Obama From Ramallah

Bernard Avishai blogs:

We speak about a war of ideas; some go on about a clash of civilizations. We hold seminars about the relationship between Islamic theology and Islamist ferocity. But like most people without a lot of time on their hands, this cab driver had simply put a face to the problems he was experiencing, as he navigated through an infuriating life. That face was George Bush’s, who was somehow (and a little magically, perhaps) not considered a part of the American people. The answer to Bush was Khaled Meshal.

But what if the face of America were Obama’s instead, and the warmth of feeling extended to Americans could not instinctively be denied their leader? What if the posters of Mohammed Ali would come down and posters of, of all things, the US president would be filling their spacesfilling, that is, some of the holes in the hearts of fruit vendors, terrified by globalization, from Palestine to Jakarta? Obama’s campaign, and many pundits, have made the point, so I won’t go on about it. But I thought I might report that one cannot take a cab in Ramallah and not run into what this means.