The world is reacting to Barack Obama’s winning of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize but not everyone agrees that he deserves. The overwhelming reactions break down on two lines: this is completely premature and this is completely deserved.
At TheLede, a great story of world reactions:
Thrilled!:
President Shimon Peres of Israel, sent a letter to President Obama on Friday morning, saying: “Very few leaders if at all were able to change the mood of the entire world in such a short while with such a profound impact. You provided the entire humanity with fresh hope, with intellectual determination, and a feeling that there is a lord in heaven and believers on earth.”
Supportive but Skeptical:
Nils Butenschon, director of the Norwegian Center for Human Rights at the University of Oslo and a well-known human rights champion in Norway, went so far as to say the committee has risked the authority of the peace prize by awarding it to Mr. Obama before he has accomplished much of substance.
“It seems premature to me,” Mr. Butenschon said. “I think the committee should be very careful with the integrity of the prize, and in this case I don’t think we are in a position to really evaluate the full impact of what this candidate has achieved. Sometimes of course the prize is awarded to people who are in the process of making history, so to speak, but in this case I think it is too early to know that.”
Completely Against:
Khaled Al-Batsh, a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad in Gaza, condemned the award, saying it “shows these prizes are political, not governed by the principles of credibility, values and morals,” Reuters reported. “Why should Obama be given a peace prize while his country owns the largest nuclear arsenal on earth and his soldiers continue to shed innocent blood in Iraq and Afghanistan?”
We’ve compiled a list of good posts from across the web that you should check out to get the full spectrum of opinion on this issue:
RobertReich.blogspot.com: Why Obama Should Not Have Received The Peace Prize — Yet
NewsOne.com: Top 3 Reasons Obama Does NOT Deserve Nobel
BBC.com: Obama Wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
NewsOne.com: Top 5 Reasons Obama Deserves The Nobel Prize
DailyMail.co.uk: Obama Won Nobel Prize Simply Because He’s Not George Bush
AOLnews.com: Poll Shows People Don’t Think Obama Deserves Nobel Prize
Politico.com: Berman: Nobel “Validates” Obama’s Approach
