Contrary to the narrative on the U.S. Republican right, Issa Goraieb of Lebanon’s L’Orient Le Jour asserts that President Obama’s use of his diverse background to reach out to Muslims is an excellent idea – particularly the proud usage of his Middle name ‘Hussein,’ or as Goraieb refers to it, the ‘H factor.’
Continuing with our coverage from the Arab world of President Obama’s Cairo speech, Goraieb outlines a point for his Lebanese readers that most people in our country already know: Obama’s personal links to so many of the world’s cultures is his – and now America’s – greatest weapon.
For the L’Orient Le Jour, Issa Goraieb praises President Obama and takes a swipe at the French, writing in part:
“For his campaign of openness, it’s true that George W. Bush’s successor had no shortage of trump cards, the most obvious of which could be called the ‘H factor.’ That is, his middle name Hussein, which demonstrates the Muslim ancestry that he bears with pride and which couldn’t fail to confirm the authenticity of his method of approach. More precisely, he is an extraordinary product of the interweaving of cultures who has succeeded in rising to the White House, repudiating all prejudices and stereotypes, even going as far as challenging the right of Western countries to forbid their immigrant populations from wearing the veil [headscarf or hajib], but nevertheless lambasting in the strongest possible terms the perversion of religious faith that is violent extremism.”
And since this is Lebanon, there was another section of Obama’s address that Goraieb notes:
Another no-less sensational American first: Obama’s impassioned plea for the preservation of that invaluable source of wealth that is religious diversity, whether it concerns the Maronites in Lebanon or the Copts in Egypt. This reference by Obama is doubly important for our country. It seems to confirm on the one hand, the genuine desire of the new U.S. administration to promote and support the unifying role of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, whatever the outcome of the Lebanese elections on Sunday [Suleiman was a compromise presidential candidate between the pro-West Christian and Pro-Syria Muslim factions in Lebanon]. Secondly, it comes as a helpful reminder to all Lebanese of the extent to which existing local tensions, which are exacerbated by foreign subversion, endanger the very essence of their homeland.”
[The author refers to President Obama’s statement that: “Among some Muslims, there is a disturbing tendency to measure one’s own faith by the rejection of another’s. The richness of religious diversity must be upheld – whether it is for Maronites in Lebanon or the Copts in Egypt. And fault lines must be closed among Muslims as well, as the divisions between Sunni and Shia have led to tragic violence, particularly in Iraq.]
EDITORIAL By Issa Goraieb
Translated By Alexandra Griffiths
June 5, 2009
Lebanon – L’Orient Le Jour – Original Article (French)
For thousands of years, the seven plagues of Egypt have imposed their own law on this part of the world – the law of perpetual turmoil. But it is the era of the seven principles of Barack Obama that the Middle East is from now on called to exist within, which were set out yesterday in Cairo, dealing with questions as diverse as peace, nuclear technology, economic partnership and the emancipation of women.
[Editor’s Note: Although the Old Testament talks of the ten plagues of Egypt that are said to have taken place during the Jewish Exodus, according to Exodus 8:23, of the ten plagues that fell on Egypt, the first three fell on both Egyptians and Israelites. The last seven fell only on those who have the ‘mark of the beast.’]
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