Al-Arabiya Journalist Reflects On Obama Interview

Al-Arabiya Journalist Reflects On Obama Interview

27 Jan 2009 03:41 pm

Jeffrey Goldberg spoke with the reporter of the hour, al-Arabiya's Hisham Melhem, who detected in Obama's yesterday words a "shift in approach" in the way Obama described the Middle East conflict.

"I'm not willing to say there is a shift in substance, but there is a shift in approach on the tone vis-à-vis Palestinian suffering. He showed that he understands the need for dignity and a place to call their own. And there will be a different approach, in the sense that sending George Mitchell is an important thing. He has talked both about Palestinian violence and Israeli settlement"

JG: But come back to substance: He's not abandoning Israel, he's maintaining a hard line on Pakistan --

HM: Look, in the long run, he is telling the Muslim world that it's going to have a difficult time demonizing him. He's saying, "I'm willing to disagree with the people of the Muslim world respectfully." He was miffed and angry by Zawahiri and Bin Laden, the way they speak of him. And he jumped on it and dealt with it. There's a subtle shift here on how he looks at the war on al-Qaeda and the groups that collaborate with it. He doesn't put Hamas and Hezbollah in the same category as al-Qaeda. Is there going to be disappointment later? We're bound to have disappointments, but the main message is that a new wind is blowing. He's closing down Guantanamo, sending Mitchell, pulling out of Iraq, and maybe I'm dreaming but I hope he would show Palestinians and Israelis tough love, both of them. Do you want to tell me that Bin Laden and all these nuts are not going to be nervous about him?

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Alexandra Pelosi is in the news

 Alexandra Pelosi, a filmmaker

Alexandra Pelosi Is Nancy Pelosi Daughter

       Alexandra Pelosi, a filmmaker and the daughter of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Alexandra Pelosi is in the news after her latest film, “The Trials of Ted Haggard” aired tonight on HBO. The documentary follows the evangelical preacher as he tries to rebuild his life after the sex and drug scandal rocked the church. Pelosi focused on the theme of forgiveness, saying, “The story is about a church that preaches forgiveness. He, as a pastor, preached forgiveness and redemption. But he was not forgiven and he was not redeemed. They cast him out and they exiled him. It was very biblical in a way. Not that I even read the Bible, so I wouldn’t know. But the people who go to church get told every Sunday, `We forgive.’ He was not forgiven. That, to me, is what is interesting about it.”

As a biography, Alexandra Pelosi was born October 5, 1970 in San Francisco, California, so her age is 38. She is married to Michiel Vos. They have 2 children together. She graduated from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication with a master’s degree in Communication Management. Alexandra is the daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the current Speaker of the House in the United States Congress. She works as a filmmaker and director, with four documentaries under her belt.

Alexandra and Haggard worked together previously for her film “Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi”. For that documentary, Haggard served as her tour guide as she traveled through the south and examined the practices and politics of fundamentalist, evangelical Christians.

Her latest film, though, is the one that people will remember. After Haggard’s relationship with another man and his drug use became public, he stepped down from the New Life Church. But now he is revealing details that were previously kept quiet. Alexandra’s film brings many new aspects of the story to light, which makes it an interesting movie to watch.

Alexandra is dedicated to the topics she pursues. Once, when investigating hate in America, she joined the KKK to get an inside look.

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Azores Whale Watching Holiday

Azores Whale & Dolphin Watching Holidays



Join us on one of our exciting whale and dolphin watching holidays. When out at sea the species we most frequently see are sperm and pilot whales, beaked whales and false killer whales, together with bottlenose, common, spotted, Risso’s and striped dolphin. In recent years, we have also sighted blue, fin, sei, minke and humpback whales off the islands’ shores.
These elusive mammals are spotted by the ‘vigia’, a lookout on the coast. Using powerful binoculars, he guides our boats from the shore to their location. 
This traditional system works well and was used for many years when the Azorean people hunted the whales.
Some of our boats also use an onboard hydrophone (underwater microphone) to find the cetaceans, and when at sea, they rarely go more than 10 miles from land. The boat skippers are keen to see the cetaceans and will point them out to you, identify the species and give you time to marvel at the spectacle and grab some fantastic photos too (if you’re quick!).

Choose from our whale watching holidays on Sao Miguel, Faial or Pico.

Azores Whale Watching Holiday Faial – 7 nights

Our whale watching holiday on Faial is based in the cosmopolitan town of Horta in a comfortable hotel opposite our whale watching office. We include four half days whale watching, allowing you a further four full days to explore the beautiful islands of Faial and Pico. Sights to see include Capelinhos, a village that was buried in the 1957/8 eruption that is now re-appearing out of the ash and Faial's volcanic crater which offers great views of the surrounding area.

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