“Promised Land” memoirs by “Obama” … reveal the scenes of his...

In his memoirs published this week titled “The Promised Land,” the former US President, Barack Obama, talked about the scenes of his visit to Egypt in 2009 and his famous speech at Cairo University.

Obama listed the most accurate details that he saw on his historic visit to Cairo, and said: “At that time, the Egyptian capital, Cairo, housed more than 16 million people, but we did not see any of them while we were driving from the airport.”

He continued: “The streets famous for being always crowded were empty of people for miles, except for the police officers scattered everywhere, a scene that reflects the extraordinary security grip of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his country, and the fact that the US President was a tempting target and a valuable catch for local extremist groups at the time.” .

Then Obama turned to a historical description of Egypt – from his point of view – he spoke a little about the history of the relations of the United States of America with Egypt during the rule of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Obama said that Nasser: “He fought a losing war against the Israelis and helped form the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Arab League. He became a member of the Charter of the Non-Aligned Movement, and ostensibly refused to side with any party in the Cold War, but aroused suspicion and anger in Washington, in part because Nasser was accepting economic and military aid from the Soviet Union, and he also took strict measures against opposition and the formation of political parties. Competing in Egypt, targeting in particular the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that sought to form an Islamic government through popular political mobilization and charitable work, but also included members who at times turned to violence.

Obama wrote that Mubarak “followed the same method of ruling (with one notable difference). Sadat’s signature of a peace agreement with Israel made Egypt an ally of the United States, which prompted successive US administrations to overlook the regime’s rule of increasing corruption and the deterioration of the human rights record, And anti-Semitism at times ».

Obama described the late Egyptian President Mubarak as “not bothering to reform his country’s stagnant economy, which has now left a generation of disaffected Egyptian youths unable to find work.” He attributed this to: “Aid flows not only from the United States, but from the Saudis and other Gulf countries. Rich in oil ».

Returning to the day of the visit, Obama wrote: “Our motorcade arrived at the Dome Palace, and after the welcoming ceremony, Mubarak invited me to his office for an hour-long discussion.”

Obama described Mubarak as “he was 81 years old, but he was still broad-shouldered and strong, with a Roman nose, dark hair combed back, and eyes thick on eyelids.”

He said: “After I spoke with him about the Egyptian economy and asked for proposals on how to revitalize the Arab-Israeli peace process, I raised the issue of human rights, and suggested steps that he might take to release political prisoners and ease restrictions on the press .. Mubarak spoke in English with an Egyptian accent, but it is acceptable, but he dismissed my concerns. Politely, and insisted that his security services target Islamic extremists only and that the Egyptian people strongly support his firm approach.

He said, “He made an impression on my dealings with elderly despots who closed themselves in palaces. All their dealings are through the sullen officials who surround them. They do not distinguish between their personal interests and the interests of their countries, and their actions are not governed by any purpose other than maintaining a tangled network of The favoritism and commercial interests that kept them in power.

Regarding his speech at Cairo University, Obama said: “What a contradiction between empty streets and going to the great hall of Cairo University that is crowded with people.”

He continued: “We pressured the government to deliver my speech in front of a large segment of Egyptian society, and that segment of 3,000 people attending included university students, journalists, scholars, leaders of women’s organizations, activists, and even some prominent clerics, and symbols of the Muslim Brotherhood, and this diversity helped Make the event unique, and reach a wide global audience through television. ”

Everyone remembers the salutation Obama gave at the time, “Peace be upon you.” The former president says, “As soon as I went up to the podium and gave the Islamic salute, the audience responded, I was keen to make it clear that no single speech would solve the entrenched problems … But with the continued cheers, applause and support for my talk about Democracy, human rights, women’s rights, religious tolerance, and the need for a real and lasting peace between a secure Israel and an independent Palestinian state, I was able to imagine the beginnings of a new Middle East at that time.

That was the moment when Obama predicted something like the Arab Spring, and he says in his memoirs: “At that moment, it was not difficult to envision an alternate reality in which the youth in that hall would establish projects and build new schools, lead responsive and effective governments, and begin to re-imagine their faith. “Perhaps the high-ranking government officials who sat in the third row, grinning, could also imagine the image that I had.”

Obama says that the first person who searched for him after he got off the stage was Ben Rhodes (his speechwriter and advisor on national security and foreign policy), and the former president wrote: “I left the stage and the hall with a standing ovation that lasted for a long time and made sure to find Ben, who was, as a rule, very nervous. To see any speech he had helped write, and instead holed up in some back room, he tapped on his BlackBerry.

Obama says: “Ben was smiling from ear to ear .. I told him, ‘I think this worked,’ and he said to me, ‘It was historic.’

According to Obama, the speech was a weapon against him after a number of years, as critics and even supporters of the former president criticized him for not being able to achieve his optimistic vision that came in the speech.

Obama wrote: “In subsequent years, critics and even some of my supporters have been comparing my optimistic rhetoric in the Cairo speech with the horrific facts that occurred in the Middle East during my tenure … For others, the problem was not the vision in the speech, but rather what they considered my failure in Realizing that vision with effective and purposeful action.

Obama continued: “I was inclined to answer that there is no single speech that could solve the region’s long-standing challenges .. In the end what happened happened and I was left with nothing but the same set of questions that came to my mind for the first time, such as what is the use of describing what the world should be. When the efforts exerted to achieve this world are doomed to failure? ”

Obama points out that he has these doubts even now, even after he left his post. Did raising expectations cause Egyptians to become frustrated? ”