USA-May-21,(Deccan Samachar) This afternoon, ISNA President Imam Mohamed Magid and Muslim Youth of North America President Amin Gharad joined leaders from across the nation at the State Department for President Obama’s address on the Middle East and North Africa. ISNA welcomes President Obama’s strong support for the people of the Arab world as they struggle to develop their new democracies and become free of oppressive dictators. The President’s message has remained consistent on this issue: the United States will not support any nation that chooses oppression for its people, and we thank him for his persistence in support of the Arab people.While the President reaffirmed the commitments he made in his 2009 Cairo speech, ISNA also welcomed the comprehensive plan he delivered to support the newly emerging Arab democracies, along with his promises to provide economic, political, and humanitarian support to these nations as they strengthen their education, economic, and political institutions. Most importantly, we supported the President’s position in support of a universal code of human rights.“The United States opposes the use of violence and repression against the people of the region. We support a set of universal rights. Those rights include free speech; the freedom of peaceful assembly; freedom of religion; equality for men and women under the rule of law; and the right to choose your own leaders – whether you live in Baghdad or Damascus; Sanaa or Tehran,” said President Obama.These peaceful revolutions have united people of all faiths, gender, and race, around universal human rights, and we support any policy on the part of these nations and the United States to ensure that people of all faiths are free to pray, speak, and live in the new Arab world. Here in the United States, ISNA has forged partnerships with national interfaith leaders, most recently through the Shoulder-to-Shoulder Campaign, to support religious equality here in the U.S. and has repeatedly condemned all acts of violence motivated towards religious minorities abroad.In his speech today, the President made a strong distinction between the people of the Arab world and the leaders of the Arab world, an important clarification that ISNA and Muslims across the world have been making for years as we provide outreach and education to the public on Muslims and Islam.“The story of this Revolution, and the ones that followed, should not have come as a surprise. The nations of the Middle East and North Africa won their independence long ago, but in too many places their people did not. In too many countries, power has been concentrated in the hands of the few,” said President Obama. We were reassured to hear the President reiterate that it has been the mis-guided actions of Arab dictators, not Arab people in general, that have for too long, oppressed the people of the Arab world and tainted the image of peaceful Arabs to other nations along the way. “We were pleased to hear the President’s promise that the U.S. would not put the interests of those in power above the desires of those oppressed and his comprehensive plan to support reform in the Arab world as the people free themselves of oppression. However, we do continue to worry about the rising levels of violence used against peaceful protesters in countries like Libya, Syria, and Yemen, along with the continued plight of the people of Palestine,” said ISNA President Imam Mohamed Magid.ISNA is an active partner in a large interreligious coalition, the National Interreligious leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East; which is committed to providing active leadership to help achieve Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace by way of supporting the President's plan for a two-state solution.Imam Magid added, “We sincerely hope that President Obama will translate his promises today into action, and press for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, put an end to settlements, occupations, and oppression across the Arab world, and implement foreign policies that are fair and just.”
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