'Hussein' is for Bold: L'Orient Le Jour, Lebanon

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L'Orient Le Jour, Lebanon

'Hussein' is for Bold

"His middle name Hussein demonstrates the Muslim ancestry that he bears with pride and which couldn't fail to confirm the authenticity of his method of approach. … Obama is an extraordinary product of the interweaving of cultures who has succeeded in rising to the White House, repudiating all prejudices and stereotypes, even going as far as challenging the right of Western countries to forbid their immigrant populations from wearing the veil."

EDITORIAL By Issa Goraieb

Translated By Alexandra Griffiths

June 5, 2009

Lebanon - L'Orient Le Jour - Original Article (French)

The front page of L'Orient Le Jour from June 5, featuring President Obama at the Great Pyramids in Giza. [Click image for jumbo version].

AL-JAZEERA NEWS VIDEO: Many Americans 'still mistrust' the Muslim world, June 3, 00:02:24

For thousands of years, the seven plagues of Egypt have imposed their own law on this part of the world - the law of perpetual turmoil. But it is the era of the seven principles of Barack Obama that the Middle East is from now on called to exist within, which were set out yesterday in Cairo, dealing with questions as diverse as peace, nuclear technology, economic partnership and the emancipation of women.

[Editor's Note: Although the Old Testament talks of the ten plagues of Egypt that are said to have taken place during the Jewish Exodus, according to Exodus 8:23, of the ten plagues that fell on Egypt, the first three fell on both Egyptians and Israelites. The last seven fell only on those who have the 'mark of the beast.']

The main theme - even the raison d'être of this historic speech - the reconciliation of America with the Arab-Muslim world - seems to have begun reasonably well, despite some conflicting voices that have inevitably been noted here and there. A significant fact: while the Ayatollah Khamenei proclaimed the hatred for the United States that he continues to feel from the bottom of his heart, even his protégés from Palestinian Hamas were obliged to recognize that a tangible change had occurred - if only in tone.

For his campaign of openness, it's true that George W. Bush's successor had no shortage of trump cards, the most obvious of which could be called the "H factor." That is, his middle name Hussein, which demonstrates the Muslim ancestry that he bears with pride and which couldn't fail to confirm the authenticity of his method of approach. More precisely, he is an extraordinary product of the interweaving of cultures who has succeeded in rising to the White House, repudiating all prejudices and stereotypes, even going as far as challenging the right of Western countries to forbid their immigrant populations from wearing the veil [headscarf or hajib], but nevertheless lambasting in the strongest possible terms the perversion of religious faith that is violent extremism.

This is also the leader of an America determined to promote a peace settlement, to do so actively and no longer like a broker that one cannot fully trust: the reason being that at this late stage, America has found itself deeply affected by a conflict, the effects and repercussions of which it now feels deep in its soul. The president refrained yesterday from disclosing the details of his peace plan. But he wasn't hesitant to reaffirm its central planks, namely the end of Jewish colonization in Palestine and the setting up two States, Israeli and Palestinian. Admittedly, he will confront severe opposition from a Likud Party [Israel's ruling party] that's un-cooperative but that, in turn, was very careful yesterday not to abruptly reject the presidential speech. But on this subject - the power struggle with Israel - Obama isn't short of trump cards either, not least being the fact that he's the first president of the United States to join the most moderate wing of an American Jewish lobby that has long been monolithic.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ADDRESS TO THE WORLD'S MUSLIMS

Obama speaks at Cairo University on Thursday. In the

ancient seat of Islamic learning and quoting the Quran,

the President called for a 'new beginning between the

United States and Muslims

CLICK PHOTO OR CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Another no-less sensational American first: Obama's impassioned plea for the preservation of that invaluable source of wealth that is religious diversity, whether it concerns the Maronites in Lebanon or the Copts in Egypt. This reference by Obama is doubly important for our country. It seems to confirm on the one hand, the genuine desire of the new U.S. administration to promote and support the unifying role of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, whatever the outcome of the Lebanese elections on Sunday [Suleiman was a compromise presidential candidate between the pro-West Christian and Pro-Syria Muslim factions in Lebanon]. Secondly, it comes as a helpful reminder to all Lebanese of the extent to which existing local tensions, which are exacerbated by foreign subversion, endanger the very essence of their homeland.

[The author refers to President Obama's statement that: "Among some Muslims, there is a disturbing tendency to measure one's own faith by the rejection of another's. The richness of religious diversity must be upheld - whether it is for Maronites in Lebanon or the Copts in Egypt. And fault lines must be closed among Muslims as well, as the divisions between Sunni and Shia have led to tragic violence, particularly in Iraq.]

It is commonly admitted that the Christian vote will determine the new majority. But this is just half of the truth, since it's also the status and influence of the Maronites themselves, if not their historic calling, that will be inevitably affected by it. The Cedar Revolution - or an alliance of convenience with the Syro-Iranian axis; a simple citizen Christianity or simply a Christian minority protected by non-Christian weapons: it is the voter who will decide. Warding off the specter of a creeping spread of Coptic Christianity is first and foremost the responsibility of the Christians.

igor@lorient-lejour.com.lb

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Liberation, France: Obama: Speaker of Verities

The Nation, Pakistan: Obama Must Make Real His Belief in Koranic Principles

Amal Al Ummah, Egypt: Prince Obama and His Muslim Cinderella

Amal Al Ummah, Egypt: If America Can Change, Why Not Egypt?

Al Araby, Egypt: Five U.S. Presidencies is Too Long for Mubarak

Kuwait Times, Kuwait: For an Obama on the Make, Egypt is the Wise Choice

Alhayat Aljadeeda, Palestine: As Palestinians Await Obama's Speech, We Must Unify

Amal Al Ummah, Egypt: Don't Be Fooled By Obama's Egypt Speech

Amal Al Ummah, Egypt: Egypt's Comments on Israeli Nukes a Betrayal of Muslims

Al-Arab al-Yawm, Jordan: World Must Not Fall for Obama PR Onslaught