What Is Obama's Message for Tahrir Square?

Mubarak, 2/1/2011

Originally published on Huffington Post

Last night, I attended the White House's State of the Union "tweet up," a gathering of a couple hundred new media addicts at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. We watched an "enhanced" version of the speech with all sorts of graphs and graphics, though I was too busy tweeting to watch. The scene at the #WHTweetup was geek chic, with most heads down busy clicking their thumbs on Apple products. Too bad the Middle East scarcely figured into the speech.

On the sidelines of the event I had the opportunity to have a few words with Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. Rhodes was the author of Obama's Cairo speech, which has continued to frame the White House's approach to the region even as the tectonic plates have dramatically shifted in the interim. Here is the exclusive interview:

What is President Obama's message for Tahrir Square where Egyptians are gathering right now?

Ben Rhodes: We did a statement today. But basically tomorrow is an important day -- it's one year since the anniversary. We are taking a number of steps to support Egypt's transition to democracy. We've seen a number of important steps in recent days: the parliament; the announcement by [SCAF leader] Tantawi that they're going to get rid of the emergency law. So our message is [that] we support their transition. We're going to be there on the other side of it. We're supporting the government as they take steps to implement the transition, and we want to see them follow that road map. We want to see Egypt as a model for the rest of the region.

What about the rest of the region, which sees Washington supporting autocrats in other countries? We're about to host Yemeni President Saleh. We continue to support Bahrain, and the Jordanian king visited the White House last week.

Rhodes: We support a set of universal values that the president spoke about today -- a process of change in each of these countries. But it's going to be different in each of these countries.

How many times did he say "look" in the speech?

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State of the Union: "the enhanced version"

SOTU 2008

The State of the Union is always a fun event to peg a presidential portrait. To that end, I need to hit the drawing board tonight.

Tomorrow I'll be attending a White House Tweetup for #SOTU. Follow @MideastChannel and @mideastXmidwest for terse updates. Don't worry, I won't just transcribe the same remarks you'll be watching; I'll try to offer some savvy analysis... 

The interactive part? Immediately following the speech, I'll have the opportunity to ask your questions to an exclusive panel of "senior advisors" -- that is, if you "mention" me on Twitter. Among the panelists: Ben Rhodes and Mark Zuckerberg [correction: Mark Zuckerman -- oops].

I'll be drawing some snazzy 'toons of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building's finest screening room, too. That's right -- we're going to be watching, "the enhanced version of the speech that features graphics, data and stats that highlight the issues the President is discussing live from South Court Auditorium." Get ready to geek out with me.

In the meantime, here is another SOTU 'toon:

Why do analysts feel compelled to always "grade" the president every January?

In which my transcription skills come in handy

I sat down with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, at her Ramallah office. We shared a plate of "healthy stuff," fresh fruits and vegetables -- in contrast to the cigarette smoke-filled rooms of the Palestinian Authority's headquarters, the Muqata -- and discussed the PLO's strategies for 2012. 
 
1. You were in Cairo three weeks ago for Fatah-Hamas reconciliation talks. How are the unity talks being affected by the Quartet's January 26 deadline?

Dr. Ashrawi: I don't even think about it as a deadline, because I would hate to link our own internal domestic issues to what the Quartet says. Frankly speaking, the Quartet hasn't been doing anything. It's just all show and no substance; all talk and no action. And I don't see why we should adopt their deadlines knowing that they're not doing anything, and all they're doing is asking us to negotiate. And they should know better because they are seeing what's happening on the ground.... We don't have anything against talks. But we have something against talks that are used for a pretext to provide Israel with cover -- legal cover, protection, and time to destroy the two-state solution.... Now either they rectify the negotiations, the so-called process, or we look for something else.

2. Is that "something else" a United Nations strategy?

David Levine's drawing of Dr. Ashrawi

Yes. We need to protect ourselves, we need to solidify and empower ourselves internally. We need to have peaceful, nonviolent resistance. We need to continue to build our institutions and work on unification. We need to repair our democracy. We need to have elections. All of these are internal issues. We need to work with the internationally community not just to get recognition but to get access - to all different instruments of accountability: legal, judicial, and so on. 

I don't know why the whole world has to wax hysterical at our trying to get some accountability for Israel. Why do they insist that Israel has to be given preferential treatment and remain above the law? Of course we want to join all of the different U.N. organizations... And I don't see why everyone wants us ahead of time to promise that we won't hold Israel accountable. This is ridiculous. Why should we relinquish the victim's right to seek protection?

Keep reading at Huffington Post.