EDITORIAL IN PALESTINIAN AL-QUDS
Visits by senior leaders to this country - Israel and the Palestinian territories - are coming thick and fast, and the visit by Obama is just the latest... These repeated visits and this clear bias towards Israel's position once again emphasise the strength and influence that Israel and its allies have across the world.
AHMAD HANNUN IN PALESTINIAN AL-QUDS
Obama's visit to Israel is part of a sad farewell party for the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who is clinging to his premiership like a limpet to a rock... As for Obama, he wants Israel to give him additional support to help him reach the White House, and for that he reads out his supportive policies to the leaders of Israel.
HAFITH AL-BARGHUTHI IN PALESTINIAN AL-HAYAT AL-JADIDAH
What would have happened if Obama put on his head a Palestinian keffiyeh [chequered scarf] in the same way that he twice put on the Jewish skullcap? This would have been balanced behaviour, but he did not do it and will never do it. The reason for this is that his 15-hour visit was put on to demonstrate his solidarity and support for Israel's policy.
WALID NUWAYHID IN BAHRAIN'S AL-WASAT
Obama's tour is not exploratory, but rather aims to send a message to American domestic opinion that he is reasserting US administrations' traditional priorities on Middle Eastern issues. And because these issues have grown in number under George Bush, Obama started his tour in Afghanistan, as it was the first victim, followed by Iraq, the second victim, to Palestine, as it is indispensable for confirming established US principles.
AHMAD ZAYBAN IN QATAR'S AL-RAYAH
With regard to substance, Obama did not move away from US policy constants in his statements during his current tour in the region, with only some differences in details and tactics.
The reaction by Middle Eastern commentators is consistent with a poll taken in the region. For example, a March-April 2008 Pew Research poll taken in 24 Arab and non-Arab countries showed that in the Arab nations of Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, confidence in Obama ranged from 23 percent in Jordan to one in three in Lebanon. About a quarter felt similarly about McCain.
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