White House.gov blog post with link to transcript
some highlights:
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.)
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.
This was awesome because he said all this stuff praising Islam and the Muslim audience was really feeling good, but you could tell people were balking at the idea that they also need to change their perception of America but that they still wanted to get behind what Obama was saying because it was so logical. Obama made it clear that it is a two-way street.
The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. (Applause.)
America will align our policies with those who pursue peace, and we will say in public what we say in private to Israelis and Palestinians and Arabs. (Applause.) We cannot impose peace. But privately, many Muslims recognize that Israel will not go away. Likewise, many Israelis recognize the need for a Palestinian state. It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true.
People have been saying that Obama is mainly a realist like Bush I, except he uses idealistic rhetoric. People have expressed disappointment that he has "given up" on promoting democracy. I think that's a good thing, though. And while I'm glad he's a pragmatist like Bush I, I think his world view and foreign policy is much more nuanced and embodies a new kind of idealism that's more ambitious in some ways than conventional liberal idealism. Bush I was a pragmatist in that he didn't really know what to do, and he was not particularly interested in promoting peace or solving problems around the world. On the other hand, Obama is interested, but he has a pragmatic approach to solving these problems. He has strong convictions about the nature of these problems and strategies on how to solve them. The key parts of his policy that's really idealistic are :
1.) lead by example instead of demanding democratic reform
2.) win people over by being nice to them to marginalize extremists
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