Neurotic Democrat: “Obama on Al Arabiya”

Aaron Keyak — January 28, 2009 – 5:06 pm | Obama Comments (0) Add a comment

Josh Rolnick’s latest post titled, “Obama on Al Arabiya.”

My guess is that many in the Jewish world are nervous today. Obama chose to give his first formal television interview as president to Al Arabiya, the Arab language TV channel based in Dubai.

What does it mean? And what does it mean for Israel?

“Obama has tipped his hand with his first call going to [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas, and his first formal interview going to al arabiya [sic],” commented one poster on the satellite channel’s Web site. ”Now America has woken up … and they see they mistalenly [sic] elected a closet muslim/jihad sympathizer, and the party will end soon.”

This may be an extreme view. But I’m sure other, cooler heads in the Jewish community are wondering: What gives?

I’d urge those who are concerned to read the transcript. It really is an extraordinary document. In both content and tone.

First, let’s remember, as the AP pointed out:

Obama’s choice of Al-Arabiya network, which is owned by a Saudi businessman, follows the lead of the Bush administration, which gave several presidential interviews to that news channel.

“The U.S. sees Al-Arabiya as a friendly Arab channel, whereas they see Al-Jazeera as confrontational,” said Lawrence Pintak, director of the journalism training center at the American University in Cairo.

True, Obama spoke about his distant Muslim relatives, and told Muslims “Americans are not your enemy.” But what is striking to me — in part — is that while speaking through an Arab journalist to the Muslim world, Obama made this unsolicited remark:

Now, Israel is a strong ally of the United States. They will not stop being a strong ally of the United States. And I will continue to believe that Israel’s security is paramount. But I also believe that there are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace. They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side.

He wasn’t asked to comment on the U.S.-Israeli relationship. He offered it. And he spoke of the requirement for “serious partnership” from Palestinians.

(The comment obviously impressed the editors at Al Arabiya, who included this excerpt as a blowup quote on their Web site: Now, Israel is a strong ally of the United States. They will not stop being a strong ally of the United States.)

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