GAZA, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) — Islamic Hamas movement said Friday that U.S. President Barack Obama does not deserve a Noble Peace Prize since he failed to give the Palestinian people their legitimate rights.

Fawzi Barhoum, Gaza Hamas spokesman told Xinhua that “Obama does not deserve this prize,” after the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

“We believe that there are lots of things needed from Obama to be presented to the Palestinian people in order to deserve this reward. Obama should change his manner and be fair,” said Barhoum.

Right after Obama took office, he promised that resolving the conflict in the Middle East is his priority.

“So far, nothing changed. He was giving statements, promises and hopes, while on the ground nothing practical has been done,” said Barhoum.

“I think Obama has a lot more to do,” he added.

Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) hopes Obama will be able to achieve peace in the Middle East.

A vision for approaching the world’s major conflicts through dialogue and engagement rather than confrontation – one seen to contrast starkly with that of the previous American president – won US President Barack Obama this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

In announcing its surprise decision, the Norwegian Nobel Committee cited Mr. Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The word “efforts” hints at the view from around the world – from laborers in Baghdad to world leaders – that awarding the prize to an American president in office just nine months was recognition more of Obama’s aspirations than of any particular accomplishments.

The award, which caught the White House off guard, reflected a particularly European appreciation for Obama. After what Europeans widely called a dark period for America under President Bush, they see Obama as a leader who is returning the United States to a place of global leadership in challenges such as nuclear disarmament, the West’s relations with the Islamic world, and climate change. “Thanks to” Obama, the committee said, “the USA is now playing a more constructive role” in international diplomacy.

That appreciation was captured in the words of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said the peace prize for Obama recognizes the “return of America into the hearts of the people of the world.”

The Nobel Committee’s award to Obama was unusual in that the annual peace prize has traditionally recognized accomplishments or a life’s body of work. But as the committee recognized in announcing the award, its own agenda is one “for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman.”

“Obama’s agenda – a world of zero nuclear weapons, fighting climate change, addressing Middle East peace, repairing relations between the US and the rest of the world, seeking rapprochement between the US and some if its major adversaries – seems so consistent with the purposes of the Nobel Peace Prize that even though Obama is in the early stages, the committee felt his presidency warranted recognition,” says Charles Kupchan, an expert in US foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

Obama’s vision of a world free of nuclear weapons is a case in point. While not the first US president to aspire to such a goal – even Ronald Reagan said he dreamed that dream – Obama has planted the vision on the world stage. In a speech in Prague in the Czech Republic in April, he spoke of “America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” Last month he took the issues of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament to the United Nations, becoming the first US president to preside over a session of the Security Council.

Some pundits in the US suggested that Obama should respectfully turn down the prize and acknowledge that he has yet to turn his vision into concrete results on any of the challenges he hopes to address. The White House did say Obama felt “humbled” upon being awakened to receive the news.

But top aides said they assumed the president – who set aside an unusual amount of time in his initial months in office for a series of speeches in foreign capitals from Moscow to Cairo and Accra in Ghana to lay out a new vision for the world – would go to Oslo to receive the prize.

Peace Prize a ‘call to action’: Obama

Barack Obama Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech

History of the Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize is one of the world’s most coveted awards, carrying international prestige, a hefty cash award and, at times in its history, considerable controversy.

Named after Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, the prizes have been awarded nearly every year since 1901. (There were breaks during each of the two world wars.)

The Nobel Foundation administers the honours, which were first established in Nobel’s will. Prizes are handed out in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace.

Nobel laureates have spanned worlds of expertise and points of view, from Mother Teresa to Yasser Arafat to Marie Curie. Leading lights such as Frederick Banting, Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela and George Bernard Shaw have also been honoured throughout the years.

Over the years, several Canadians have been joined this elite company, including 11 who have earned Nobel prizes in the sciences.
The selection process

When Nobel died in 1896, leaving his fortune to be used to create the Nobel prizes, his will stated he wanted to reward those “who during the preceding year shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”

The will also named the groups that would award the prizes: the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (medicine), the Swedish Academy of Sciences (chemistry and physics), the Swedish Academy (literature) and a committee of five people to be selected by the Norwegian parliament (peace).

Economics, which would be added as a separate prize in 1968, would be awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Science.

As outlined in the will, the prizes would be awarded without regard to nationality. Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma and a cash award. The amount of money available for each prize varies from year to year. For 2009, the Nobel Prize amount is worth about 10 million Swedish kronor or about $1.5 million Cdn.

There are rules for who can nominate, varying slightly depending on the award. Each year, the Nobel committees send invitations to thousands of members of academies, scientists from numerous countries, previous laureates and others, asking them to submit candidates for the Nobel Prizes in that year’s competition.

Winners are announced in October, followed by the awards ceremony on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death. The peace prize is presented in Oslo and the others in Stockholm.