A recent online poll by Egyptian opposition paper Al-Dustour revealed that 84% of Egyptians polled (3708 respondents) believe that Barack Obama will not change American policy towards Arabs and Muslims. 16% of those polled (706 respondents) believe that he “will work towards changing the American policy which his predecessor has followed."
The commentary on the polling goes on to say that Egyptians were optimistic about Obama's election until he started selecting his presidential aides. This is most likely a reference to Obama's appointment of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff, who the Arabic media slammed as a Zionist (this article is just one of many, many examples) and accused of being sure to continue Bush administration policies in the Middle East. In May 2007, a Gallup poll revealed that only 13% of Egyptian respondents "approved of the leadership of the United States."
Furthermore, the author posits that Egyptian optimism about Obama's election may be due to the anticipation of the end of the "tyrannical Bush administration which has been instrumental in the destruction of the Middle East," rather than the fact that the elected President of the United States is “black and of African descent.”
In addition to his opposition to the Bush administration, many Egyptians support Obama because he has African roots and his father was a Muslim. However, Emanuel's appointment has caused optimism here to decline, indicating how important the Israeli-Palestinian issue is to most Egyptians.
