Some people deluded themselves into thinking that President Barack Obama would announce in his speech at Cairo University on Thursday that Washington would abandon Israel, hit it with a shoe like Iraqi journalist Muntazar Al-Zaydi did, and call on it to leave immediately and without delay from the land it occupied in 1948. They also thought that if Israel refused, Obama himself would lead a military campaign, free Palestine from the sea to the river Jordan and hand the keys of Jerusalem to the prince of believers and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Yet, all those expectations were eventually discouraged. Among those disappointed were also those who deluded themselves into thinking the US president would commit to leaving all his other problems aside, and devote himself exclusively to teach democracy to all rulers in the Arab and Islamic world after they graduated without even knowing the ABC of democracy itself. They thought that he would make these leaders learn – among other things - the US Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They also believed that if they forgot an article, he would be ready to hit them on their legs or hands with a stick. Because of this illusion, these people did not get the essence and the importance of what Obama had to say; we live in one world, and we all have to look for common ground to live together in mutual respect, common interests and under the principles of justice, progress, tolerance and dignity for all mankind.
Obama declared that time has come for the world to wake up from the nightmarish theory of a clash of civilizations, which leads to bloody confrontations between religions, nations and ideas. Because of this theory, a stereotype has indeed spread in the US and more generally in the West. Any Muslim, his ancestors or his religion are seen like Osama Bin Laden, wrapping a time bomb with his turban, having electric circuits of car bombs and explosive belts instead of brain cells, looking for means to destroy those who have different opinions or religions, and rejecting and indeed fighting religious freedom on the base of his religious creed. As for this very creed, it is believed not to recognize other faiths, to have spread through violence, and to raise those who believe in it so that they carry out that kind of violence. On the other hand, as a reaction to the clash of civilizations theory, Osama Bin Laden has invented the theory of the conflict between believers and unbelievers and spread a counter-stereotype among Muslims. Every American and every European are seen like George Bush Jr., thinking of flying fortresses ready to launch tons of explosives or missiles against any Islamic city or village, destroy crops and cattle and kill the elderly, women and children. Bin Laden has depicted the West in general as a bunch of infidels who do not believe in Islam and indeed seek to uproot it. He has declared it licit to shed Western blood and destroy its money, while wiping out the Western civilization has become a duty for every Muslim. As for the war between Muslims and the Western civilization, he thinks it is religious and indeed holy, and it will end only when Allah allows Muslims to conquer Washington, as Prophet Muhammad - peace be upon him – conquered Mecca, and when Ayman Al-Zawahiri can call the faithful to the prayer from the White House rooftop. On the wreckage of these two theories, Obama called for a new fresh relationship between the US – and the West generally - and Muslims. He said each party should leave aside its stereotypes regarding the other party, and promised to do his best to change the stereotypes against Muslims in the West. He also called on us to do the same. The beginning of this new fresh relationship relies on a correct vision and an in-depth reading of history. All civilizations in the past have interacted with each other, and the new has been built on what had been achieved in the past. Moreover, today's Western civilization owes a lot to the Arab and Islamic one, including the values of tolerance, religious and confessional freedom and ethnic equality. Some Muslims, though, have forgotten those values due to the fever of extremism and intolerance that has engulfed them over the past few decades as a reaction to the bad memories left by colonization and oppression. These memories made some of them voluntarily waive our - the Arabs' - right to reap the fruits of the contemporary Western civilization, which has been built on the achievements of ancient civilizations, including ours. Instead, it is now a common belief that Muslims' mission in this world is to destroy that civilization and not to contribute to making it more just, humane and ethical! Starting from this deep intellectual vision, Obama reviewed what he thought are the seven current sources of tension in the relations between the US and the Islamic world: all forms of violent extremism – he spoke in this regard about the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq - the situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis, countries' rights and responsibility when it comes to nuclear weapons (he mentioned Iran in particular), democracy, religious freedom, women's rights and economic development. His opinions were all balanced in each of these issues and they deserve in-depth discussions.
First and foremost, it is important to realize that the stereotype that the Arabs and Muslims have of U.S. presidents' speeches does not suit Obama. This stereotype usually makes no difference between the U.S. of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Lincoln and Obama on the one hand and Johnson, Nixon and Bush on the other.
Secondly, it is important for the Arabs and Muslims to contribute to turning Obama's intellectual and political vision into concrete action on the ground by actively interacting with this very view. There is still a long way to go, but Obama at least took the first step in the right direction.
