Bush’s Speech at Knesset an ‘Act of Lunacy’

How damaging to U.S. interests in the Arab world was President Bush’s speech to the Israeli Knesset? If Arab reaction is anything to go by, it will certainly guarantee the end of U.S. credibility as an honest broker for some time to come.

Here’s a sampling of reaction from the Egyptian press from the Egyptian Gazette:

The weekly Akhbar Al-Yom featured a front-page article that accused President Bush of blind support and partiality toward Israel and causing an uproar throughout Arab and Muslim communities. The article said in part:

“Bush’s outrageous comments in the Knesset will backfire on his alleged war on terror, providing added ammunition to terrorists and extremists who will now hit back and intensify their activities.”

Editor-in-Chief of Al-Gomhuria, Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, compared Bush’s speech to the Knesset unfavorably to one given by late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1977 and said:

“‘This lunatic American president [Bush] took pride in the fact that his country was the first to recognize the independence of Israel and give U.S. cities Jewish names,’ concluding that Bush had solicited support for Republican John McCain in the U.S. presidential race without considering whether such a act would increase hostilities toward American troops and the number of U.S. casualties, he concluded.”

May 17, 2008

Egypt – The Egyptian Gazette – Home Page (English)

Local press, columnists and writers yesterday launched a scathing attack on U.S. President George W. Bush for his “provocative” speech marking the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state at the Israeli Knesset.

The weekly Akhbar Al-Yom featured a front-page article that accused Bush of blind support and partiality toward Israel and causing an uproar throughout Arab and Muslim communities. Moreover, the paper stressed accusations by Middle East political observers who insisted that Bush’s speech undermined his country’s credibility as the central peace-broker in the region.

Worried about the outlook for stability and peace in the Middle East, Akhbar Al-Yom said observers are unanimous that Bush’s speech brimmed with racism and prejudice. The paper charged, “Bush’s outrageous comments in the Knesset will backfire on his alleged war on terror, providing added ammunition to terrorists and extremists who will now hit back and intensify their activities.”

ACT OF LUNACY

In the meantime, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Gomhuria, Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, made a striking comparison between Bush’s speech to the Knesset and a speech given in 1977 by late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who at the time was celebrated in the same building as the hero of peace and war. Ibrahim pointed out that in the audience of Sadat’s speech consisted of hawks like Golda Mayer, Moshe Dayan and Shimon Peres, “who instigated the Israeli aggression and occupation of Arab land. Conversely, Bush’s speech was addressed to the weakest generation of Israeli leaders yet, all of whom occupied the first rows in the Knesset. Moreover, the speaker [Bush] is the lamest duck and worst President in the American history,” writes Ibrahim. He added that Sadat had confronted his foes courageously and called for peace in the Middle East and a halt to hostilities and bloodshed between Israelis and Arabs.

READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing foreign press coverage of the Middle East reaction to President Bush’s trip.