How Was Obama's Speech Actually Received In Cairo? (Correction)

The best objective way to tell how Obama's speech was received would seem to be to count how many times he was stopped by applause.

Based on that, the speech was a great success. According to Time:

The audience responded to Obama's fine rhetoric and frequent quotations from the Koran with repeated applause. At the end as he stood on the stage and waved, a group of Egyptian students in the balcony rhythmically began chanting, “He's our man! He's our man!” When Obama spoke about democracy during the speech, one man in the audience shouted, “We love you!” But the audience also responded well to Obama's specifics, including a statement opposing Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank—an unusually strong display of criticism of America's ally, given that it was delivered from the heart of an Arab capital.

Why the surprise that Obama would make---and get applause for--a remark critical of Israel in Egypt is unclear. But also unclear is how many times Obama received applause. After all, how much applause is 'repeated applause'.

Apparently not that much:

Members in the audience at Cairo University interrupted President Obama's speech at least three times to shout words of praise. Below is video of one person yelling, "we love you!" Obama responds, "thank you."

That's not a huge amount--but applause is applause.

But that is not the whole story:

You want a tough crowd? Go to Cairo and deliver a speech on Muslims, Jews, terrorism and the possibilities of Mideast peace.

While President Barack Obama received some applause and cheers during his address at Cairo University Thursday, at other times his speech fell flatter than a piece of pita bread.

Just as Obama's words were occasionally met by applause--other remarks were met by silence:

“In Ankara, I made clear that America is not – and never will be – at war with Islam,” Obama said. “We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security. (Silence from the crowd.) Because we reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children. (More silence.) And it is my first duty as president to protect the American people.” More silence.

And when the president talked about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America, he was met with only stares from the audience. “But let us be clear,” the president said, “Al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet Al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with.”

...“I have unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States, and I have ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by early next year,” Obama said to applause and whistles of approval.

But he was met with silence when he said: “The sooner the extremists are isolated and unwelcome in Muslim communities, the sooner we will all be safer.” [emphasis added]

Obama's remarks may have been met with applause at least 3 times, but they were met by silence at least 4. His audience received the praise of Islam and critical remarks about Israel they wanted--and responded accordingly. It's just that they were not in the mood to hear critical remarks about themselves.

Bottom line, Obama's audience will not be taking his critical comments to heart and will see it as just an accommodation for the sake of Israel and the US. So yes, as far as winning over his Muslim audience with what they wanted to hear, Obama's speech was a success--but that is as far as it goes.

Obama may want to keep in mind something President Bush said in an interview in December:

You can get short-term popularity in the Middle East if you want, by blaming all problems on Israel. That’ll make you popular. You can be popular in certain salons of Europe if you say, ‘Okay, we’ll join the International Criminal Court.’ I could have been popular if I’d said, ‘Oh, Kyoto is the way to deal with the environmental problem.’ That would have made me liked. It would have made me wrong, however. And, ultimately, you earn people’s respect by articulating a set of principles and standing by them.

Obama gave them what they wanted to hear--not a set of guiding principles.

As a result, he has created heightened expectations, and the Muslim world is going to expect Obama to stand by what they believe he has promised them.

CORRECTION: I misread the Huffington Post to mean that Obama was applauded only 3 times when actually it reads "Members in the audience at Cairo University interrupted President Obama's speechat least three times to shout words of praise." 

My mistake.

According to the transcript from the LA Times, which helpfully indicates each and every time there was applause, the audience applauded 37 times.

I have not had a chance to see the video yet, but according to the piece I quoted from Politico, "While President Barack Obama received some applause and cheers during his address at Cairo University Thursday, at other times his speech fell flatter than a piece of pita bread." "Some" is not 37 times. Maybe some of the applause was very light--I don't know. I'll have to listen to the video myself to find out.

In any case, I misstated what the Huffington Post said and apologize for my sloppiness.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

[Hat tip: Hot Air]

Technorati Tag: Obama and Cairo Speech.