THE FIRST couple, United States President Barack Hussein Obama and his electrifying wife Michelle, in a radiant white gown, danced the night away, making the rounds of no less than 10 inaugural balls. As to be expected from an African-American, Obama proved to be quite a slick dancer, in his imposing power-black tuxedo, writes Gamal Nkrumah. Across the globe, in benighted Gaza, his devoted ally finally halted its devastating onslaught on hapless Palestinians. Abraham Lincoln devoted his presidency to the daunting task of eradicating the evil of slavery. The would-be Lincoln with a complexion as dark as his forebearers, has already signalled to the Israelis that their days of blank cheques are numbered. The Arab world pins high hopes on the man who stated during his campaign: "Our neglect of the Middle East peace process has spurred despair and fuelled terrorism" in a complete departure from his predecessor's crude policies. President Hosni Mubarak concurred, urging Obama to make the Middle East his priority. According to Palestinian Authority (PA) spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina, Obama made his first phone call to a foreign leader to PA President Mahmoud Abbas.Obama also reached out to the Muslim world in his inauguration speech signalling the need to turn a new leaf after years of rough relations. His words offered a heady mixture of warm hope and cold realism. He promised to restore America's moral leadership, but was vague on specifics. Political wrangling over what to do with the Palestinian predicament has become a permanent fixture of Arab politics. So it is not surprising that Arab preoccupation with the Palestinian cause took precedence in the Arab media over the inauguration of the 44th President of the US. It would be interesting to see how he handles this Gordian Knot. Small wonder, then, that Arabs seem to be the least enthusiastic of all the world's peoples at the ascension to the highest office in the world of a man of colour. Against this backdrop, skin colour is of far less significance than the radiant white of the phosphorous bombs of the savage "defence" forces of the Israelis. The razzmatazz in Washington is a circus where innocent bystanders -- in this case the Palestinians of Gaza -- are being mauled by ferocious, uncontrolled beasts despite the words of succour by the master of ceremonies.
