Obama’s Speech in Cairo: Eloquent, Passionate, and, hopefully, healing . . .

MALIK KHAN Barack Obama's Cairo speech, in terms of substance, was ground-breaking. An American president quoting from the Quran and reliving his own experience in Muslim Indonesia lectured moderates and hard liners alike in the region. His skillful drawing of attention toward Muslim contributions to science and civilization, and repeated references to Islamic tenets, exhibited a positive shift while addressing the Muslim world. His message was well-received and sounded genuine -- as did the spontaneous applause from the audience, punctuated by the odd shout of "We love you."

Obama spoke with passion and eloquence, though at times he sounded quite professorial, itemizing key issues that have existed between the Muslim and non-Muslim world, but highlighting through a conciliatory tone the need to heal these wounds.

THERE ARE A FEW lessons for the Arab and Muslim worlds:

His advocacy of education and rights for women, the spread of democracy, tolerance toward other faiths, and a world free of nuclear weapons is resoundingly true.

His condemnation of the attitude of regimes that had grown rich extracting oil and gas but had not used their wealth to improve the education and living standards of their people -- an apparent reference to a Muslim country he had just visited -- again came as no surprise.

His condemnation of violent resistance is highly appropriate. It is a sign of "neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at schoolchildren or to blow up old women" while losing moral high ground.

He exhorted Arab states to accept the Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for recognizing Israel's legitimacy. This would be tantamount to "choosing progress over a self-defeating focus on the past."

And who can repudiate his rejection of Ahmadinejad's mindless rants to deny the Nazi Holocaust, or his rightfully calling them "baseless, ignorant, and hateful"?

OBAMA HAD a message for Israelis and Palestinians specifically:

The United States' bond with Israel, the source of much Arab distrust over the years, was unbreakable, he said, but he also voiced compassion for the millions of Palestinians who have lived without their own country for decades in refugee camps in this volatile region.

Palestinian aspirations and Israeli desire for security are deeply interconnected, a major topic for stalled peace talks. Hence Obama's call for all parties to play their part in reviving this crucially important dialogue is a step in the right direction. Perhaps one day a resolution would be reached (I hope!) where the aspirations of both sides would be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security. That is in Israel's interest, Palestine's interest, the United States' interest, and the world's interest.

All right, so this was a fine speech, but what comes next? My gut reaction says Arabs and Muslims overseas have an urgent desire to see bold action on the part of United States, if it wishes to be viewed as a fair and honest peace broker. Extremists, according to Middle Eastern newspapers, will be undercut and eventually disarmed only when the U.S. takes a more neutral role and a tougher stance towards Israel. As the president stated clearly and in no uncertain terms, the U.S. would not accept the legitimacy of continued construction of settlements in the West Bank, since it violates previous agreements. I believe the immediate task for George Mitchell et al. will be to address this highly contentious issue with the Israeli government in his ensuing trip to the region.

FINALLY, AMERICAN Muslims share the belief with the president that violent extremism is a plague that threatens peace and security. The heinous crimes of 9/11 and wanton killing of innocents by a creepy band of bloodthirsty terrorists have placed our communities in conflict. Groups of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others have at various times been hurt and have responded to injustices sometimes in ways which are repulsive and repugnant to their faith's principles and values. But we cannot be mired in the past.

Instead we must take concrete steps to change a mindset and work toward peace. And so my fervent prayer for all of Abraham's children (with no disrespect to peoples of other faiths) is: Let us work toward Peace, for Blessed are the Peacemakers.

Malik Khan is a member of the Islamic Society of Greater Richmond and community relations director of the Asian American Society of Central Virginia. Contact him at .