Trump: views from the Middle East
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U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Saudi Arabia and Israel, two bastions of relative calm in the war-battered Middle East, when he begins his first foreign trip this weekend.
In much of the region, authoritarian governments duel for power with political Islamists and militants as rival creeds and ethnic groups vie for dominance.
Yemen, Syria, Libya and Iraq are riven by wars. Israel and the Palestinians are still locked in their decades-old struggle, while Bahrain rumbles with unrest.
All 50 Muslim states whose leaders Trump will meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh are menaced by the rise of Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh. He has promised to rid the world of the scourge of "radical Islamic terrorism".
Attitudes towards Trump are coloured by the actions of his first four months in power. Among them: his attempt to ban citizens of six mostly-Muslim countries from travelling to the United States; his decision to launch cruise missiles against a Syrian airbase to punish Damascus for a chemical weapons attack; and his decision to arm Kurdish militias fighting IS in Syria.
In short interviews, residents of the Middle East from all walks of life tell Reuters what they expect of Trump.
Marla Awad, a businesswoman, in Damascus said: "What matters to me was one very negative decision - his refusal to allow the Syrians to immigrate to America in a racist way, because travelling to it was a dream for me to fulfil my ambitions to study and work."
"The plan to arm the YPG is a decision taken late. We have experienced many heavy battles. If this support was happening in the first place, the advances would have been quicker. We would not have to sacrifice many lives," Sherine Haji, 23, fighter in Kurdish YPG militia said. "Now I'm wounded, I've lost two legs, but rather than aching because of my pain, I'm worried for my people. This must end, no one else should be in pain. There must be free and peaceful life in this country."
"The change is his Syria policy based on interests, in the sense that there's no clear methodology," said Somar Hazim, 35, a pub owner, in Damascus. "As for the issue of arming the Kurds, I do not oppose this as long as the goal is fighting a common enemy for the Syrian state, which is Daesh, provided that these weapons are not exploited to create a partitioned idea of Syria."
Ali Bassem, 26, Iraqi fighter on Mosul front line said: "He is a hero. He got Daesh out of Iraq. He is cooperative with the Iraqi people and we and the Americans are one nation. We are brothers."
Hidaya Muhyiddin, 35, a crafts salesman in Erbil, said: "Trump should take speedy decisions, and for Kurds, they are oppressed and America has the right to arm them and support them militarily and financially. America must help Kurds not only in Syria but in all Kurdish areas."
"I think the core policy of Trump is focusing on eliminating terrorism and drying out its financial sources in the world and curbing the terror-supporting states, especially those neighbouring Iraq," Sattar Muhsin Ali, stationery store owner in Baghdad, said. "The impact of Trump's policy on the future of the Middle East will hold positive elements. For example, Iraq suffered a lot from the policy of the former American administrations which led to the spread of chaos and finally to the emergence of Daesh."
"Trump is a man of war, he works on spreading war, chaos and killing among people. Like other presidents who came before him, I do not see he will bring about peace or any good to the Palestinian people," said a female fighter from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in the southern Gaza Strip. "I see that there is another war coming."
"I see myself as a very simple person and I believe that at the end of the day, God controls everything. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter what Trump is saying or doing in the Middle East or anywhere else," said Ovad Chen at his falafel shop in Jerusalem. "Even if we might think people are in any sort of control or power, this is all an illusion. God is the real king."
Sanaa resident Abdulwali Ahmed Qadhi said: "What Trump is doing in the Middle East is terrorizing, just terrorizing. An idiot with no policy but terrorizing. He wants countries to recognize Israel."
Mubarak Mashali, 20, a student at Cairo University said: "I think Trump is going to ruin things and make them worse than they already are throughout the whole Middle East."
Barista Salem al-Warfali, 31, who works at a coffee shop in Tripoli, Libya, said: "Trump's policy is aimed at deepening the differences between Muslims and Christians. This will have a very bad impact and will lead to the continuation of hostility."
Artist Charbel Fares standing near his sculptures near Sidon, southern Lebanon, said: "Trump's policies will lead us either to a world war with the Middle East as its center stage or towards a compromise between all the conflicting powers based on dividing our countries and changing the boundaries determined by the Sykes-Picot agreement (between Britain and France in 1916)."
Nayef al-Hayzan, 28, at a cafe in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said: "I expect that Trump's visit will have a positive impact on the Saudi economy, and discussions are expected to tackle the problems in Syria and (energy giant) Aramco's privatisation in international markets and U.S. markets in particular."
"President Trump has promised to dramatically change America's stance in the Middle East most notably by scrapping the Iran nuclear agreement, getting involved to eradicate terrorists in ISIS ... and to negotiate a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians," said banker and blogger Mohammed Ateeq in Manama, Bahrain. "All of these are common promises and rhetoric outlined by most U.S. candidates and previous presidents. However, this is all easier said than done."
Lara Shahin, 35, Syrian refugee and handicraft worker in Amman, Jordan, said: "Trump's decision to strike at the air base was a surprise move that raised my hopes the U.S. President will take bolder decisions in future that would end President Bashar al-Assad's rule and allow me to return home to a democratic country."
"I think it’s just a simple courtesy visit because the Arabs of the Middle East are and will always be friends and strong allies of the USA. They have common interests also," said Djamel Bouktech, 66, a dates seller in the old city of Algiers, Algeria. "This will have a positive effect for the allies of the USA and negative for the others in the Middle East in the long term because of the fragility of the region."
