Note: new responses have been placed on the blog. You can find these in a different font.

Josh Hammerling writes:

Bush spoke in Abu Dhabi a few days ago and what I heard was no surprise. He spoke of Iran as an imminent threat that needs to be dealt with and called for continued support of Israel. More surprising than Bush's speech was the way the Arab media reported it. Television stations failed to accurately summarize his speech in the way the print news did. We were told that the television stations ignored reporting the fact that Bush was critical of Ahmadinejad because the UAE is a close business partner of Iran and didn't want to hurt their relationship. So much for investigative reporting.

Susan Reader-Meyers writes:

Good business,friends and family relationships work best when
collaboration regarding misunderstandings occur. It seems to me President Bush talks at the leaders of the Middle East rather than with them. Middle Eastern culture is based on centuries of living together. Our country is young compared to most of the world. At times when our president speaks he assumes the role of a rebellious teenager.

Since President Bush touched down in the UAE earlier today, security and traffic has been heavier than normal (which on a good day makes Seattle traffic look light). As a result, Cliff has advised us to not leave the immediate area and just take it easy until Bush heads out of town. Nothing to be worried about folks, just something that will keep us out of massive traffic jams and away from the busy malls while security is high. Some of us caught his speech on television earlier this afternoon and it really hit "home" when we realized that he was only an emirate away.
Even though he is the first American president to visit the UAE while still in office, Bush's visit has been marked with biting columns from at least one local newspaper. As prefaced in the previous blog, Gulf News ran a frontpage editorial bashing President Bush on his arrogance and mishandling of the Middle East during his time in office. I will provide the link once more at the end of this blog and again I highly suggest you look it over. Here are some students' reactions to the Bush editorial ran a few days ago.

Alice Stewart writes:

It should not be a surprise that the world scoffs at Bush's peace plans for Israel and cringe at his call for support against Iran. The papers of the UAE write editorials that show Bush's failures and denounce his solutions to conflicts. The most telling part is when this community reacts to Bush by telling him to leave the UAE because they desire peace and do not want terror.

Sarah Knutson writes:

The President of the U.S. is coming, and I really wish he'd just stay home. His primary reason for this visit to the region is to engage in peace talks between Israel and Palestine, but he's stopping in Dubai to attend a conference with companies that conduct business in both the US and the UAE. This little stop is causing a huge stir in the city, and even garnered a front-page editorial letter to the President on a popular local newspaper, Gulf News. While I understand the need for him to try to help the Middle Eastern situation-after all, he did cause one of the main conflicts there-I'm afraid he's a bit too optimistic about resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He expects a resolution to the conflict by the end of the year. This conflict, that's been raging for many generations, is supposed to end by December 2008? Seriously? It sounds like he's a police commisioner trying to secure a significant case closure to ensure his re-election, only there's no hope of that, and it becomes proof that the President has entered his Lame Duck phase.

Nate Hulings writes:

Seeing the letter to President Bush plastered on the front page of Gulf News was the most refreshing aspect of Middle East media I have encountered so far. After hearing numerous stories of local editors being contacted by the UAE government after running stories critical of the government or certain social issues, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Gulf News slapping around President Bush's visit. The word "arrogance" jumped out at me the most in the ediorial and I think it accurately sums up the local as well as many American's standing on the Bush presidency. Personally, from originally believin that Middle Eastern media was highly censored to reading this Bush-bashing ediorial in the Gulf News, the only feeling that I could accurately describe my state-of-mind being in was that of optimism. Opening up dialogue through the printed word has been a powerful force in human history. From religious texts to a letter scribbled on scrap paper in a Birmingman jail by civil rigts leader Martin Luther King, Jr., critical but open dialogue between two or more parties only makes this world a better place and helps justice surface and injustice falter and hopefully fail.
Some might look at this editorial and be angered that our President would be slammed in this fashion and others would cheer and jump for joy that someone is finally calling Bush's bluff, but we live in a world that needs a certain amount of tension to keep people honest and on the right track. Without questions and criticisms of our officials, we-whether the media or the public in general-are doing a disservice to justice. Learning the hard way after the debacle of the media after a lack of tough questionting leading up to Iraq, the media around the world is now raising its voice and seems to be saying, "President Bush, no more can you play us the fool. We're here to call you out on your abuses of power and arrogance about a part of the world that you seem to be involved with more and more these days." Gulf News served this very duty by railing President Bush only two days before his visit. I applaud Gulf News and hope that they continue the dialogue, however critical, until each and every person is held accountable for their actions.

Kyle Morean writes:

I thought it was remarkable to see such a direct editorial on the front page of the Gulf News. During Bush's speech in Palestine this week, he spoke with an air of confidence that the simple fact he is here will be enough for peace in the Middle East. I was happy to see someone call him out and remind him that peace is a process and not something he can simply implement like the start of a war. He wields incredible power from his position and I am anxious to see how he will continue with these "peace efforts." If he as a moral interest in the matter, this ought be a project he pursues long after office. His political track record and seemingly transparent interest in oil however, suggest that these mentions of peace are merely a president pulling at the final strings to soothe an otherwise war-driven two terms in office. I am curious to see what kind of follow-up with these poltical criticisms will continue during Bush's visit. I am hopeful that with poltical change on the horizon in the United States that this discourse will inspire futher criticism and hopefully dialogue about the world's expextations of next US president. Moreover, with this news making the US media I am hopeful Americans will start to embrace their status as global citizens and recognize the positive impact that our elected leader can have on the entire planet.

Maren Anderson writes:

The arrival of American President George W. Bush marked his first visit to the UAE and fantastically it happened during PLU's first visit to the UAE. Media and cultural reactions to Bush's visit have been fascinating and helped place into perspective my own responsibility with my nationality.

As a part of Bush's visit and its high level of required security, Dubai declared a national holiday to alleviate the traffic messes. At first I was shocked with this news; the American president has the power to shut-down a city. The title that he carries warrants dramatic measures and
intense international coverage. His reach is broad.

While the local media covered his visit in various ways through headlines such as "Dubai bedazzles Bush" to editorials criticizing the President's visit, the designation "American" carries much weight.

The shock wave caused by the president's visit helped me to recognize theresponsibility in the carriage of my nationality. The global impact of the United States permeates many different facets of the world and even amidst a time of critique of the United States, the world still looks to Americans to lead the way.

So, as a student, I must recognize my American-ness as a piece of my
identity as a global citizen and apply my experiences in the UAE to
understand my role as a collaborative party in the international playing field.

Well, thats all for now. Our meeting at Zayed University scheduled for tomorrow was canceled but our trip to Abu Dhabi Tuesday is still on. Also, please keep up with our blog on the PLU website as well. That can be accessed at sojourner.plu.edu.

As always,

Nate Hulings

http://gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/region/10180995.html