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President Obama touts Indonesia in speech to the Muslim world
US President Obama touted Indonesia in a major speech directed at the Muslim world in Cairo on Thursday, saying the nation with the largest Muslim population in the world played a role in promoting religious tolerance and gender equality
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US President Obama touted Indonesia in a major speech directed at the Muslim world in Cairo on Thursday, saying the nation with the largest Muslim population in the world played a role in promoting religious tolerance and gender equality.
"Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance. We see it in the history of Andalusia and Cordoba during the Inquisition. I saw it firsthand as a child in Indonesia, where devout Christians worshiped freely in an overwhelmingly Muslim country. That is the spirit we need today. People in every country should be free to choose and live their faith based upon the persuasion of the mind, heart, and soul. This tolerance is essential for religion to thrive, but it is being challenged in many different ways," he said in the speech at Cairo University.
Obama highlighted Indonesia's successfully promotion of gender equality.
"Now let me be clear: issues of women's equality are by no means simply an issue for Islam. In Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia we have seen Muslim-majority countries elect a woman to lead. Meanwhile, the struggle for women's equality continues in many aspects of American life and in countries around the world."
Indonesia has been invoked several times in US foreign policy speeches since Obama assumed the presidency in January.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton mentioned the role played by Indonesia in solving the global crisis during a speech to the US Senate in January.
"Emerging markets like China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia... are part of the solution and *have* become partners in maintaining global economic stability."
Clinton visited Jakarta as part of her Asian tour in February, during which she hailed Indonesia as an example of "a Muslim country where democracy prevails."
"If you want to know if Islam, democracy, modernity and women's rights can coexist, go to Indonesia," she said at a dinner of academics, journalists, environmentalists and women's rights advocates in Jakarta.
Indonesia was the first Muslim country Clinton visited after being sworn as a secretary of state. Her unexpected choice of Japan, China, South Korea and Indonesia as destinations for her first overseas visit hinted at a foreign policy shift from the Middle East to Asia.
Barak Obama lived in Jakarta with his mother Ann Dunham and his Indonesian stepfather between 1967 and 1971.
"It's a benefit to us that the US president spent his childhood in Indonesia as it helps exposing the true color of our nation," said Achmad Jainuri, rector at the Muhammadiyah University in Sidoarjo, East Java.
