Arab social media users were not impressed with outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech outlining his vision of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Twitter users charged that Barack Obama, the lame duck US president, is going out of his way to try to secure a legacy in his last days in office, and said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does not have the powers necessary to implement the process toward statehood as outlined in Kerry’s speech and the UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements.
Twitter user Ahmad Agha responded to Kerry’s speech saying, “Abbas doesn’t represent the Palestinians. Remember, the Palestinian resistance wrought more damage on the enemy than the armies of seven Arab countries ever could.”
https://twitter.com/aghaa1_ahmad/status/814238928370880516
“Kerry’s speech was bizarre, I was left stunned by it,” Ahmad Alsharif tweeted at CNN Arabic’s official twitter account.
خطاب كيري غريب وصدمني
— بنو شيبة 🇸🇸 (@sintrox) December 29, 2016
Responding to the same CNN Arabic tweet, Magdi Kamel remarked that Kerry showed “courage during garbage time.”
شجاعة في الوقت الضايع
— Falcon (@kamel4_magdi) December 29, 2016
Abu Yazeed took to Twitter to say, “Whoever’s harboring optimism regarding anything coming out of the White House is but a fool.”
من يتفائل بالبيت الأسود إلا اهبل
— ابو يزيد#عاصفة الحزم (@abuyazeed1) December 28, 2016
Anwar Musaed tweeted, “This is an attempt to change the score in injury time. Only a month until the American regime changes and these pronouncements will turn into dust.”
هذا لعب بالوقت الضائع
كلها شهر وتتغير الإدارة الأمريكية وتصبح كلماته مجرد ذر رماد !— ﮼أنور ﮼مساعد ﮼الطبطبائي (@anwartab) December 28, 2016
Faig Alsheak opined, “Kerry’s speech on Israel and Palestine is important, and will be extensively covered in the media, but overall it’s meaningless for it’s a swan song.”
خطاب وزير الخارجية الأميركي جون كيري عن إسرائيل وفلسطين لاشك بأنه مهم وخطير، وسيشغل الإعلام العالمي .. لكنه لا معنى له، لأنه خطاب وداعي!
— فائق الشيخ علي/كلمتي للتاريخ (@faigalsheakh) December 28, 2016
Twitter user M.K. wrote, “The administration realizes it has nothing to lose.”
باعتبار الادارة بعد ماعدها شي تخسره
— N3twk (@N3twkBlog) December 28, 2016
Mahmoud Mubarak, however, was excited by the speech, saying it “would go down as historic. He said what no other Western or Arab leader has said in a long time. If only for once in his life, he’s gathered the courage.”
https://twitter.com/m_mobarak/status/814162668554752000
Twitter user Shady replied, saying, “What’s the use of it when he’s saying it on his way out?”
@a_sayyad
و ما فائدة ما يقوله مهما كان طالما يقوله و هو يغادر— #شادي_البلدShويAزغdY (@ShadyGhz) December 28, 2016
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.