InfoAnda - The Arab World Responds to the U.S.-Israel 'Crisis'

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Home U.S. World Entertainment Sports Business Health Science Technology Politics Offbeat Environment Travel News Articles The Arab World Responds to the U.S.-Israel 'Crisis' Email Facebook Digg Twitter Buzz Up! ShareThis March 18, 2010 10:48 a.m. EST Topics: politics, diplomacy, international relations, United States The Media Line Staff United States (TML) - U.S. President Barack Obama promised to turn a new page with the Arab world long before he was sworn into office. At his inaugural address, improved relations with the Arab world were placed at the forefront of his vision for American foreign policy. Obama gave his first interview as president to an Arab satellite station, flew to Cairo to make a landmark speech to the Arab world and visited a number of Muslim capitals within his first few months as president. Of the 20 nations the president has visited - a record for foreign travel in the first year of a presidency - not one of them was Israel. But while the Obama administration has aggressively endeavored to turn a new chapter in U.S.-Arab relations, the pages of public opinion in the Arab world don't seem to be turning. The U.S. president has failed to live up to a campaign promise to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay within a year of taking office, there has been little movement towards negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians and, as the vast majority of the Arab world sees it, Obama has failed to curtail the expansion of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories. Then came U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. Whether by coordinated intent or a lack of internal communication, the Israelis announced the approval of 1,600 new homes in Palestinian east Jerusalem. This 'slap in the face', described by the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a number of senior Obama administration officials as an "insult", has snowballed into what is being described as the most severe crises in US-Israel relations in 35 years. The veracity of that claim aside, how has this 'crisis' in U.S.-Israel relations affected perceptions in the Arab world that America refuses to stand up to Israel? Has the elevated rhetoric from senior American officials been received as a sign of relief in the Arab world, or as a rhetorical twist in 'more-of-the-same' American behavior? Hady Amr, Director of the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar and a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, argued that on the whole, the Arab world was unequivocally unimpressed by the recent U.S. stance. "This is not a soccer match in which you cheer when your team scores a goal," he told The Media Line. "It's a relationship, and if your husband had been cheating on you and he came to bring you flowers, would you really care?" "If this turns out to be a pattern of language over the coming year that causes Israel to not only stop making announcements about settlement expansion, but to say 'You know what, we're not going to build these 50,000 houses', that's when the Arab world will be impressed," Amr said. "But the period where the ordinary Arab world will be impressed by language towards Israel has ended." "Obama built up very high hopes, but ever since, people have felt deflated," he continued. "The settlements are still being built and the US is not stopping them, Guantanamo has not shut down, there has been no progress on negotiations with Israel." "You have to remember that the Arab world has day to day, hour to hour information about what's going on in Israel-Palestine," Amr said. "I can walk outside, buy a shwarma or falafel and I'll be told about the latest up to the minute news." "So the U.S. is viewed as responsible for Israel's action and it really doesn't matter anymore whether Obama says he's disappointed in settlement expansion," Amr said. "The Arab world doesn't care about the words anymore. What the Arab world wants to see is that settlement expansion stops, that settlements are evacuated, that the wall is moved back to the 1967 green line. It's like a moving average or an ocean liner. The Arab world doesn't want to see the ocean liner slightly tilt, they want to see it completely change direction." "It's like a courtship: in the beginning the words are great, but once you get past the courtship, while words are nice facts and actions matter much more," he said. "The Arab world is very similar to the American people in that regard. Obama's popularity started falling when, after six months, people said 'OK, you're a great orator but where are my jobs? What's with the economy? Where's my healthcare? You told me there was a great meal coming, but where's the beef?" Dr Christian Koch, Director of International Studies at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, said the Biden incident had been perceived as a microcosm of Israeli arrogance and will not be remembered for the American response. "I don't think it's been interpreted as America standing up to Israel," he told The Media Line. "I think it's been interpreted as Israeli hubris and putting the U.S. in a bad position." "There is still a sense of disillusionment in the Arab world on the lack of progress on the negotiations, and a spat doesn't mean we are any closer to a peace process getting back on track," Dr Koch said. "There is general agreement that the U.S. is biased towards Israel. There was hope with Obama's election that this would change, but so far we've just seen a lot of rhetoric but not much change. Until the U.S. begins to push more adamantly for settlement stops and things like this, I don't think the overall perception is going to change." Dr. Emad Gad, Director of the Israel research unit at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Egypt, said that while the diplomatic back-and-forth has been noted, it was unlikely to sway Arab public opinion. "The majority of analysts here, especially those from a liberal background, see it as a real crises between Israel and the U.S.," he told The Media Line. "I personally believe President Obama is serious and that he's very upset by the Netanyahu government's decision to continue building settlements. But the Islamists don't believe it is a real crisis and Obama's image in the region right now is very negative." "Public opinion here is based on many conspiracy theories that see the United States and Israel as one entity," Dr. Gad said. "So to the average person, who hasn't seen any concrete American actions against the Israeli government, they see this as just a play between Tel Aviv and Washington." Dr Theodore Karasik, Director for Research and Development at the Institute for Near East Gulf Military Analysis in the United Arab Emirates, said much of the Arab world was reserving judgement, in particular regarding the latest clashes of Palestinians with Israeli forces in Jerusalem. "The announcement of settlements when the vice president was there was a real slap in the face and the willingness of the U.S. to let the relationship get to it's worst point in 35 years has perhaps been taken as a good sign," he told The Media Line. "But overall there's a wait-and-see attitude. There's a fundamental disagreement between the U.S. and Israel on a number of different levels, and I think a lot of folks in the Arab world were thinking that the U.S. would come out with more than just words. But you now have a security situation erupting between the Israelis and the Palestinians so the question is how much the U.S. will pressure Israel to change its behavior, because right now, the Israelis are behaving in a very obnoxious way." Copyright © 2003 - 2010 AHN - All rights reserved.Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.License AHN news for your website, business, digital signage network or publication. Most Popular Stories "The Bachelor's" Ex-Girlfriend Claims Jake Cheated On Vienna Jesse James Reportedly Cheated On Sandra Bullock With Tattoo Model Sandra Bullock Reportedly Left Marital House Amid Jesse James' Cheating Rumors "Buffy" Actor Nicholas Brendon Tased And Arrested During Drunken Fracas With Clottey Dispatched; Pacquiao Filipino Fans Hungry For Mayweather Bout Elin Nordegren Puts Divorce Plans From Tiger Woods On Hold Slimmer, Trimmer Russell Arrives For Raiders Offseason Workouts French Satellite Finds Exoplanet The Size Of Jupiter Dixie Chicks Joining The Eagles, Keith Urban On Tour Katie Price Bans Pink From Her Summer Wedding Recent Posts Most Popular Comments Recent Comments Popular Threads Home | U.S. | World | Entertainment | Sports | Business | Health | Sci / Tech | Politics | Weird / Offbeat Follow AHN on Twitter AHN Social News connects you with friends and the news Client Login | Submit News | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact | Content Services © 2010 AHN All Rights Reserved

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