In Focus: Ready to change Optimism must be tempered but Obama's election still contains the seeds of hope, writes Galal Nassar This article focuses primarily on the impact of change in US politics on the Arab scene. But let's talk first about what happened in America. For the first time since 1908 the turnout in presidential elections reached 66 per cent. This was a historic moment by all accounts, and not just because Americans went to the polls with a sense of purpose but because the whole world was looking on with keen interest. Some would say that it's all a show, that the changes are all cosmetic and the whole Obama phenomenon doesn't mean that much. They argue that the Americans are simply trying to put bad memories of the neocons behind them. Granted, the neocons have dragged US policy to new depths, undermining domestic confidence and shattering international confidence. This may have boosted Obama's chances but there is more to the recent elections than that. When Obama infused his speeches with the word "change" the appeal to millions of Americans disenchanted with neocon policies was undeniable. But there was something more. Obama's speeches reminded many of Martin Luther King and his immortal words, "I have a dream." Obama brought the civil rights movement of the 1960s to its natural conclusion. Finally, the dream of an America that belonged to everyone, blacks and Hispanics and all other minorities, had arrived. Suddenly America belonged to all Americans, not just the WASPs. As Arabs we must search for ways to deal with America that can safeguard our interests while avoiding the belligerence that has marked US policies of late. We need to persuade US policy-makers that their blind bias in favour of Israel helps no one. But we mustn't forget that we are dealing with a superpower. And as a superpower America has its ways of seeing things, regardless of who is in the White House. Our relations with the US have not always been bad. There are good moments that we should remember. Even after the creation of Israel, a development that was to poison relations between America and the Arab and Islamic worlds, the US continued to relate amicably with the Arab world. And it had a good reason too. After all, Morocco was the first country to recognise American independence in 1776. America played a progressive role in education in the Arab world. It was with US efforts that the Syrian Protestant College was built in Beirut in the 1860s. The college, later named the American University of Beirut, played a major role in spreading Arab culture and Arab national thinking. America also spoke out for the Arab right to self-determination in the 1920s. Since its creation in 1776 the US has carried out more than 140 covert or overt military operations around the world. But it was only recently that it occupied two Muslim countries, Afghanistan and Iraq. It was this new-found belligerence that fanned the flames in an Arab and Muslim world already discontent with American bias and support for Israel. Recent opinion polls suggest that anti- American feelings have been mounting even in traditionally pro-American countries, such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Obama's victory brought relief to the Arab world. Many saw it as the beginning of the end for the arrogance in Washington that has so disfigured US foreign policy. As soon as the Republicans lost the elections there were Arabs who started celebrating, in the belief that the heavy- handed way of the neocons was a thing of the past. Others advised caution, saying that the change may be mostly cosmetic. Concern mounted when Obama named Rahm Israel Emanuel as his chief of staff, a pro-Israeli official and the son of a Zionist criminal, a man who perpetrated terrorist acts in Palestine. I, for one, believe it is unfair to use the appointment of a pro-Israeli official in the White House as the yardstick by which to measure the magnitude of change that may be ushered in by the new administration. The appointment came as a shock to the Arabs, but no one expected Obama to act as Fidel Castro or even Jacques Chirac. Obama has brought a new dynamism and a sense of purpose that may eventually defuse international tensions. If everything goes well, then the idea of state-sponsored terror, which lies at the heart of Zionist policies, may be discredited too. The entire war on terror may come to be viewed in a new light. US support of the Zionist state has been a feature of US policy since Truman's days. It is a complex history that I don't want to get into here. But it would be fair to say no radical change in US policy is to be expected. Still, the Arabs can benefit from the new atmosphere, but only if they stand firm in defence of their concerns. Conversely, the fragmentation and infighting that's going on in our midst can undermine our position. We can benefit from the changes in America, but only if we're willing to change.
