In them, you cannot sense the sincerity and seriousness of a leader. In such speeches they always sound sincere and serious. Obama's interview with Al Arabiya TV's Hisham Melhem, on the other hand, sounded, to me at least, more personal, warmer and more from the heart. I still maintain my skepticism about the future of American policies toward the Muslim world, and President Obama explained why I need to see more: "All too often the United States starts by dictating." The obvious solution is to start by listening and that is exactly what, the president told Al Arabiya, he asked his envoy to the Middle East, former Sen. George Mitchell, to do.
The appointment of Mitchell to this post was already a blow to the face of my recent article that criticized the new administration's reliance on pro-Israeli advisors when formulating its Middle Eastern policies, especially those that relate to Israeli-Palestinian relations. Mitchell is not only an Arab-American, but is also "somebody of enormous stature. He is one of the few people who have international experience brokering peace deals," as the president confirms.
Names do not perform miracles, determined souls do. President Obama is either determined to perform miracles or is determined to give the sense that he will do so. He not only advises others to be, but also is, respectful to the Muslim world. He does not impose the load of "understanding the other" on the Muslim world: "And my job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy."
Obama is aware that the language we use matters. "We cannot paint with a broad brush a faith as a consequence of the violence that is done in that faith's name," he told Al Arabiya. This reminded me of Prime Minister Erdoğan's unwillingness to use "Islamic" as an attribute for "terrorism" and the onslaught of a certain newspaper against him as though he had supported terror. Can you see the extent to which value judgments about a sentence change when it is pronounced -- or not pronounced -- by a Turkish prime minister or an American president? And that newspaper claims to be anti-imperialist!?
And what about Obama's remarks on speaking to Iran? When the Turkish government wants to speak to Iran, it is attributed to their "pro-Islamist" backgrounds, but when Obama says that "it is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress," what is that because of? Obama's Muslim relatives?
Obama continues to surprise us. I hope and assume that his greater impact on the Muslim world will be the elimination of self-hating Eastern Orientalism.
Melhem inquired during his interview about the name of the Muslim capital the American president is planning to visit and address the Muslim world from. He was right in saying many people are speculating about the capital, and many in Ankara would love to host the US president to speak to the greater Muslim world from Turkey. A determined cynic would underline the fact that President Obama made no mention of Turkey when counting America's partners for a peace in the region -- the European Union, Russia and all the Arab states in the region, with special stress on the name of Saudi King Abdullah. But Obama was then speaking to an Arab TV station. As a person who spent some time in Indonesia, Obama personally knows that the core of the Muslim world does not necessarily overlap with the Arab world. I assume if he had written an article to be published in, let's say, Today's Zaman, he would have had more to say about Turkey's role in the reshaping of the Middle East in particular and of the world in general.
Will Obama, then, be speaking to the Muslim world from Turkey?
I myself am not very overwhelmed by the prospect of seeing Obama in Ankara addressing the greater Muslim world. I would rather see him in East Jerusalem, the capital city of the Palestinian state-in-the-making and the 2009 Arab Capital of Cultural.
He would truly surprise us then.
