A view from the Saudi press on the Obama bow
Muhammad Diyab in the English edition of the Saudi-led Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper comments on the Obama bow:
Many Americans have been concerning themselves, even now, with Barak Obama’s religious affiliation, and whether he is a Christian, as he has said, or a Muslim whose political ambitions have forced him to conceal his faith. Public opinion polls indicate that almost ten percent of Americans continue to believe that Obama is a Muslim — and not a Christian as he claims — as his father is a Muslim, and his roots can be traced back to a Muslim country. Even though American law does not prohibit a Muslim from becoming President of the United States, law is not always the absolute with regards to the American presidency.
President Barack Obama’s bow in front of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz during their meeting at the sidelines of the G20 conference in London has aroused suspicion once again over Obama’s religious identity. Gary Bauer, a former Republican Presidential primary candidate said that “he [Obama] is courting the Muslims in a way that arouses suspicion” and this makes clear that Obama’s opponents are omitting a lot of facts when interpreting this bow.
Obama lived part of his childhood in Indonesia and in his meeting with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques attempted to evoke this. For bowing is an expression of affection in Indonesian culture and in East Asia in general. And so Obama wished to demonstrate his respect and appreciation of the personality of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, who has made one of the most important calls in the modern era, namely the call for inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue to defuse the hatred, conflict and wars. And so the American right-wing –- and the media which is sympathetic towards them — is reading too much into Obama’s bow.
For the record, the Obama administration is now denying the whole thing. The Politico reports an anonymous Obama aide’ statement: “It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah.” Well, that’s not the way it appeared to the Saudis.
UPDATE — Speculation continues about why the administration can’t tell the truth about this obvious episode.