By TwoCircles.net News Desk
New Delhi: Syed Shahabuddin, Convener, Joint Committee of Muslim Organisations for Empowerment, has welcomed US President Barack Obama’s Cairo speech to the Muslim World but has urged the Muslim community to exercise caution in drawing conclusion and take note of its shortcomings.
‘As Muslims form a global community they cannot ignore a major initiative by the President of the USA which is the only global power. President Obama’s Cairo speech should be welcomed as a good beginning but Muslims should exercise caution in drawing conclusion and take note of its short comings,’ Syed Shahabuddin said.
He points out three major shortcomings in Obama’s speech. “The first shortcoming is that President Obama practically ignores 1/3 of Muslim world which live in minority situations. Secondly, he is very soft on Israel because of domestic compulsions. He equates Palestinian resistance with Israel’s military invasions, expresses no commitment to press Israel to withdraw from Arab Occupied Territories and demolish existing Israeli settlements on the West Bank or the Wall. He has no words to condemn Israel’s recent invasion of Gaza. He forgets to mention Israel’s nuclear arsenal, the only one in the Middle East. The third shortcoming is his policy on Afghanistan; continued foreign occupation and support to an unpopular regime is bound to prove counter- productive. Al Qaida can be tamed only by a democratic regime in Afghanistan.”
The real test of President Obama will be how far he can go to press Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Territories and desist from changing the geography, history and demography of Jerusalem which is a sacred city for Muslim, Christians and Jews alike,” Syed Shahabuddin said.