Obama interview with Al-Arabiya

For his first official interview as President, Barack Obama chose to send a clear message to the broad Muslim world: Americans are not your enemy. This has had great reception in the Middle East. Many see his words as distinctly different from his predecessor, President George W. Bush. They want someone in the White House who not only listens to their concerns but who also cares about them. Some see Obama as someone who will do both.

After initially casting Obama's words off as rhetoric and a continuation of the previous administration, Hamas officials said, "In the last couple of days there have been a lot of statements [from Obama], some of them very positive, and choosing this George Mitchell as an envoy, I think there are some positive things we have to count."

However not everyone is totally satisfied with Obama's appearance. A few Western media outlets (Associated press, Reuters) have covered expressed criticism of Obama for selecting Al-Arabiya to conduct the interview. The company, owned by a Saudi businessman with strong ties to the U.S., is the same (and only) Middle Eastern media outlet that President Bush gave interviews to.

Although there were some critics, a majority of the coverage and responses to the interview have been positive, both from Western and MENA perspectives. It is yet unclear how successful this administration's policies will be (and what exactly they are), but Western and MENA media have had an optimistic tone.

Food for thought: Al-Jazeera did not mention a single word about the Al-Arabiya broadcast on-air or on its web site.