Barack Obama Points Out Responsibility to Children of Abraham

Barack Hussein Obama’s speech to the Muslim world has been long awaited and the president has redeemed his election promise admirably.

Obama’s effort to speak with the Islamic world rather than to them was especially commendable. Simultaneously, the speech also addressed the West and his fellow Americans. A major theme of the administration’s foreign policy has been mutual respect and a hard fight against prejudice and this speech brought those values into practice.

With this speech, the leader of the still most powerful nation in the world regained an important part of the moral authority the US has lost over the past years because of its high-handed performance in Iraq, Afghanistan and regarding Guantanamo Bay prison.

His message was this: we all share this world and we have a responsibility to act accordingly. It has become all too clear that an event in one part of the world has global and far-reaching consequences. Those who expected concrete plans for action were wrong; Obama asked, even demanded, responsibility of all those involved, be they Muslims, Christians and Jews.

The American President displayed a great understanding of the historical weight of the times. He presented detailed descriptions of the problems with which the world community, Muslim and non-Muslim, is confronted: violent extremism, the conflict in the Middle East, nuclear weapons, failing democracy, declining religious freedom and women’s rights. At the same time, he remained humble, saying the US cannot repair these damages on its own, he cannot do it alone and quick solutions are not available.

Obama was, at times, painfully honest. He unambiguously spoke out in favor of the two-state solution for Palestinians and Israeli and he summoned Israel (with whom the US is ‘inextricably bound’) to stop the expansion of settlements. He condemned anti-Semitists and Holocaust deniers, but at the same time underlined the suffering of the Palestine people. With an emotional reference to the civil rights movement of black Americans, he called up the Palestinians to give up violence: ‘That is how moral authority is achieved’.

Some will describe Obama as too optimistic or messianic. But his honesty, sincere intentions and inspiring message make him more than just the president of the United States but a true world leader.