Obama interview on Al-Arabiya

In a marked and substantial difference from the Bush administration, Barack Obama gave an interview with Al-Arabiya, an Arab news network, where he emphasized the importance of dealing with the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. Obama also reached out an olive branch to Muslims throughout the world, acknowledging that people in his family were Muslims and that their lives matter, too. Lastly, he claimed that Al-Qaeda was nervous to have him around.

It was a brilliant PR move. I have often said that the "War on Terror" may party be a war on the ground, but that it was mostly a war of ideas. Al-Qaeda, while disgusting morally, is essentially a political organization that, through some saavy propganda, has one over the hearts of many Muslims. George Bush never understood that. But Obama does. He is attacking Muslim Fundmentalism where it counts. He is telling the Muslim world that United States is not the bad guy. It's a new game in the world. And we have a wise, impressive leader to play it.

Obama's victory scares Egyptian leadership

More good news from the Muslim world on Obama's victory:

According to the opposition weekly Sawt al Umma, the (Obama) cartoon appearing the leading Egyptian daily Al Ahram, caused a sense of an emergency among the Egyptian leadership. The independent weekly stated that 150,000 copies of the paper's first edition were quickly removed from the streets and destroyed and the "troublesome" phrase disappeared from future prints that day. The before and after cartoon depiction appeared in Sawt al Umma.

This is certainly not the first time that a political cartoon has caused powers in our region to be worried about losing their powers. But the paranoia of the Mubarak regime is a reflection of the concern by many Arab autocrats about the Obama euphoria empowering those calling for change. Obama's victory on the change mantra was not lost to people around the world yearning for political reform. Jordan's leading blogger Mohammad Omar says that the victory of the son of a Kenyan immigrant gives minorities, immigrants and unrepresented groups hope. Imagine a Palestinian who was born in Jordan fifty or sixty years ago and has tried very hard to be part of the political scene looking at the son of an immigrant in America being elected to the top executive position. The winds of hope don't stop at the American shores, Omar insists.

It's a weird thing for other countries, especially Arab countries, to be inspired by us, no?