Bush, Jordan's king abdullah reject violence over cartoons
Jordan-USA, Politics, 2/9/2006

US president George W. President Bush welcomed Jordan's King Abdullah to the White House to discuss developments in the Middle East region.

About the violent reaction to published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Bush said he wanted to make clear to people around the world that the United States believes in welcoming people of all faiths, but also believes in a free press. "With freedom comes the responsibility to be thoughtful about others," he said.

Bush said that he and Jordan's monarch both reject violence "as a way to express discontent with what may be printed in the free press," and he called upon world governments to "stop the violence, to be respectful, to protect property, and protect the lives of innocent diplomats who are serving their countries overseas."

King Abdullah, while condemning the cartoons as vilifying the Prophet Muhammad and attacking Muslim sensibilities, also said "those that want to protest should do it thoughtfully, articulately, and express their views peacefully.

"When we see protests, when we see destruction, when we see violence, especially if it ends up taking the lives of innocent people, it's completely unacceptable," he said.

The king also said he preferred the term "acceptance" to "tolerance" as the means of advancing relations between those of different faiths.

"We need to accept our common humanity and our common values, and I hope that lessons can be learned from this dreadful issue, that we can move forward as humanity and truly try to strive together as friends and as neighbors to bring a better world to all," he said.

Here are some of their remarks:

Bush: Your Majesty, welcome back. I have had two good discussions with His Majesty. Last night His Majesty and the Crown Prince came to have dinner with Laura and me and some members of Congress, and we had a really good discussion. We had a little time by ourselves to talk strategically about the world and our deep desire for this world to be peaceful.

Of course we talked about Iraq, Iran, the Palestinian territories. I appreciate your vision and your desire to achieve a better world for the people in your neighborhood.

We also talked about a topic that requires a lot of discussion and a lot of sensitive thought, and that is the reaction to the cartoons. I first want to make it very clear to people around the world that ours is a nation that believes in tolerance and understanding. In America we welcome people of all faiths. One of the great attributes of our country is that you're free to worship however you choose in the United States of America.

Secondly, we believe in a free press. We also recognize that with freedom comes responsibilities. With freedom comes the responsibility to be thoughtful about others. Finally, I have made it clear to His Majesty and he made it clear to me that we reject violence as a way to express discontent with what may be printed in a free press. I call upon the governments around the world to stop the violence, to be respectful, to protect property, protect the lives of innocent diplomats who are serving their countries overseas.

And so, Your Majesty, thank you for coming. I'm proud to share the moment with you.

Abdullah: Thank you very much for your kind words. And I would just like to echo what the President said. We've had some very fruitful discussions, and we're appreciative of the vision and the desire that the President has for peace and stability in our part of the world. He has always strived to make life better for all of us in the Middle East, and I tremendously appreciate that role.

The issue of the cartoons, again, and with all respect to press freedoms, obviously, anything that vilifies the Prophet Mohammed -- upon him or attacks Muslim sensibilities, I believes needs to be condemned. At the same time, those that want to protest should do it thoughtfully, articulately, express their views peacefully. When we see protests -- when we see destruction, when we see violence, especially if it ends up taking the lives of innocent people, is completely unacceptable. Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is a religion of peace, tolerance, moderation.

And we have to continue to ask ourselves, what type of world do we want for our children? I too often hear the word used as, tolerance. And tolerance is such an awful word. If we are going to strive to move forward in the future, the word that we should be talking about is acceptance. We need to accept our common humanity and our common values. And I hope that lessons can be learned from this dreadful issue, that we can move forward as humanity, and truly try to strive together, as friends and as neighbors, to bring a better world to all.

Previous Stories:
  Anger continues over Caricatures   (2/9/2006)
  Norway stresses respect to religions, denounces Prophet Muhammad depiction   (2/9/2006)
  Imam of Al-Azhar leads protest over cartoons   (2/7/2006)
  Jordanian paper republishes drawings blasphemy for the prophet   (2/3/2006)
  Bush supports Jordan efforts to face terrorism   (12/3/2005)
  Greek and Jordanian fronts rebuff US pressures on Syria   (10/28/2005)
  Jordan's king appeals for Muslim-Jewish cooperation   (9/30/2005)

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