Dalia Megahed, Adviser to the American President, is dismayed at some Egyptian politicians and media personalities criticizing President Obama's speech at Cairo University and undermining its importance. She said: “Writer Mohamed Hassanein Heikal's comment on the speech was frustrating and wrong. I do not know Heikal's position regarding the cartoons that ridiculed the Prophet, but I believe that most Muslims were offended and insulted. I say to Heikal and all the others: Why are you angry at a man that all he did was respect Muslims.”
Dalia added on the phone with Al-Masry Al-Youm: “I am surprised at Heikal's description of the speech and his claim that some orientalists have written it or helped with the writing of it. I say to the prominent writer that I was among those who wrote the speech and that I saw how it was written. I don't know where he gets his information from and why he is so confident. In the end, I want to assure everyone that we will regret it a lot if we lost the opportunity of dealing with someone like Obama.”
She continued: “I personally say to all those who tried to undermine Obama's Cairo speech that we were complaining that the West does not look at us and that it treats us bad. And we used to believe in a conspiracy theory, and that America would destroy us in the blink of an eye if it could. Now you have a moderate American President who is under pressure from Israel and the Jewish community in America for that Cairo speech that you reject in secret and in public. Moreover, the fundamental Christians here have launched a harsh campaign against him when he said the Koran is a holy book and that he preferred to deliver his speech from the place where the Koran was revealed, and when he cited verses from the Koran. He was even criticized by the moderate Americans.”
She said: “In his speech that some have rejected, Obama has explicitly and precisely described the American society with all its orientations, which was something that never happened before or will ever happen again. I once again emphasize that undermining what Obama said would be ignorance and would not serve anyone. His enemies used this opportunity against him, and standing on their side against him is frustrating.”
The adviser to U.S. President continued: “Obama wanted to make 9/11 a new step that integrates Muslims within the American society. He launched a popular campaign under the slogan of ‘serving together' to encourage Americans to volunteer and help the American economic institutions to get out of the problems that befell them after the global financial crisis. That campaign was launched on June 22 and will continue until September 11, when Obama will give an important speech on that day, which he called ‘National Day for Public Service and Remembering Martyrs', in an attempt to turn the tragedy that happened on that day into something positive, instead of the bad memories it puts in the hearts of the Americans every year and the increased negativity against Muslims.” She added: “Obama is now making strenuous efforts to restore confidence in Muslims in the United States. This is why the Muslims of North America held their annual conference on Sunday, which was attended by more than 30,000 people, to coincide with the National Independence Day of the United States.” She said that Obama took a good gesture initiative for the first time by sending Valery Gert, his assistant and family friend, to represent him and the White House in the conference, something that never happened before, as the organizers of the conference used to send invitations to the White House every year without receiving any response.
