Obama on Middle East: ‘We see reasons to be hopeful’
As world powers reassess their relationships to Middle Eastern states, in a major speech President Barack Obama sets out a strategy for Israel and Palestine while offering aid to new regimes.
In a major speech at the State Department, President Obama invoked the memories of both the Boston Tea Party protestors and civil rights icon Rosa Parks to set out American support for countries which have recently overthrown tyrannical regimes, as well as those in the throes of transition.
The US will use its “soft” power in the form of economic aid to help new regimes in the Middle East and North Africa. But President Obama stressed that in return countries must work with the US and work towards democratic governance.
Mr Obama said his administration would also support civil society groups across the region, even those which were “not officially sanctioned”.
Israel
In the speech, President Obama went further than he has in the past in laying out the parameters of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, but stopped short of laying out a formal US peace plan.
He said any agreement creating a state of Palestine must be based on 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps. He said the US commitment to Israel’s security was unshakeable.
“For the Palestinians, efforts to de-legitimise Israel will end in failure. Symbolic actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations in September won’t create an independent state,” he said.
“Ultimately, it is up to Israelis and Palestinians to take action. No peace can be imposed upon them, nor can endless delay make the problem go away. But what America and the international community can do is state frankly what everyone knows: a lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples.
“Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people, and the state of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people; each state enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition, and peace.
Aaron David Miller who is on the US Advisory Council of Israel Policy forum and has advised six Secretaries of State said the speech “goes farther than any other President has gone in a formal address”.
Syria
The keenly-anticipated speech is being seen as the US response to the so-called Arab Spring, which has seen several regimes overthrown by popular revolutions.
There was also an unequivocal message to President Assad of Syria: lead the transition to democracy or move out of the way. President Obama strongly condemned the violent repression of recent protests, calling on the regime to stop shooting protestors and allow in human rights groups.
Mr Obama also pledged that the US had responsibilities to tackle those regimes which had not followed through on their promises of reform, such as Yemen and Bahrain.
Al-Qaeda releases a tape said to feature Osama bin Laden praising this year's uprisings in the Middle East and calling for more Muslim "tyrants" to be toppled.
