So here I am in Morocco, a country who shares with America perhaps the strongest international relationship of any Muslim country in the world despite our current post-Bush, post-9/11, post-Iraq, scenario; which I have to say, has left a bad taste in the mouths of many Moroccans who are suprisingly well informed (probably because of the abudance of satallites) and politically astute (Morocco's ancient desultory political history has developed a healthy interest among its inhabitance). As a result, I have witnessed many conversations (in which I do not participate) regarding the insane actions of the absolved Bush administration and the difficult situation in Israel, particularly the unfortunate treatment of the Palestinians. Luckily these dialogues usually end with a nod to the positive potential of our future now that America has made the decisive choice to turn a political corner. This makes me happy! Especially since I am not able to bend the ears of the people here regarding my personal beliefs. What also makes me happy is Obama's recent address to the Arab world in Cairo. It got a lot of play here (he did, after all, briefly make mention of Morocco) and the people I have talked to about it have unanimously said, "Mzyan" (great)! While I really apprecciated Obama dispelling some of the common myths about Americans, what I loved the most about this speech, as with many other Obama speeches, was his focus on the potential, the power, and the responsibility of people as apposed to government. He is saying to the world what he has been saying domestically for some time, "Yes we can"! And on the eve of a number of imortant international elections including an unprecidented forward-moving, national election here in Morocco this friday, I am proud to have a president who is willing to believe in and be an unabashed cheerleader for the future and success of the world beyond the borders of our country. I can only hope that we the people of the world can have an equal faith in ourselves, so to that end, listed below are some of Obama's affirmations that I found the most inspirational.
"We (America) are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the Earth, and dedicated to a simple concept: E pluribus unum: "Out of many, one.""
"For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding. This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia. It's a story with a simple truth: that violence is a dead end. It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered."
"But we have a responsibility to join together on behalf of the world we seek – a world where extremists no longer threaten our people, and American troops have come home; a world where Israelis and Palestinians are each secure in a state of their own, and nuclear energy is used for peaceful purposes; a world where governments serve their citizens, and the rights of all God's children are respected. Those are mutual interests. That is the world we seek. But we can only achieve it together."
"All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort – a sustained effort – to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings."
On the one hand…
12 years ago
