Did President Obama's speech in Cairo launch a 'new beginning' in relations between Muslims and the U.S.?

Yes

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by Don Patrick Amarasinghe

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"I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect," President Obama said on June 4th, in his historical speech at Cairo University. The speech addressed Muslim grievances against the United States and stressed the need for joint actions to deal with the issues of extreme violence, nuclear weapons proliferation, democracy, women's rights, rights to exist for both the Israel and Palestine, and freedom of religion. It is a new beginning as the speech was based on universal truths, and was the first time for many to see that a U.S. President spoke with a vision, a strong passion, confidence, and in a conciliatory manner.

How to evaluate whether this speech launched a 'new beginning' with respect to relations between Muslims, and the United States? First and foremost, the image created by President Obama in Cairo seems important for building trust between the United States and the Muslim world. Second, it is necessary to look at what elements of the speech would help to lay foundation of a new beginning. Third, it is important to discuss the immediate reactions of the general public, comments by organizations, and academia, and politicians, to understand how the speech was immediately felt.

Obama can be considered as a multi-cultural expression, transcending various cultures, though he is an American born citizen. His father was rooted in generations of Muslims in Kenya; his mother was a well educated woman from the Midwest; he himself spent his childhood in Indonesia, a densely populated Muslim country. Part of his name, Hussein, means a prominent person in Shiite Islam, and it is a royal name in Jordan. The city of Obama is a capital of Wakasa Province, in Japan, where Wakasa people danced in streets when Barak Obama became the President of the United States. Collin Powell a great Republican, once said "Obama is a transformational figure coming on to the world stage. His thinking, as emerged from the Cairo Speech, transcends cultures. His multi-cultural expression made him unique, and developed a new image unlike, particularly, the former administration.

Obama commenced his speech by saying Sallam-Al-Ekum (peace be with you),and it gave the theme at the beginning for his speech. He said that America and Islam are not exclusive to each other, and need not be in competition. He validated this argument showing how he perceived the Muslim culture, differently from former administration, and how Muslims contributed to knowledge expansion and technology development. He reminded that the first country to accept the Union was Morocco, a Muslim country. In addition, he reminded how Muslims contributed to develop U.S. to its present status referring to how Muslims contributed in business development, industry, fighting wars, serving government, excelling in sports, and involving in education and presenting a religious diversity with seven million Muslims living in the United States.

The religious perspectives on peace, truth, he mentioned at the speech would be hard to ignore by any religion or political organization. Obama quoted the Holly Bible, Holly Quran, and Talmud to remind how religions looked at peace and the truth. Quoting from Holly Quran he said that it tells us to "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth." He qualified himself saying that was the humble task he was trying to do. He showed how Quran tells about peace; 'We have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another; He quoted Talmud;The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace; and, he further, quoted The Holy Bible: 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.' He said that the people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Referring to violent extremism, he quoted Holly Quran again; "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. The seven issues he talked about were based on religious values and norms of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, and other universal truths. He pointed to the areas where partnerships could be build and find solutions, and highlighted the need to focus on the present, and not the unpleasant and divisive past. His universal visions laid foundation for new beginning, no doubt, if continued with policy prescriptions, and actions by all involved.

There were mixed reactions to his speech. A Saudi Islamic preacher Shaykb al-Qarni said it was "the greatest speech heard from a Western ruler and should be taken in good faith." The Head of the PLO organization Saeh Erckat said the speech was historic and should take the advantage of the speech. Israel, Deputy Prime Minister introduced his speech as an expression to create a better world, one which is ruled by principle of justice, progress and democracy (CBS News). As Fawaz A Gerges, a Pakistani Scholar has said Obama's speech in Cairo "offered a powerful contrarian paradigm to that of Bin Laden and reminded his Muslim audience that the relationship between Islam and the Christian West includes centuries of coexistence and cooperation, not just conflicts and religious wars"(Daily Times, Pakistan). The head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, said Obama's speech was a "declaration of good will" that will help win hearts in the Muslim world. The Hamas leader in Damascus, Syria, Khaled Meshaal praised the speech, but looked for concrete actions. There were also negative comments toward the speech. Iranian and Hezbollah representatives criticized the speech saying that it was an empty talk. For some it was a sermon, and to others it was an American necessity as the balance of power is changing from West to the Asian region.

Following Obama's speech on June 4, Israeli's support for the two-state solution increased slightly from 59 percent to 63 percent according to a poll, which was conducted by the Harry S.Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The poll showed Obama's speech had a great impact on Israeli's expectations, as to the chances for a final settlement with the Palestinians and for the establishment of a Palestinian state, as reported by China View.

President Obama has laid a powerful foundation to develop positive American-Islam relationships in the Arab World, as well as in rest of the Muslim world. He presented a unique multi-cultural expression, that many Muslims accepted, a quality no other American President had in the past. In the mean time it raised many expectations in the Muslim world, where clear policy prescriptions, and follow-up actions are immediately required.

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