Egypt | GlobalPost

Obama's speech: Speech ... what speech?

Anne LookJune 4, 2009 10:10

Despite the fact that Senegal is 95 percent Muslim, the global buzz building around President Obama’s speech sputtered out by the time it hit the country's borders. I was hard pressed to find anyone, much less groups of people, planning to watch the speech. After the address, I touched base with members of the Muslim Student Association of Senegal, a national network of university students that has been particularly vocal in its support for Palestine.

Obama's speech: The view from Islamabad

Shahan MuftiJune 4, 2009 09:58

"So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace ... ."

Does it play in Delhi? And Rabat, Jakarta, Kabul and elsewhere in the Muslim world?

News DeskJune 4, 2009 09:33

GlobalPost correspondents living in the Muslim world watched the speech with locals — when they could find locals watching, and in many places they couldn't. Here are links to their reports and some excerpts: Islamabad "He started with 'aslamalaykum,'" the traditional Islamic greeting, a young man with a thick mustache told me. "And he quoted from the Koran ... . These are good things," he said with a shy smile. Jakarta

Obama's speech: The view from Istanbul

Nichole SobeckiJune 4, 2009 09:14

I woke up early this morning to watch the speech in Brooklyn, but here is how a friend in Istanbul described the scene there: From the open door of a tea house in Tarlabasi, a densely populated neighborhood of narrow streets, an unusual sound was heard — the news. Gone were the popular strains of Turkish pop, or loud reactions to the latest football match. In the place of such a familiar symphony was the voice of President Barack Hussein Obama as he delivered his much anticipated speech in Cairo today.

Obama's speech: The view from Jakarta

pgellingJune 4, 2009 08:34

Obama’s speech was highly anticipated here, his former home, but to everyone’s surprise it was not a game-changer. Obama lived here with his mother and step-father, attending a local elementary school from ages 6 to 10. During that time, he encountered Islamic culture on a personal level, at times praying alongside Muslims in the mosque. It is for this reason that Indonesians feel Obama has a unique knowledge and understanding of Islam not found in former American presidents. And it is for that reason they had high expectations for his speech in Cairo.

Obama speaks before 3,000, addresses a billion

Theodore MayJune 4, 2009 08:01Updated May 30, 2010 12:57

[Editor's note: GlobalPost will have reaction and analysis throughout the day to Obama's speech to the Muslim world. For more GlobalPost coverage, read about the view from Dubai, and from elsewhere in the world.]

Egyptians set the stage for Obama address

Theodore MayJune 1, 2009 12:04Updated May 30, 2010 12:57

CAIRO — President Barack Obama travels to Egypt this week to fulfill a campaign promise to address the Muslim world. The president will spend Wednesday in Saudi Arabia and land in Cairo on Thursday before heading to France and Germany. In the several hours he’s likely to be in Cairo, observers expect to hear him extend an olive branch to Muslims, boost Egypt’s status as a regional leader, stare down extremism, and make progress on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Obama: T-Minus 4 Days

Theodore MayMay 31, 2009 10:04

It’s four days until President Barack Obama makes his much-anticipated visit to Cairo to give an address to the Muslim world. And the buzz is growing. This week, I’ll have a full piece about Obama’s upcoming visit, but in the meantime I thought I’d share with you some of what I’ve been hearing from a street-level perspective.

The death of Mubarak's grandson

Theodore MayMay 19, 2009 19:13

Cairo has come to a standstill, and Egyptians aren’t happy about it. Mohamed Mubarak, grandson of President Hosni Mubarak, died Monday night in Paris. He had been hospitalized for a couple of days, following an undisclosed medical condition. Mubarak, age 12, died for reasons Egypt won’t confirm. He was flown in from Paris this morning and buried in Cairo this afternoon.

From the people who brought you the pyramids...

Theodore MayMay 24, 2009 10:58Updated May 30, 2010 12:56

CAIRO, Egypt — The desks are all now in place, the air-conditioning finally works and the gym equipment has even arrived. The American University in Cairo (AUC) is at last fully operational, having realized a 15-year-old aim of moving its campus from an 8-acre plot in the heart of traffic-clogged downtown Cairo to a 260-acre site on a desert plain outside the city.