Morsi: Respect for Arab Values, Commitment to Palestine

Egyptian President On Policies U.S. Needs to Follow

In an Exclusive Interview with New York Times

On the eve of his first trip to the United States to attend the U.N. General Assembly on Sunday, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in an interview with The New York Times said the U.S. needed to show greater respect for the values in the Arab World and help build a Palestinian state, if it hoped to overcome decades of pent-up anger.

Following are the highlights of the interview. To read it in its entirety, please click here.

“If you want to judge the performance of the Egyptian people by the standards of German or Chinese or American culture, then there is no room for judgment."  

“If Washington is asking Egypt to honor its treaty with Israel, Washington should also live up to its own Camp David commitment to Palestinian self-rule.”

“Successive American administrations essentially purchased with American taxpayer money the dislike, if not the hatred, of the peoples of the region,” by backing dictatorial governments over popular opposition and supporting Israel over the Palestinians.

“Go, Trojans!” President Morsi said reminiscing about his days as a graduate student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. This blogger shares the president’s enthusiasm on this issue!

Photo credit: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Cairo. 22 Septermber 2012. (The New York Times/Tara Todras-Whitehill)