• Obama really had an opportunity to reshape and reframe the debate and … he gave it away. This speech was an opportunity to say to Arabs, ‘We as Americans made mistakes, we did not support democratic aspirations as much as we should have, but we’re going to do better.’ Obama didn’t say that.
• Brookings Doha Center Director of Research Shadi Hamid • Approaching Obama’s Middle East speech today from an outside-looking-in angle. The problem he and others in the Middle East see? It didn’t offer a clear strong apology for American screw-ups nor a good reason for the cynical to give up their cynicism. Obama’s 2009 speech on the Middle East received a much different response, but many in the region feel that the president broke promises and acted too slow on the Arab Spring protests. We understand where they’re coming from, and agree … but unfortunately, the push Obama made for an Israel/Palestine split based upon the 1967 lines is as bold as the president will probably get, considering how divisive the issue remains among Americans. source

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