Arabs see Obama's "change" as more of the same

As this year's historic American presidential race draws to an end, people across the Middle East anxiously waited to see how Americans will vote in anticipation of what the future holds for the turbulent region.

The vote, which has generated unprecedented levels of interest worldwide, will be closely watched by Arabs with some pan-Arab news channels offering 24-hour coverage on Election Day.

Despite the high level of interest in the election, many Arabs say neither of the two presidential candidates offer much hope for change in the Arab world with Republican John McCain viewed as an extension of the current administration and Democrat Barack Obama as powerless to make any real changes in the Middle East, despite his overtures.

Unlike the rest of the world, gripped with 'Obama-mania', the Middle East remained detached with little excitement about the first African-American candidates' message of hope and calls for change.

According to media reports, during the primaries Arab support for Obama was very high but gradually faded as the senator, under attack for his Muslim connection and Arabic name, quickly distanced himself from Arab and Muslim issues.

In June, Arab excitement further subsided as Obama progressively aligned his policies with Israel and announced to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that Jerusalem should be the "undivided capital" of the Jewish state.

Arabs were left questioning the legitimacy of his calls for change as the Obama campaign barred two Muslim women wearing headscarves from appearing in camera-range behind Obama's podium at one of his rallies.

"I was quite disappointed. The Obama campaign to me represents a change from traditional politics and embodies an America which supersedes discrimination and racism,” said one of the women, Arab-American Lydia Habhab. “This incident is in stark contradiction to that notion."

Polling

A Zogby international poll earlier this year showed that the majority of Arabs have no confidence in the United States, while a other surveys revealed the Arab world showed a lack of enthusiasm for either of the presidential candidates.

Thirty-two percent of Arabs polled by Zogby believed that American policy towards advancing peace in the Middle East will remain the same, with only 18 percent believing that Obama had the best chance of advancing peace.

According to an Al Arabiya poll, 62 percent of readers said that the elections do not matter to them because either way the new president will be an avid supporter of Israel.

Asked who do you want to lose the elections; 13 percent voted against Obama, because democrats show less respect for religion; while 26 percent said they wanted McCain to lose because of his anti-Arab policies.

A BBC World Service poll found that while people in most countries think that an Obama presidency would improve relations with the world, three predominantly Muslim countries are among those least likely to say so.

The most common view in Turkey was that relations even under an Obama presidency would get worse (28%), while the most common view is that relations would stay the same in Egypt (34%) and Lebanon (42%).

Despite Arabs’ flailing hope for change , public opinion showed that Obama was still widely preferred across the region with the exception of Iraq's Kurdish community, which supported his opponent.

The majority of Iraq's Kurdish leaders, however, said they preferred a Republican in the White House.

"The Republicans have supported the Kurds of Iraq but there is no guarantee that Obama will continue on the same path because he has clearly stated that he prefers to concentrate on Afghanistan," said Aref Abdullah, president of the Kurdish parliament's foreign affairs committee.

In the final day of an extraordinarily long election cycle Arabs await with anticipation the results of a historic election that many said they believe matters more for its inspirational value than its potential to bring change to the region.

Most Kurds prefer the Republicans who have taken a very clear line on Iraq even if there are no big differences between McCain and Obama

Aref Abdullah, president of the Kurdish parliament foreign affairs committee