Quoting from the Quran for emphasis, President Barack Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims" Thursday and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East.
"This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," Obama said in a widely anticipated speech in one of the world's largest Muslim countries, an address designed to reframe relations after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
The White House said Obama's speech contained no new policy proposals on the Middle East. He said American ties with Israel are unbreakable, yet issued a firm, evenhanded call to the Jewish state and Palestinians alike to live up to their international obligations.
In a gesture to the Islamic world, Obama conceded at the beginning of his remarks that tension "has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations."
"And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," said the president, who recalled hearing prayer calls of "azaan" at dawn and dusk while living in Indonesia as a boy.
At the same time, he said the same principle must apply in reverse. "Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire."
Obama's remarks were televised on all radio and television stations in Israel, and with Arabic voice-over translations by Arab satellite stations Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera, Egyptian TV and Al-Manar, an outlet for the militant group Hezbollah. The speech was not broadcast in Iran, where the goverment jammed signals to block satellite owners from watching.
The president drew a somewhat positive response from corners of the world not given to complimenting the United States.
"There is a change between the speech of President Obama and previous speeches made by George Bush," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza. But he complained that Obama did not specifically note the suffering in Gaza following the three-week Israeli incursion earlier this year and did not apologize for U.S. military attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama gave his speech following a tour of the Sultan Hassan mosque, one of the world's oldest, and he expressed his deep respect for the history of Islam. Likely to stir the emotions of Muslims everywhere, the president started his speech by greeting the room the Islamic way and went on to repeatedly quote from the Quran much to the delight of his audience who constantly interupted him with appaulse."There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Quran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth," he said. After making a couple of references to Islam's Holy Book, the president went on to quote the Ayat, or verse, and said the "Holy Quran teaches that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind."Bringing an end to his speech Obama sought inspiration from all three holy books of the Abrahamic faiths and said: "We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.""The Holy Quran tells us, "O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another," he said, adding "the Talmud tells us: "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."And ending with "the Holy Bible tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."
source: "alarabiya"
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