Arab press demands Obama end Israel "bias"

CAIRO (AlArabiya.net, Agencies)

Egypt's press called on Barack Obama to end the United States' "blind bias" towards Israel, as the U.S. president arrived in Cairo where he will make a much-anticipated address to the world's Muslims.

"The question on the minds of people listening to Obama's speech today is, 'Is the American president willing to give up Washington's blind bias towards Israel?," said an editorial in the state-owned al-Gomhuria.

"This is the real question that should precede any movement in the region."

US policies

Newspaper editor

The outspoken editor of the independent al-Doustur newspaper, Ibrahim Eissa, said he had declined an invitation to attend Obama's speech.

"If I went to the speech it would mean that the problem was just with (Obama's predecessor) George W. Bush, but the problem is with U.S. policies in the world and in the Muslim world which haven't yet changed."

"We have seen a vast public relations campaign from Obama but we haven't seen any radical differences, not on an Iraq withdrawal or on Afghanistan, or the war in (Pakistan's) Swat. He has even gone backwards on promising to close Guantanamo."

The Jordan Times said Obama would have to exert himself as he "attempts to clean up the mess his predecessor created in the Arab and Muslim worlds.

"Muslims and Arabs would like to hear much from Obama, starting with Palestine, Iraq and the U.S. military presence in the Gulf.

"While foreign policy is crucial, a sincere show of respect and attempt to rebuild trust are more important."

Saudi newspaper al-Ryadh said Obama's decision to address the Muslim world and "in visiting the two most important Arab capitals, is breaking with former American presidents and wants to attack the most important front of the challenges (Western misunderstandings with Muslims.")

UAE newspaper Akhbar al-Saa referred to "a new era in relations between the United States and the Muslim world" with Obama's move into the White House.

But Dubai's al-Bayan stressed that "the region wants to hear from Obama's mouth that he is conscious of the imbalance in relations (between America) and the Muslim world and that he wants to remedy it."

Economic weakness

Political analyst

Amr al-Shoubaki, a political analyst with the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said he believes the root of the region's problems is in its political and economic weakness.

"It is not expected that Obama change the the situation in the Arab or Islamic world if our political and economic handicap continues and the corruption remains in place," Shoubaki wrote in the independent Al-Masry al-Youm.

"It is true that the U.S. says it supports democracy in the Arab world but it supports its interests first. Obama's good intentions towards the Palestinian people will not lead to success in the real world."

Writing in the same newspaper, Galal Amer said the impact of Obama's trip to Cairo would be as short-lived as the nine-hour visit itself.

US protégé

In Israel, newspapers pointed out that Obama's first major visit to the Middle East included only Saudi Arabia and Egypt, making clear that these are the region's leading countries.

"This is a new era, in which Israel is no longer the main player and the United States' protégé," Maariv said. "Israel enjoys no advantage and no special privileges.

The mass-selling Yediot Aharonot saw a change being heralded in Obama's itinerary: "Many Egyptians were offended when Obama added Saudi Arabia to the visit, and even started with it. Many Israelis were offended when he skipped Israel."

But the paper warned: "Obama will soon learn that it is no less difficult to bring the Arabs to normalization than it is to take Israel out of the territories."

And in Cairo, the independent al-Masry al-Youm told its readers that the impact of Obama's trip would be as short-lived as the nine-hour visit itself.