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Obama in Cairo: Promoting a Culture of Responsibility
ISLAM AND THE WEST
By Daniel Brumberg
It will not be enough for...Obama to...say... that he understands... and sympathizes with [Muslims], as they too are the victims of the terrorism of extremists...Most Muslims will listen carefully to what he will say on June 4, and they are expecting clear steps for a radical solution to the Palestinian issue, as a fundamental key to restoring trust in the United States.
--Raghida Dergham
Candor requires acknowledging that too many Arab states have exploited the Arab-Israeli conflict for domestic purposes. These regimes have used the conflict to deflect criticism of... their failings...Taken together, instead of producing a culture of responsibility, as President Obama has called for at home, they perpetuate a culture of victimhood.
--David Makovksy
June 4 is D-Day for President Obama. Standing before an audience of millions, he must deliver a speech that will confront Muslims, Christians and Jews with a view of the future that transcends long held positions in favor of a vision that is as bold as it is realistic.
To get a sense of the challenges, consider the above two statements. Dergham holds that resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the sine qua non for "restoring trust" between Muslims and the U.S. Makovsky deflects this assertion, insisting that Arab autocrats have used the conflict to cover their own failings, thus sustaining "a culture of victimhood."
These are not necessarily mutually opposed positions. The problem is that by trotting out these well-worn verities, Arabs and Israelis have both avoided confronting larger truths.
Israelis do not grasp the escalating significance of the Arab-Israeli dispute in the everyday lives of Muslims. In villages of East Java and other once remote corners of the Muslim world, young people watch this conflict play out live on their living room TVs. When they see satellite images of Palestinian homes being destroyed in East Jerusalem, or of wounded children in Gaza, who can blame them for concluding that Palestinians are victims?
Indeed, Palestinians are victims. They are the victims of inept leaders, of cynical Arab "supporters," and last but not least, of an Israeli settlement policy that has virtually precluded the creation of a viable Palestinian state. When Obama criticizes Israeli settlement policy, he is neither unfairly assailing Israelis nor excusing Palestinian terrorism. Instead, he is challenging Israelis to take responsibility for their own actions, rather than continue the cries of "victimhood" that Makovsky seems to attribute solely to the Arabs.
That said, the risk that Obama runs in prioritizing the Arab-Israeli conflict above all other issues is not merely that it could play into the survival tactics of Arab leaders. This strategy could also accentuate the one issue that has repeatedly distracted Arab opposition activists from tackling pressing domestic political and social issues.
These activists are far more likely to agree on resistance to this or that Israeli action than they are to define a shared vision of their political future. Unless Arab opposition leaders find common ground, they will never devise a strategy for confronting the efforts of Arab leaders to avoid the challenges of democratization. Instead, they will retreat into a culture of victimhood that is far more complicated than even Makovksy suggests.
Each party to the conflict would like the U.S. to focus on the other's victimization problem. But the U.S. can no longer afford being the Great Enabler. Rather, Obama's greatest challenge is to clearly tell his millions of Muslim and non-Muslim viewers that the tasks of domestic political reform and regional peace making are equally important and inextricably bound together.
Obama must clearly state that in pushing resolutely for Arab-Israeli peace, the White House is not giving a blank check to Arab autocrats. On the contrary, it is helping Arab leaders and their oppositions clear the path for genuine political reform. And he must tell Israel and its supporters that they cannot use the failings of Arab leaders to alter "the facts on the ground," or to avoid the difficult compromises required for Palestinian-Israeli peace.
It is never too late for political leaders to grow up. And it is good to have a president who can dispense with excuses and encourage a culture of responsibility.
Daniel Brumberg is Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University, and Acting Director of the Muslim World Initiative at the United States Institute of Peace.
By Daniel Brumberg |
June 1, 2009; 2:34 PM ET
| Category:
Islam and the West
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Posted by: ccnl1 | June 5, 2009 11:49 AM
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Went to see Matisyahu just a few days ago and heard him make an ancient affirmatiom:
Listen. (if you still can)
Posted by: SursumCorda | June 5, 2009 11:16 AM
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Daniel Brumberg says-
"It is never too late for political leaders to grow up. And it is good to have a president who can dispense with excuses and encourage a culture of responsibility."
When, Daniel, when ?? and who ??
Posted by: SursumCorda | June 5, 2009 11:11 AM
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William Percy, "Gay Clergy," Encyclopedia of Homosexuality.
Check out the Encyclopedia, and check out Percy's web site. Brilliant academician. Few like him around.
Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | June 5, 2009 3:40 AM
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Anyone interested in pedophilia and homosexuality among Catholic clergy of the Middle Ages might do worse than to consult the "Encyclopedia of Homosexuality."
More specifically, I'd recommend his article, "Gay Clergy," which can be accessed on the web.
Percy is a stunning writer and researcher; a number of his books and articles deal with the subject raised in ccnl's question. Here is his web site.
Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | June 5, 2009 1:58 AM
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Farnaz, Farnaz, Farnaz,
And the references to support your "going back to the Middle Ages claims are????
And how is your friend Zebra4 doing these days??
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 4, 2009 11:28 PM
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Zebra4 writes: "The catholic church must stop the pedophile priests and the sexual exploitation of children."
You are asking a great deal. This exploitation dates back to the Middle Ages, involving "friars," monks, priests, etc. It was not until the 1990s following the death of a charismatic cardinal, John Cardinal O'Connor, that the New York City District Attorney announced, over the screaming objections of the Church, that he would prosecute pedophile clergy, inaugurating such prosecutions in many other countries.
Prior to this time, while "lay" pedophiles were tried, convicted, and jailed, those Catholic clerical pedophiles who were caught were sent by the Church to "retreats," then, generally sent back to prey on boys and girls.
Around the world there is still the most serious resistance to identifying and prosecuting these people.
Some have said that this is a "Catholic problem," that what they do to one another should not concern the rest of us. This, I must say, I cannot understand. Children are children. They belong to all of us.
Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | June 4, 2009 6:52 PM
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Zebra pontificates:
"The Shia-Sunni problem is your(CCNL) exaggeration. These are political differences, not religious doctrinal differences."
Why do Sunnis also believe that Ali ibn Talib is Allah? Or that the 12th missing Imam will return as the Messiah etc. etc.
Posted by: abhab | June 3, 2009 10:07 PM
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From: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/03/iraq.cleric.ap/index.html
"Al-Sistani was apparently referring to Abdullah bin Jabrain, a key member of Saudi Arabia's clerical establishment, who last month joined a chorus of other senior figures from the hardline Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam that regards Shiites as infidels.
Bin Jabrain described Shiites as "the most vicious enemy of Muslims."
Looks we should build a wall around the entire Middle East until these backward, immature, and irrationale clerics can have at it with each other.
And it is very, very disturbing that the Saudi government by their silence continues to support the vitriol for expanding the butchery between
Sunnis and Shiites. Considering the trillions of dollars in cash and investments, the Saudi political leadership could end poverty in all of the Mideast but they apparently fear the Wahhabi clerics. I say jail the terrorist clerics and send them to the Hague for crimes against humanity. Or maybe a UN/US/NATO take over of Saudi Arabia would be a faster resolution?
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 3, 2009 2:42 PM
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You are at it again.
The first thing will never happen. Just because you are ignorant of the religion does not mean it should change.
The Shia-Sunni problem is your exaggeration. These are political differences, not religious doctrinal differences.
On the other hand, Catholic-Protestant differences are doctrinal differences.
Catholic priests should be allowed to marry.
The catholic church must stop the pedophile priests and the sexual exploitation of children.
Posted by: zebra4 | June 3, 2009 1:56 PM
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Three "must happen" for BO to solve the Muslim problem:
1. The koran must be thoroughly edited i.e. all references/passages involving warmongering, death to infidels, polygamy, virginal heavens and beating/stoning of wives must be removed.
2. Israel must move back to the borders established by the UN in 1948.
3. The Sunni-Shiite centuries' long conflict/disagreement/feud must end now.
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 3, 2009 12:45 PM
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The comments to this entry are closed.
This is way off topic but since the moderators have not deleted Farnaz and Zebra4's off-topic commentary:
From Farnaz's references:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:Ct9vd084rboJ:www.williamapercy.com/wiki/images/Clergy.pdf+monks,+friars,+little+boys+homosexuality&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
"The Early Centuries. Almost from the beginning, Christian clerics have been suspected and denounced by pagans, athe- ists, and anticlerical propagandists for homosexuality even more than the facts themselves merit. "
With respect to the strange "Wee Willie" Percy (from his website):
And from answers.com:
"In 1994, Percy offered a bounty of $10,000 for the successful outing of a living American Cardinal, a sitting justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and a four-star officer on active duty in the U.S. military. In light of the Supreme Court decision that decriminalized sodomy (Lawrence v. Texas), he has amended his bounty offer to no longer include a justice of that venerable institution. His offer, upped to $20,000, still stands for Cardinals and four-star officers."
It is also obvious that "Wee Willie" is not in good standing with the Baha'i cult because of its stand against mutual masturbation and outercoursing.