I am headed to my poll location now to work. Share your thoughts with me as history is being made.
Obama's victory was celebrated around the world, and not just by Americans [AFP]
Barack Obama: [To] all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world - our stories are singular but our destiny is shared. A new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
Al Jazeera ....from PLO
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, congratulated Obama and urged him to speed up efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
"President Abbas congratulates US president-elect Barack Obama in his name and in the name of the Palestinian people and hopes he will speed up efforts to achieve peace, particularly since a resolution of the Palestinian problem and the Israeli-Arab conflict is key to world peace," Nabil Abu Rudeina, Abbas's spokesman, said.
"President Abbas hopes the new administration will continue to make the peace efforts one of its top priorities."
Al Jazeera ....from Hamas
Meanwhile, Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, urged Obama to learn from the "mistakes" of previous US administrations in dealing with the Muslim and Arab worlds.
"He must learn from the mistakes of the previous administrations, including that of Bush which has destroyed Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine," said Fawzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman.
"He must improve US ties with the rest of the world rather than wave the big American stick.
"We want him to support the Palestinian cause or at least not to be biased towards the Israeli occupation. We have no problem establishing normal relations with the United States to explain our just cause."
Ahmed Youssef, a Hamas senior political member, hailed the vote as historic.
"We [Hamas] do believe that if America's political equilibrium is to be restored, this political election should be the turning point.
We hope that Obama will address the Palestinian issue in a fair and honest way. The Palestinian question is the mother of all issues in the region – it concerns 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world.
"During the political campaign in the US, people used a lot of rhetoric … Obama said a lot of things to please the Jewish community, looking for their votes and money. We understand that. But all that rhetoric will be changed because looking at the list of Obama's advisers, I believe that they have a better understanding of the conflict in the region."
Al Jazeera ....from Mandela
Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black leader, also congratualted Obama, saying that Obama's election as US president showed that anybody could dream to change the world.
"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," Mandela wrote in a letter to Obama.
The 90-year-old Mandela applauded Obama's commitment to support global peace and said he trusted that combatting poverty and disease would become the mission of Obama's presidency.
"We wish you strength and fortitude in the challenging days and years that lie ahead," said Mandela.
"We are sure you will ultimately achieve your dream [of] making the United States of America a full partner in a community of nations committed to peace and prosperity for all."
from Suleyman, Hong Kong
The support and content to Barack Obama shows the quantity of the reaction to the current mischievious administration and the power behind. I hope Obama can change not only the one who sits on the president's chair in the Oval Office but also those who define how to sit there. Otherwise, he will be lost among many promises he might have given, especially to the ones who he is urged to satisfy! He faces great challenges though, he needs to restore the true respect and fairness to Muslims!
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