BARACK OBAMA acknowledged that US relations with the Islamic world remain strained as he once more attempted to reach out to Muslims in a highly personal speech in Indonesia yesterday
Returning to the country where he lived for four years as a child, President Obama urged all sides to look beyond “suspicion and mistrust” to “forge common ground” in the fight against terrorism. He delighted the crowd by sharing memories of his childhood in Jakarta, and said “Indonesia is part of me” in the local tongue.
The speech was the president’s latest attempt to repair US relations with the Islamic world, severely strained by the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent “war on terror”. Speaking in Cairo last year he had promised a “new beginning” in relations, but in yesterday’s address at the University of Indonesia he acknowledged there was still much work to do.
Addressing an audience of 6,000, including former classmates, he said: “In the 17 months that have passed since that speech we have made some progress, but we have much more to do. No single speech can eradicate years of mistrust.” He added: “I have made it clear that America is not and never will be at war with Islam . . . Those who want to build must not cede ground to terrorists who seek to destroy.”
President Obama praised the world’s most populous Muslim country for standing its ground against “violent extremism”, and urged others to play their part. “All of us must defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates, who have no claim to be leaders of any religion,” he said. “This is not a task for America alone.”
Despite recent setbacks in attempts to steer Israelis and Palestinians towards a two-state solution – a long-standing source of grievance for the Muslim world – President Obama insisted that the US would “spare no effort” in achieving peace in the Middle East.
US relations with the Muslim world accounted for less than half the speech, the centrepiece of his whirlwind visit. Much of it was devoted to urging Indonesia to see the US as a beneficial economic partner, in a thinly veiled rebuff to China’s increasing overtures to one of southeast Asia’s fastest growing economies and newest democracies.
“America has a stake in an Indonesia that is growing, with prosperity that is broadly shared among the Indonesian people because a rising middle class here means new markets for our goods, just as America is a market for yours,” he said.
President Obama, who moved to Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather when he was six, reminisced about living in a small house with a mango tree out front and learning to love his adopted home while flying kites, running along paddy fields, catching dragonflies and buying Indonesian street food. He also spoke of running in fields with water buffalo and goats, and of the birth of his sister, Maya, who is half-Indonesian. The president told the audience he is a Christian, a point he has been forced to emphasise amid erroneous perceptions in the US that he is Muslim.
At a press conference alongside Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, he announced a deal that will have both countries co-operating on energy, education, the environment and many other areas. This follows China's announcement earlier this week that it was investing $6.6 billion (€4.8 billion) in infrastructure in Indonesia. – ( Guardianservice)