Doaa El-Bey looks at the expectations and possible results of Obama's Cairo address The minutest details concerning Barack Obama's visit to Cairo are being scrutinised to death. Al-Akhbar described the visit as part of US efforts to improve its relationship with the Islamic world. Al-Ahram 's front page read that Obama's speech would outline his commitment to open bridges with the Islamic world on the basis of mutual respect. Al-Dostour wrote that Cairo University had spent LE15 million to install air conditioners, buy curtains and install lighting to host Obama. Al-Wafd speculated on the contents of Obama's speech. Mahmoud Abaza wrote "Can President Obama?" saying Obama's speech was not only an address to the Arab and Muslim world but also a return to dialogue that was severed by previous US governments which used power to deal with all, not only Arabs and Muslims. "In fact, Obama's speech is a message to the whole world which has become a small village," Abaza wrote in the daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party. He added that it was obvious that the US president decided to start his term in office by facing one of the most dangerous international problems. While Abaza thought some might consider Obama's actions as a sign of rashness or media propaganda, he ruled out both. Meanwhile, Abaza asked whether Obama can resolve the Middle East problem. Obama's administration declared that it would stick to the two-state solution, called on Tel Aviv to stop building new settlements and asked Israel to join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Abaza wrote that if the Obama administration adhered to such stands it would pave the way for a serious dialogue that might not lead to quick results but to the right conclusions, that the way the Middle East crisis was treated during the last few years aggravated the situation, and that US double standards neither protected US interests nor made the region, including Israel, secure. Ibrahim Eissa wrote in Al-Dostour that although Obama comes to address the Islamic world from Egypt, it is Egypt that needs to address the Islamic world and improve its relations with it. To prove his point, Eissa brought up the incident that took place early this week when security forces detained dozens of students from Islamic countries on a fellowship in Al-Azhar University. Strange enough, the security forces did not direct any clear accusations at them. Eissa asked how Egypt would deal with Islamic states and peoples apart from dispatching preachers to some countries in Ramadan. "When was the last Islamic conference attended by an Egyptian president? Do we think of paying a visit to these countries to know more about them? Do our businessmen trade with them and do we translate their books? Egyptians do not know anything about the lives, politics, governments or even the names of the presidents of Islamic countries," Eissa wrote. Eissa Morshed wrote that Obama's decision to address the Islamic world from Cairo gave the impression that the slogan of change he raised since the election campaign is genuine. That means that the US will adopt new policies regarding the Middle East issue and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Resolving the Palestinian issue, as the writer emphasised, would erase 95 per cent of the causes of terrorism in the world. While Morshed expressed his appreciation of Obama's efforts to change, he emphasised that we still expect more from him: an outlined move and realistic suggestions to save peace in the Middle East and words as well as deeds to prove that the US has changed. "We expect a freeze to building new settlements, a stop to all forms of Israeli violence against the Palestinians and attempts to judaise Jerusalem and the drawing up of a clear track for peace," Morshed wrote in the official daily Al-Akhbar. Amer Tammam wrote in the same newspaper that Obama's presence in Cairo is a great chance for Arab states to deliver their own message to him by outlining their vision in a number of important issues: easing the continuous suffering of the Palestinians, calling for the US withdrawal from Iraq, asking for an apology for George Bush's policies and demanding Bush and his administration stand trial. Tammam added that it was not a matter of a rhetorical speech followed by tumultuous applause. The main issue is Obama's ability to meet his pledges regarding a freeze on building more settlements and the establishment of a Palestinian state which is the first step in the right direction. "Obama needs to realise that he cannot impose his policies on others, but it is important to listen to them in order to change the picture that Bush drew," he wrote. Mustafa Elwi wrote that Obama's visit and the speech that he delivers are historic because he is the president of the world's most important country. Besides, he has unprecedented charisma and a mandate supported by his party's majority in Congress. In addition, his election caused the death of the previous coalition between the neocons and the Christian-Zionist right and the birth of a social-political liberal coalition that aims to resolve the problems caused by the previous administration in the last eight years. Thus, Obama's message is likely to root the values of acceptance, peace, cooperation and legitimacy instead of hatred, war, enmity and thuggery. In order to achieve his goal, Obama should not suffice by sending a message to the Islamic world from Cairo, but translate his message into a series of comprehensive policies in the West Bank and Gaza. The writer expected Obama's speech to emphasise genuine change like recruiting all available resources and money to genuine development projects rather than spending millions of dollars every year on war, giving priority to diplomacy and politics rather than war, and building an international legitimacy in which all world states take part rather than monopolising power and decision- making. "Obama's address should recognise the mistakes of the previous government that linked Islam to terrorism. Obama stated clearly that the real enemy is Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and not Islam or the Muslims," Elwi wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram. Elwi concluded that the visit is very important but what is more important is Cairo's continuous effort in boosting American-Islamic relations after the visit. In his concise comment on Al-Wafd's front page, Lenin El-Ramli wrote that it will take Obama 12 hours to arrive in Cairo in which he will spend 17 hours. "The theatre that will show Obama's play is important. But the play is more important unless it is a repetition of a previous play that everybody watched and didn't like."
