to pass the exams?" No matter how sincere President Obama may be in his attempts to bridge gaps, Howeidy insists that people should not exaggerate their hope that he will actually bring regional change. After all, Howeidy concludes, US policies are not designed by one person, even the president, but rather by a whole institutional matrix. Meanwhile, the current Israeli government is "an extremist one and thus there is no hope for a fair settlement for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, especially given that we could not get anywhere with the previous more tolerant government."
