VZCZCXRO4742
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #3079/01 3111416
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061416Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3801
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003079 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/PPD, IIP/GNEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: JO KPAO KMDR PREL
SUBJECT: Jordan Media Reaction to Obama Election 
 
¶1.  Summary: nearly all columnists and editors writing in the 
Jordanian press today welcomed the election of Senator Obama as the 
next U.S. President, with the dominant theme being that he would 
bring very positive change to an America allegedly tarnished by the 
bush presidency.  Following are excerpts from the main daily 
newspapers. 
 
¶2.   "The End of the Ugly American!":  Columnist Osama Al-Sharif in 
today's edition of the government-aligned, pro-Palestinian Arabic 
daily Ad-Dustour opines: "We now witness a great transition in the 
structure of the superpower of the world. Although it is naive to 
pin great hopes on President Obama vis-`-vis our causes, the fact is 
that the era of 'the ugly American' is gone and the world has 
breathed a sigh of relief, though president Bush's legacy will haunt 
us for years to come." 
 
"Jordanian-U.S. Relations in Obama's Era":  Managing Editor Fahed 
Khitan in today's edition of Al-Arab Al-Yawm notes that the 
Jordanian street in its entire political spectrum seems comfortable 
with Barack Obama's win in the U.S. presidential elections.  He 
observes: "In the long run, Obama's win will contribute to improving 
the image of America, which, in the eyes of the peoples of the 
entire world, has been viewed as an evil despotic country in the 
hands of Bush and his gang of neo-conservatives." Khitan highlights 
the strong relations that Jordan enjoys with the United States, 
saying: "What is so important for Jordan in the first place is the 
stance of the new American administration towards the peace process, 
the rights of the Palestinian people as well as the interests of the 
Jordanian state in the final status solution."  Taking note of what 
U.S. assistance to Jordan will be like in Obama's era, Khitan says: 
"Jordan, which managed to obtain assistance from (Bush's) 
conservative administration and to double that assistance even, 
should face no difficulties from a (new) administration that leans 
towards building more balanced relations with its world allies."  He 
concludes: "Change is the slogan that achieved Obama's win amidst a 
state of cautious optimism.  The peoples of the region are awaiting 
the translation of this slogan into a new U.S. policy towards the 
Arab world." 
 
 
"Historic Elections":  Today's main editorial in the 
government-aligned, pro-Palestinian Arabic daily Ad-Dustour notes: 
"The results of the U.S. elections...were historic as they 
constitute a decisive turning point in American history with the win 
of the first American of African origins and a turnout which 
exceeded all expectations in favor of change and restoring America's 
image, so distorted by the Bush era." 
 
"Negatives That Created A President Whose Positives We Await": 
Columnist Rakan Al-Majali, normally a harsh critic of the U.S., in 
today's edition of Ad-Dustour makes the point that Obama owes his 
win in the U.S. elections to President Bush in the wake of its 
political "recklessness" that had reached the point of "madness, 
total failure and collapse."  Al-Majali concludes: "Barack Obama has 
reached the White House but has to deal with the negatives -- 
tragedies and crimes committed by his predecessor's  administration. 
This whole trail of negatives is what brought Obama to the 
presidency.  But from this day on, people will hope for positives 
that should not be confined to tackling those negatives but to 
drawing a new image for America and the world." 
 
 
"The American Electoral Decisiveness":  Columnist Ali Safadi in 
today's edition of Ad-Dustour discusses factors that led to Obama's 
win in the U.S. presidential elections. He concludes: "What is 
important is that the era of Bush, who has launched a war against 
Iraq and Afghanistan, is gone and that the portfolio of the one who 
made promises about a solution without achieving anything has been 
closed.  It is hoped that Obama's era will be marked by an actual 
positive change, not just on the domestic level but on the foreign 
policy level as well." 
 
"Change is Coming. Will Any of Its Winds Blow at Us?":  Columnist 
Oraib Rintawi in today's Ad-Dustour opines, "What is most important 
to us is that we be included in the change that the president-elect 
is talking about."   Rintawi concludes: "We want a share of this 
'change', which is part of our national and Pan-Arab perspective 
that we will present in our dialogue with the new U.S. 
administration." 
 
"America Has Changed. Will the Arabs Change?":  Chief editor Taher 
Odwan in today's edition of the independent, opposition Arabic daily 
Al-Arab Al-Yawm observes, "The Americans have voted in favor of 
change. Meanwhile the world breathed a sigh of relief because the 
election of Obama puts an end to the era of neo-conservatives led by 
George Bush, which has flooded the world with wars, fear and crises 
and spread enmity and hatred between peoples. A black president in 
the White House.  Indeed, America's face has never been as 
snow-white as it was in the moments and hours that followed the 
triumph of democracy and the declaration of Barak Obama's victory." 
Discussing how the Arabs will respond to the winds of change, Odwan 
 
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says: "Supposedly, the policy of change that Obama will lead should 
prompt Arab governments to change their approach and stances towards 
the Palestinian cause. It should also prompt them to transition from 
a policy of appeasement of America and Europe to resolve this cause 
to a policy of forcefully championing Arab rights and defending the 
interests of the nation before America and the international 
community..." 
 
 
"Obama's win ... and the Misery of Arab diplomacy!": 
Political Advisor for the Chief Editor of the leading, 
government-owned Arabic daily Al-Rai, Mohammed Kharroub, believes 
that Obama's win will "accumulate crises for Arab diplomacy." He 
wrote: "...we should not forget his middle name from now on because 
several circles will insist on using it for different goals, 
particularly Islamic and Zionists ones...it is not a secret that 
several Arab capitals did not wish him to reach the White House for 
different reasons, perhaps foremost, he would be serious and 
committed to spreading democracy and respect for human rights and 
disseminating public freedoms (do not forget promotion of American 
values and culture) more than his Republican predecessor." 
 
"It is America's Greatness": former Information Minister Saleh 
Qallab in Al-Rai wrote that Barak Obama's historic landslide victory 
in the US elections "is a victory for the United States as a system, 
constitution, and institutions and is a victory for the people of 
America" who have gathered from "black, white and yellow" origins, 
in this spot of the planet and "established such a state, which both 
contemporary and ancient history have not witnessed." The U.S. "gave 
the world a distinguished democratic experience that opened the door 
of the White House for an ambitious young man whose father never 
dreamed of getting out of his Kenyan African village." 
 
"US Regains Its Myth, What Else?" Columnist Jamil Nimri in today's 
edition of the independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad said "America 
regains its myth, which has been sinking in the mud; it regains its 
myth as a democratic country and the land of opportunities." 
Electing Obama open doors on other historical perceptions such as 
"closing a complete and finale statement of account with the 
historical heritage of slavery and racism...." Nimri said "Martin 
Luther King's dream literally became true." 
 
"Republicans are enemies to their friends": Columnist Sameh Ma'aita 
in the independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad wrote that "The US needs to 
change the faces of its leaders" adding that "who is better than a 
Black candidate from African origins." 
 
Beecroft