Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Address

“The Statue of Tolerance.”
by Howard Rotberg, PAJAMAS MEDIA

“And now, turning to our policy towards the Middle East and the sweeping changes that have occurred there, I want to again pledge that while America is not willing, after Iraq, to ever again wage war in the Middle East, we are more than willing to assist in refugee resettlement.

“When Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria experienced their Islamist revolutions, I clearly stated that the United States under my administration would respect Arab efforts at self-determination. Never again would the Western world take up the cause of colonialism as a screen for trying to enforce our values on those who do not want them. I pledged that we would respect a Muslim perspective on democracy that differed radically from our own.

[applause]

“While the United States, given its history, adopted a constitutional democracy, I have always taken the position that we cannot force the rest of the world to act like us, and that different cultures are as deserving of respect and tolerance as we are.

[applause]

“Accordingly, we accept the will of the people in the Middle East to act to restore and enhance their Caliphate.

[applause and standing ovation]

“We accept that in the Middle East feminism looks a lot different than in America. We accept that women from Iran to Egypt to Palestine have the right to live very differently than women in America. It is their right to embrace the burka, their right to accept female genital circumcision — just as Jews have always accepted male genital circumcision.

“I received a tremendous amount of criticism for my position on the Iranian led war on Israel of 2013. However, it was Israel’s decision not to accept the proposal made jointly by America and the European Union that Europe was prepared to accept all Israeli Jews with European ancestry for resettlement in Europe, and that our country would accept all Israeli Jews with ancestry from the Arab, Asian, and African countries for resettlement in the United States. We pledged an enormous amount of money and resources for this effort, and it was rebuffed.

“But, still, I say to the remnants of Israeli Jewry, hiding out in the caves of the Judean desert: send us your survivors, your radiation-poisoned and cancer patients. No matter whether they can ever be productive citizens, the U.S. is pledged to assist in this humanitarian crisis.

[applause and standing ovation]

“And let me say to the Iranians: we are sorry that the Israelis launched so many nuclear weapons on your people, in their disproportionate response to your nuclear attack wiping out only one Israeli city. The injustice of that disproportionate response, wherein nearly 20 million Iranian men, women, and children were killed, stands as a light unto the nations as a warning of how we must accept tolerance over vengeance. One can certainly understand the outrage this stirred up in the Muslim world, although we cannot condone the atrocities against the Israeli Jews.

“Again, I thank the Vatican and the Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches in America for joining with me to make this position more understood to their members.

[applause]

“We are truly ashamed of the intolerant position of certain Evangelical Christians who have fought against the interests of their own country in this regard, and lost so many young men fighting overseas in the last battles for the Israeli cities.

“For without tolerance, who are we?

[applause]

“Are we any better than those who would kill?

[applause]

“From the beginning of my first term in office, I accepted that America and Islam “share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. … Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.” I spoke out for American understanding of Islam as I toured from Cairo to Istanbul to the great nation of Indonesia, and made clear that America did not see Islam as an enemy.

[applause and standing ovation]

“And in so doing, I have helped to secure a continued supply of oil for our country.

[Applause and standing ovation]

“And so, today, after all the bloodshed and all the suffering, a new Islamic identity prevails in the Middle East. We must accept that no Christians and no Jews are entitled to participate in that great nation. I am proud of our record in accepting truly notable numbers of refugees.

[applause]

“Today, I announce that just as we opened our borders to countless Jews and Christians, we are doing the same to permit immigration to America for the countless Muslims of the Middle East who are now choosing to escape the sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis that has spread from Iraq throughout the entire Middle East. We accept responsibility for all of that, because, as I have reminded the American people many times, it was the fault of the Bush administration for starting an unwarranted war in Iraq and unleashing the sectarian tensions that more authoritative Muslim governments had tempered.

“Notwithstanding my many overtures to the Muslims of the Middle East, there are still so many who blame America for their problems of extreme poverty and internecine violence. Accordingly, I announce today a major move to convince the Islamic world that we in America truly welcome them, wherever they live. We truly are a tolerant nation, willing to have more Muslims immigrate here — for I have made it clear in many past speeches how Islam has played a positive force in America since the founding of our great nation.

[applause]

“My move today is to recognize that Americans cannot roam the world imposing our particular notions of liberty and democracy on the world. The world is composed of many people who find their liberty depends on a religious supervision of all aspects of their daily lives. Although we in America have traditionally embraced a separation of church and state, it is time to acknowledge that our way is not the only way.

[Applause and standing ovation]

“To prove this to the world, we are modifying one of America’s most lasting symbols, the Statue of Liberty. We recognize that not all people in the world accept our notions of liberty. That is probably the underlying reason that the United States has been expelled from the United Nations. To demonstrate that we have learned that tolerance is the most important world value, and not a narrow definition of liberty, we are changing the name of the great statue just off the shore of New York from the Statue of Liberty to the Statue of Tolerance.

[applause, cheering and standing ovation]

“And to absolutely prove the seriousness of our tolerant new order, I have exercised my jurisdiction to order an alteration of the statue, so that instead of a crown on the statue’s head, there will be a hijab.

[applause]

“The site of the new Statue of Tolerance, with its hijab, will be a fitting symbol for what Time magazine has recently called the “Century of Islam” and our tolerance as a people. This will show the world true American greatness.

[Applause and standing ovation]

“May God, Allah, Jehovah, Waheguru, Yahweh, Akamba bless America.”

[applause and standing ovation]