US President Barack Obama, in a major Mideast policy speech on May 19, said the political changes in the Middle East and North Africa mark a “new chapter” in American diplomacy, and that the future of the US is bound to the Middle East and North Africa by the forces of economics, security, history and fate. He also called on the Israelis to withdraw to pre-1967 borders.
He made the comments at the State Department in the speech meant as his first comprehensive response to revolts sweeping the Arab world. It was aimed at audiences in the US and the Middle East and North Africa, where the State Department provided simultaneous translation in Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew.
Obama made outreach to the Islamic world a signature of his presidency when he delivered his first presidential speech in Cairo in 2009 to Muslims around the world. Since then, some observers believe he failed to deliver on the hope he created following his discourse. Thursday’s speech was meant to assuage that disappointment.
The president said that for six months the world has watched the “extraordinary change” taking place in the Middle East and North Africa, adding that two leaders have already been replaced, and “more may follow” as people rise up to demand their basic rights.
He then pledged continued support for Mideast reforms and said Syrian President Bashar Assad must lead transition in his country or “get out of the way.”
The speech came a day after the United States imposed sanctions on Syria’s president for human rights abuses during a deadly government crackdown on the opposition.
The US will continue to oppose the use of violence and oppression against protesters, the president said, adding that he embraced the call for change and compared it to signature moments of American history.
Obama also listed a number of key interests that the US has in the Middle East: “For decades, the United States has pursued a set of core interests in the region: countering terrorism and stopping the spread of nuclear weapons; securing the free flow of commerce, and safe-guarding the security of the region; standing up for Israel’s security and pursuing Arab-Israeli peace.”
On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Obama said the US endorses the Palestinians’ demand for their future state to be based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.