President Obama Speaks to the Muslim World from Cairo on 4 June 2009.

Full Text of Barack Obama's Speech to the Muslim World - Wall Street Journal.

Obama Addresses World's Muslims - Paula Wolfson, Voice of America. US President Barack Obama says it is time for a new beginning in relations between America and the world's Muslims. The president said they should unite to confront violent extremism and promote the cause of peace. President Obama says, after decades of frustration and distrust, it is time for candor ... for dialogue ... and a fresh start. "I have come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition," the president said. He spoke in a packed auditorium on the sprawling campus of Cairo University. But his intended audience was far broader: more than one-billion Muslims around the world. "I am convinced that in order to move forward we must say openly to each other the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors," President Obama said. "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." The president spoke of his own perspective as a Christian with Muslim relatives who spent part of his youth in predominantly Muslim Indonesia. "That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it is not," he said. " And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." President Obama said problems must be dealt with through partnership, and tensions must be faced head on. He said extremists are playing on their differences, and are killing people in many countries of many faiths. "The enduring faith of over a billion people is so much bigger than the narrow hatred of a few," President Obama said. "Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism, it is an important part of promoting peace." http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-06-04-voa2.cfm


Obama Cites Shared Principles in Reaching Out to Muslim World - Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service. http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54631
President Barack Obama reached out to the Muslim world today, urging a new beginning that rises above historical tensions and is built on commonly held principles that reject violence and promote cooperation and stability. Obama, speaking at Cairo University in Egypt, told a predominantly Muslim audience that violent extremists have exploited longstanding tensions and misunderstandings to further divide the United States and Muslims around the world. “The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile, not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights,” he said. “This has bred more fear and distrust.” Emphasizing that the United States “is not – and never will be – at war with Islam,” Obama said it will “relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.” Obama dismissed any notion that the 9/11 attacks were justified. “Let us be clear: al-Qaida killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody,” he said. “And yet, al-Qaida chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale.” With affiliates around the world, Obama said, these extremists are trying to expand their reach. “These are not opinions to be debated,” he said. “These are facts to be dealt with.” Obama said his first duty as president is to protect the American people, and said he won’t compromise that responsibility as he works to promoting international cooperation in standing up to violent extremists. The president pointed to the situation in Afghanistan as an example of America’s goals and the need for the United States and the Muslim world to work together.

Obama Chides Israel, Arabs In His Overture to Muslims - Laura Meckler and Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124409999530984503.html

President Barack Obama waded into the heart of the Middle East conflict Thursday by forcefully reiterating his support for a Palestinian state and admonishing the Arab world to pursue peace with Israel as he made his long-awaited appeal to mend the rift between America and the Muslim world. In a wide-ranging speech before students at Cairo University that celebrated the common values of the two cultures, Mr. Obama called for a "new beginning" in the relationship. "I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," he said to repeated applause in the ornate-domed Great Hall. "But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. " Most notable in the hourlong address was Mr. Obama's reiteration of his support of a state for Palestine, and his rejection of continued construction by Israel of new settlements on disputed land. The policy puts Mr. Obama in direct conflict with the new government in Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu. The president also demanded that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, recognize Israel and renounce violence.

Obama Calls for End to Discord with Muslim World - Christi Parsons and Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-obama-cairo5-2009jun05,0,2725096.story
President Obama's sweeping call Thursday for a "new beginning" between the United States and the Islamic world was greeted by Muslims of many countries as a conciliatory gesture aimed at setting aside suspicion and moving ahead on problems that include terrorism and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The 55-minute address at Cairo University, which was widely translated and sent across the Internet, did little to sway hardened enemies such as Iran. But it did find qualified support from unexpected voices, such as members of the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip and Islamist intellectuals in Pakistan. Many listeners were disappointed that Obama did not lay out detailed changes in US foreign policy. Nevertheless, interviews from Egypt to Turkey and Iraq suggested that they believed he was distancing himself from the George W. Bush era and was prepared to engage the Islamic world with openness and trust.

Obama Calls for New Beginning With World's Muslims - Scott Wilson, Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060401024.html?hpid=topnews
President Obama asked Thursday for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world" in a speech that urged Islamic nations to embrace democracy, women's rights, religious tolerance and the right of Israel to coexist with an independent Palestinian state. In an address designed to change perceptions of the United States in the Arab Middle East and beyond, Obama reviewed the troubled historical legacy between Islam and the rest of the world, from colonialism through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the uncertainty surrounding cultural and economic globalization. "So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity," Obama told an audience of hundreds gathered in a domed hall at Cairo University. "This cycle of suspicion and discord must end." Even as Obama spoke, however, the Arab satellite network al-Jazeera aired new excerpts of an audiotape message issued yesterday by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, urging Muslims to "brace yourselves for a long war against the world's infidels and their agents."

Addressing Muslim World, Obama Pushes Mideast Peace - Jef Zeleny and Alan Cowell, New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/world/middleeast/05prexy.html?_r=2&hp
In opening a bold overture to the Islamic world on Thursday, President Obama confronted frictions between Muslims and the West, but he reserved some of his bluntest words for Israel, as he expressed sympathy for the Palestinians and what he called the “daily humiliations, large and small, that come with occupation.” While Mr. Obama emphasized that America’s bond with Israel was “unbreakable,” he spoke in equally powerful terms of the Palestinian people, describing their plight as “intolerable” after 60 years of statelessness, and twice referring to “Palestine” in a way that put Palestinians on parallel footing with Israelis. Mr. Obama’s speech in Cairo, which he called a “timeless city,” was perhaps the riskiest of his presidency, as he used unusually direct language to call for a fresh look at deep divisions, both those between Israel and its neighbors and between the Islamic world and the West. Among his messages was a call for Americans and Muslims to abandon their mutual suspicions and do more to confront violent extremism. But it was Mr. Obama’s empathetic tone toward the Palestinians that attracted the most attention in the region and around the world.

Obama: 'New Beginning' with Muslims - Christina Bellantoni, Washington Times. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/05/obama-new-beginning-with-muslims/?feat=home_cube_position1
Seeking no less than a restart of relations with the Islamic world, President Obama on Thursday conceded past wrongs, quoted from the Koran and even invoked his full name - all in an appeal to Muslims from Indonesia to Morocco to unite around common ideals of rights, freedom, security and respect. In calling for a "new beginning," he singled out some Islamic nations as examples of religious tolerance, he delivered a stern lecture to Holocaust deniers, doubters of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Palestinian terrorists, and he harked back to the glory of Islamic civilizations through the centuries. Using his 55-minute speech - the longest of his young presidency - to about 2,500 people at Cairo University, Mr. Obama said that rather than a fundamental disagreement, the U.S. has always held deep respect for and good will toward Islam, dating back to one of the nation's earliest documents, the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli.

Obama Delivers Strong Attack on Israeli Settlements in Speech to Muslim World - James Hider, The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6430692.ece
Before a crowd of robed Muslim clerics, dissidents who have served time in jail, students from across the region and besuited government officials from authoritarian regimes, President Obama made an historic speech yesterday to try to mend America’s battered ties with the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims. From such a diverse audience he received as many cheers for espousing women’s rights as he did for quoting the Koran or championing the principle of a free Palestinian state. Mr Obama made obvious attempts to win Muslim hearts and minds - reminding them that Thomas Jefferson taught himself Arabic, and praising the Islamic world as a beacon of learning during Europe’s Dark Ages - but refused to shy away from the difficult issues of religious extremism, human rights abuses and nuclear proliferation that plague the region.

Barack Obama Attempts to Recast Image of America in Muslim World - Richard Spencer, Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5446384/Barack-Obama-attempts-to-recast-the-image-of-America-in-Muslim-world.html
In a speech given to an audience at Cairo University but directed at more than 1 billion Muslims around the world, he said a "new partnership" would stress common principles between civilisations. "So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the co-operation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity," he said. "This cycle of suspicion and discord must end. "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." The speech, which he had promised to make even before he was elected, was the centrepiece of his tour of the Middle East which also included talks with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. He met the long-serving President Hosni Mubarak before going on to the university, and ended the day with a trip to the Pyramids. Some even compared his mission to the celebrated Cold War speeches of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan in Berlin.

Barack Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World - John Lyons, The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25589631-2703,00.html
Barack Obama vowed last night to forge a "new beginning" for Islam and the US in a landmark speech to Muslims around the world, evoking a vision of peace after years of "suspicion and discord". In what may be a defining moment of his administration, the US President laid out a new blueprint for US Middle East policy, vowing to sweep away mistrust, forge a state for the Palestinians and defuse a nuclear showdown with Iran. In the domed Great Hall of Cairo University, Mr Obama warned that the US bond with Israel, the source of much Arab distrust of Washington, was "unbreakable". And he rejected "ignorant" rants by those who deny the Nazi Holocaust. But in a sharp break from the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, Mr Obama - who was greeted with a standing ovation as he stepped up to the podium - rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to halt the expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank.