1. Obama and the Muslims
by Tariq Ramadan
The relationships between the United States and the Muslims have been so damaged after eight years of the Bush administration that the whole world is now wondering: What Barack Obama is going to say to the Muslims? What should he say that could restore confidence and trust? It might be necessary to analyse the main causes of the deep mistrust we find today, not only in the Muslim majority countries, but among the African, Asian and Western Muslims as well. For decades, and especially since the 11th September 2001, the Muslims around the world are getting disturbing messages from the States in both their substance and their form. Read more…
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2. Open Letter to President Obama (pdf)
(Arabic version – pdf)
by Nihad Awad
A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy organization today released an open letter to President Obama and to the Muslim world offering specific policy recommendations for the president’s historic address in Cairo on June 4th.
In the open letter, Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) wrote in part:
“As you prepare for your historic address to the Muslim world in Cairo on June 4th, I would like to offer an American Muslim perspective on what governments, leaders and individuals can do to improve the prospects for international peace and prosperity.
“As an American, I will first focus on what you can do to help repair relations with the Muslim world that have suffered such damage in recent years. Your statements since the inauguration have raised the level of hope for real change in our nation’s foreign and domestic policies.
“It is imperative that your positive statements now be backed up with concrete policy initiatives that will help move us all toward a more peaceful and prosperous future. Otherwise, we as a nation risk wasting the good will that has been garnered by your ongoing outreach to Muslims.
“First, America must champion political and religious freedom, human rights, the growth and stabilization of democratic institutions, and respect for the rule of law for everyone, not just those we favor. For too long, we have claimed to be champions of freedom and democracy, while turning a blind eye to repression, occupation and authoritarian rule. We must hold every nation, even those we regard as allies, to a uniform standard of justice and equality. No other action will do more to restore America’s international reputation…”
The full text of the open letter, including other specific suggested policy initiatives for America and for the Muslim world, is available online. (Arabic translation of the open letter)
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3. Police State is the Wrong Venue for Obama’s Speech
by Robert Fisk
Maybe Barack Obama chose Egypt for his “great message” to Muslims tomorrow because it contains a quarter of the world’s Arab population, but he is also coming to one of the region’s most repressed, undemocratic and ruthless police states. Egyptian human rights groups – when they are not themselves being harassed or closed down by the authorities – have recorded a breathtaking list of police torture, extra-judicial killings, political imprisonments and state-sanctioned assaults on opposition figures that continues to this day.
The sad truth is that so far did the US descend in moral power under George W Bush that Obama would probably have to deliver his lecture in the occupied West Bank, even Gaza, to change the deep resentment and fury that has built up among Muslims over the past eight years. This, of course, Obama will not do. So Egypt, sadly, it has to be, though he will see nothing of the squalor and fear in which Egyptians live. Read more…
