Monika Evstatieva, here...

As we promised, here is the second installment of our three part blog special on reactions to President's Obama address in Cairo. Zaina Arafat, a guest on our program today, shares her thoughts on the speech. Zaina recently graduated from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. She's originally from the West Bank.

Zaina, blog it out:

Zaina Arafat Courtesy of Zaina Arafat


Thanks, Monika. President Obama's speech earlier today to the Muslim world won him a standing ovation from his audience at Cairo University. Although it was no doubt a great speech that worked toward restoring the soured relationship between the West and the Muslim World, Arabs and Muslims are used to great rhetoric. Now what we need is action.

As a Palestinian-American, I am most concerned about how President Obama will proceed with regards to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He called on Israel to halt its continued settlement activity; now he needs to start applying pressure on the State to actually do so. President Obama also stated that the two sides must meet the obligations that they agreed to under the Road Map, and the U.S. must play an active role as a third party negotiator to get each side to meet these obligations. Additionally, President Obama needs to honor his commitment to helping the Palestinians achieve statehood by consistently pushing the two sides to reach an agreement, one that leads to the creation of a viable Palestinian state, and that restores dignity among Palestinians.

Above all, I think that after today, those in the West who have come to perceive Islam as an inherently hostile religion dominated by extremists will at least reconsider their view, and those in the Muslim world who think that the West is waging a war against Islam will relinquish that belief. President Obama has challenged the stereotypes and perceptions that exist between Islam and the West. After today, hopefully we will see the gap of understanding between the two worlds bridged, and the framework of Us versus Them will recede.

Thank you, Zaina.

Stay tuned, for part three of our series: The View From Abroad. We will hear from Niloufer Siddiqui from Pakistan.

Blog to you soon.

3:30 - June 4, 2009

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