What he said

All of the Arab and Middle Eastern news outlets seem to agree on the best image of Obama; they just can't agree on what he said. The outlets couldn't decide whether Obama was a fresh start, or rather just a more eloquent Bush. They also couldn't disentangle his words from their own political priorities. For some outlets, such as Al-Manar (Lebanon) and Al-Alam (Iran), Obama's speech marked a departure from US support of Israeli policies and a vindication of the Palestinian cause (not to mention the Iranian right to nuclear energy). For others, Obama's vision went far beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to embrace concepts such as democracy and women's rights.

The initial responses to Obama's speech, in which he quoted the Koran, were decidedly positive, if not euphoric. Outlets as disparate as Iran's state-run Al-Alam and Morocco's Le Matin du Sahara hailed it as a success. Obama's speech marked a "new beginning" of American relations with the Arab and Muslim worlds - one characterized by "mutual interest and mutual respect," in Obama's words. The insistence with which this phrase made it through the Arab press is a tribute to Obama's speechwriters' trans-linguistic ability to create a great sound bite.

But the initial exuberance was soon tempered. A day later, people were calling for "deeds, not words." Is Obama a visionary - or merely, in the words of one major pan-Arab newspaper, "a speech merchant"? While the speech was appreciated, many Arabs and Muslims are withholding judgment.

Al Jazeera The coverage from this Qatar-based satellite television network was probably the most positive of any of the Arab world's major news outlets. Soon after the speech ended, its website featured that photo of Obama, with the caption: "America is not at war with Islam." Later, though, Al Jazeera published a more ambivalent article, reporting on the mixed response in the Palestinian community. Al Jazeera's changing tone was typical, with the thrill over the president's conciliatory gestures giving way to confusion and concern over what he would do to solve the long conflict between Israel and Palestine. On Saturday night, Al Jazeera's popular program "Akthar min Ra'i" - the closest thing the Arab world has to "60 Minutes" - will be devoted to reviewing and analyzing Obama's trip to the Middle East.

Al-Manar The Beirut-based satellite television station of Hezbollah emphasized the mixed reviews that Obama's speech received in the Arab world, even as it celebrated Obama's conciliatory gestures toward Islam. But Al-Manar also represented Obama's speech as a defeat for Israel. It quoted an anonymous "Zionist authority" (i.e., Israeli politician) who expressed frustration at Obama's failure to take a clear stand against Iran's nuclear program.

Al-Alam The Arabic-language news station owned and run by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting also interpreted Obama's speech as a victory for Palestine and a defeat for Israel. The headline of its initial lead story read: "Obama underscores the implementation of a two-state solution." Certainly, Obama made gestures to the Palestinian cause in his speech; nevertheless, the official Iranian coverage gives one the impression that Obama's speech was a wholesale denunciation of Israeli policy vis-a-vis Palestine. The Iranian article also emphasized Obama's willingness to negotiate with Iran "without preconditions."

Al-Arabiyya This influential Dubai-based satellite news channel emphasized the political struggles Obama will face at home because of his speech. In the wake of the speech, it ran a lead story with the headline: "Obama engages peace crisis early and confronts the Jewish lobby." Describing Obama's message as one of "hard love for both Arabs and Israelis," the Saudi-controlled network noted that Obama is addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict much earlier in his presidency than his predecessors did. While most of the Arab networks focused on Obama's international audience (and, in particular, the Arab and Islamic worlds), Al-Arabiyya tried to forecast the domestic reception of Obama's speech.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi This independent pan-Arab daily newspaper owned by Palestinian expatriates registered a more ambivalent response to the address. Like Al-Jazeera, it posted its coverage soon after the speech ended, but the London-based newspaper worried that "Obama didn't offer any new initiative for ending the conflict between Israel and Palestine, an omission that frustrated many."

Al-Sharq al-Awsat The online coverage of this London-based, Saudi-owned paper, known for its slogan "International Newspaper of the Arabs," featured an image of masked Hamas militants watching Obama on a TV set in Gaza. Despite this ominous image, the newspaper's headline was optimistic: "Obama's speech... the message arrived." The newspaper's main article strikes a positive tone, yet a linked article from its front section gives a much more nuanced and conflicted view. (From the subtitle of the article: "They say that [Obama] spoke as if he were the master of the world... and that he presented Bush's discourse with new expressions... and that he is colliding against a 'crisis of Arab trust.' ") As far as I've seen, Al-Sharq al-Awsat is the only major news outlet to include women's rights as among the chief issues addressed by Obama.

Le Matin du Sahara The official newspaper of the Moroccan government usually focuses on the activities of Muhammad VI, the king of Morocco, but gave pride of place to Obama's speech. The headline reads: "The 'cycle of mistrust' towards Muslims must end. The American President underlines that Morocco was the first country to recognize the independence of the United States." While it is true that Morocco was the first country to recognize the independence of the US, I doubt that non-Moroccan observers of Obama's speech left with this factoid in mind.

SANA The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency buried the news of Obama's speech deep on its website, after a number of articles about local and regional matters. The mere placement of the article seems to be a slight. The article, however, is fairly straightforward: "The American President Barack Obama called for an end to the cycle of mistrust between the United States and the Islamic world and the building of trust between the two parties. And Obama indicated... his desire for a new start between America and the Muslim world, emphasizing mutual respect and shared work with the Muslim world."

Eric Calderwood, a Harvard PhD student, is currently living in Madrid, where he is a visiting scholar in the Arabic department in the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). This article is adapted from his blog coverage for The New Republic.