President Barack Obama fulfilled another campaign promise last week after visiting Cairo, Egypt, and beginning a public dialogue with the Arabic world about the peace process. The president's speech in front of the Cairo University audience ran nearly an hour and evoked applause, shouts of adoration and a few awkward silences.
The long silences came when Obama argued for the right to Israel's peaceful existence. The applause came when Obama mentioned the Arab world's contribution to mankind. The shouts of adoration came when Obama recognized the state of Palestine was living in conditions "that come with occupation."
That last part is what's key. The president of the United States actually went to the heart of the Muslim world and spoke of the need for Israeli compromise when dealing with Palestine. He actually said, "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace."
It was a tricky speech for the president and his young speechwriter, Jon Favreau, to write.
Not only did they have to let the Arab world know the U.S. isn't bent on destroying its slice of civilization, but Israelis and Israeli symphasizers couldn't be left to think this new American administration was leaving them out in the cold.
America and our buddy relationship with Israel has often served as a rallying call for Islamic extremists in the region.
When a radical cleric condemns the "Zionist state," the chant "death to America" usually follows close behind.
While many in the region believe America will always side with Israel, that has not always been the case. Just last year, President Bush declared that peace in the region was never possible if Israel didn't cooperate more. Still, every time we appear to look the other way in many of Israel's military reactions while offering condemnation whenever a Palestinian fires a mortar rocket, we only serve as bumps in the road to peace, fueling both anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments among radical and even amicable Arabs passionate about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Israel has a right to exist. Its people have a right to a peaceful existence. But a peaceful Israel will never exist without a peaceful Palestine. Peace can only come through Israel's recognition of a full-fledged Palestinian state. These basic statements are well-known and mostly agreed upon by experts in the region but are foreign to most Americans.
These were all points that Obama raised in Cairo. They are issues that many people in the audience and in Israel agree upon. The real trick, now, will be for the president to get national public opinion behind him when dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and convince the "folks" and "average Joes" that Palestinians have a right to a state just as much as Israelis do.
Once the Obama administration has the weight of a more informed electorate willing to accept a lose-lose agreement, rather than an Israeli-win, Palestinian-lose agreement, will the region finally secure the ultimate goal of peace.
Maybe, Cairo, Egypt, wasn't the best place to deliver the speech. Obama should have gone to Cairo, Ill.
Matthew Christ is a political science sophomore. His column appears weekly.
