Obama failed to deliver on promises to Arabs and Muslims
President Barack Obama grew up politically in an environment that included many prominent Arabs, Palestinians and Muslims before rising to national politics and becoming president. His background having a father who was raised Muslim (who later converted to Anglicanism and later became an atheist) sensitized him to the plight of the Palestinian people and to the challenges against Arabs and Muslims in America. But despite all that, Obama has been in effective in championing their causes and has abandoned them to the wayside
Published in the Arab News in Saudi Arabia, Nov. 3, 2016
By Ray Hanania
When it comes to the issues of peace, justice and human rights in the Middle East, President Barack Obama is an enigma.
No other president has promised more to Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians and achieved so little.
It’s an important lesson for Arabs in American politics. It’s not what it claims to be.
I’m not just talking about any president. I’ve covered American politics for more than 40 years. Obama has had more personal and professional exposure to the rights of Arabs and Palestinians than any other successful American politician.
Obama matured in close proximity to prominent Arab and Palestinian activists in Chicago, which has one of the country’s largest Palestinian populations.
Nearly one-third of Americans believe Obama is a “Muslim.”
As a result, none of Obama’s friends or foes were really surprised by his June 4, 2009 “Cairo Speech,” a benchmark in any analysis of his record on the Middle East that he defined.
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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