Limits of Obama's Speech in Cairo

Whatever the virtues of President Obama's speech in Cairo on Thursday, the limits were far less apparent to the U.S. news media.

To a laudable degree, the president used his speech to underscore the international need for civil dialogue and mutual respect. This theme is an Obama strength — made all the more striking by the sharp contrasts with eight years of George W. Bush's infantile arrogance — and the current occupant of the White House gets justified praise for the intelligent tone of his public discourse.

But tone, no matter how important, is no substitute for truly evenhanded policies in the realms of human rights and relations between nations. This is a point that political analyst Noam Chomsky made in the immediate aftermath of Obama's Cairo speech.

Noting that CNN had heralded the speech ahead of time with a headline that declared "Obama looks to reach the soul of the Muslim world," Chomsky zeroed in on what he called the only substantive focus of the speech — the subject of Israel/Palestine.

"Obama called on Arabs and Israelis not to 'point fingers' at each other or to 'see this conflict only from one side or the other,'" Chomsky observed. "There is, however, a third side, that of the United States, which has played a decisive role in sustaining the current conflict. Obama gave no indication that its role should change or even be considered."

As might be expected, the media coverage from U.S. outlets generally adhered to the traditional framing that has presented Washington as an honest broker, seeking to bridge the divides between the two sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For the world-famous Chomsky — who is rarely seen or heard in large U.S. media outlets while they routinely feature the utterances of ill-informed mediocrities — such framing is fundamental and egregious.

While there is a bit of talk about Israeli settlements, some key on-the-ground realities get short shrift in U.S.

political rhetoric and media coverage. For instance, Chomsky points out that "Israel is taking over Greater Jerusalem, the site of its major current development programs, displacing many Arabs, so that what remains to Palestinians will be separated from the center of their cultural, economic and sociopolitical life.

"Also unmentioned is that all of this is in violation of international law, as conceded by the government of Israel after the 1967 conquest, and reaffirmed by Security Council resolutions and the International Court of Justice. Also unmentioned are Israel's successful operations since 1991 to separate the West Bank from Gaza, since turned into a prison where survival is barely possible, further undermining the hopes for a viable Palestinian state."

The language from leaders in Washington, routinely echoed and perpetuated by news media, often blurs more than clarifies. So, we frequently hear about "moderate" Arab governments.

Yet, as Chomsky says, the label is not what it easily appears to be, and the buzzword often serves purposes that are much more real than apparent: "In the background is the Obama administration's goal, enunciated most clearly by Senator John Kerry, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to forge an alliance of Israel and the 'moderate' Arab states against Iran. The term 'moderate' has nothing to do with the character of the state, but rather signals its willingness to conform to U.S. demands."

As countless news accounts have indicated, President Obama's speech in Cairo was remarkable oratory. But what about the policy?

Norman Solomon is the author of the book "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death," which has been made into a documentary film. For information, go to: www.normansolomon.com.

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