A Peacemaker strides out!

In many ways the end of President Obama's speech says it all:

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 Koran 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."

The Talmud tells us:  "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."

The Holy Bible tells us:  "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  (Applause.)

The people of the world can live together in peace.  We know that is God's vision.  Now that must be our work here on Earth.

Thank you.  And may God's peace be upon you.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.

Its hard to know what to highlight in a speech that models the role of a peacemaker. The whole thing can be found on video here The President’s Speech in Cairo: A New Beginning and and the transcript:  REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON A NEW BEGINNING .

Bold hopes and dreams, and wise words:

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity.  And this cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition.  Instead, they overlap, and share common principles -- principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight.  I know there's been a lot of publicity about this speech, but no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have this afternoon all the complex questions that brought us to this point.  But 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.  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 Koran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth."  (Applause.)  That is what I will try to do today -- to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Very very challenging words. No empty words here. This is the business!

I love the way he speaks of the Muslim world and its historical culture with honour. And of his own nation with love and pride. And he then brings the issue home to a core issue, dealing with stereotypes:

I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed.  That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't.  And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear. (Applause.) But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America.  (Applause.)  Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire.

There is just so much more. I will leave each of the seven areas where he spoke truth so well, so wisely, so lovingly. But I conclude with a final paragraph:

I know there are many -- Muslim and non-Muslim -- who question whether we can forge this new beginning.  Some are eager to stoke the flames of division, and to stand in the way of progress.  Some suggest that it isn't worth the effort -- that we are fated to disagree, and civilizations are doomed to clash. Many more are simply skeptical that real change can occur.  There's so much fear, so much mistrust that has built up over the years.  But if we choose to be bound by the past, we will never move forward.  And I want to particularly say this to young people of every faith, in every country -- you, more than anyone, have the ability to reimagine the world, to remake this world.

There are many reviews; I will choose one for the moment, from the Independent leader:
Mr Obama makes his case for a historic rapprochement

It is not often in modern times that a single speech is delivered with a view to changing history; still more rarely that it achieves this end. But the address delivered by the US President at the University of Cairo yesterday has a chance, just a chance, of doing that. If the United States and the Islamic countries eventually succeed in banishing their mutual suspicion and inaugurating a new age of understanding – a distant prospect, to be sure – Barack Obama's bold efforts to make a new beginning, based, as he put it, on mutual interest and mutual respect, will deserve much of the credit.

It notes how he used  his biography, his cultural sensitivity and his communications skills to his advantage.

The speech was as pitch-perfect as we have come to expect from Mr Obama. But in content, too, it was hard to fault. This was an hour-long discourse on subjects that have been minutely analysed and argued about by experts over the years. It was a diplomatic and intellectual tour de force; a cool, logical and coherent argument for the ditching of stereotypes and the harmonious coexistence of two different, but not automatically conflicting, views of the world.

He was hard hitting. And while words are not the same as deeds:  ".... words set a tone, and Mr Obama's every nuance was calculated to say that today's White House, politically and philosophically, is as far from George Bush's as it is possible to be."

With great respect to President Bush, there is simply no comparison.