Overwhelmingly, Egyptians say Obama’s Cairo speech was about Israel/Palestine

by on June 8, 2009 7

Lest you had any doubt about what Obama's speech in Cairo meant, a poll conducted by a thinktank connected to the Egyptian Prime Minister's office finds that 48 percent of Egyptians thought the speech was focused on Israel/Palestine, with 22 percent finding that it was about U.S. relations with the Muslim world. And overwhelmingly the Egyptians had a positive view of the speech.
The poll underscores my feeling in Cairo that Egyptians regard the speech as a commitment to end the Israel/Palestine grievance so as to remake relations between east and west. And I believe that Obama shares this understanding. What a moment.

About Philip Weiss

Philip Weiss is Founder and Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net.
Posted in Middle East, US Policy in the Middle East, US Politics

{ 7 comments... read them below or add one }

  1. Richard WittyI says:
    June 8, 2009 at 3:07 pm

    It was beautiful and represented a fundamental change in US attitude, policy, behavior. It was clear, inviting, realistic.

  2. stevieb says:
    June 8, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    You really haven't got a clue, Richard Witty….

  3. Richard WittyI says:
    June 8, 2009 at 4:31 pm

    it was "beautiful", his words were like music. Obama is like an angel come down to earth. stevieb, you are just a hater.

  4. Citizen says:
    June 8, 2009 at 5:00 pm

    At the very least it was more like a violin than Shrub's bugle blast.

  5. Richard WittyI says:
    June 8, 2009 at 6:21 pm

    We're back to the false attribution game again. Who is it that posted the last one under Richard Witty1? Many a truth in jest though.

  6. US Objector says:
    June 8, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    Phil, time for you to post a reconsideration of your B+ grade on Obama's speech. Being there must have been amazing. But now you have some distance, some context. What is your takeaway now?

  7. Michael Brenner says:
    June 9, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    Israel-Palestine was around 5 minutes, if that, of a 55-minute speech. What this proves is that Egyptians, like many Arabs apparently, care much more about Israel than their own countries.

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