I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.

We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world - tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

Arrestata a Teheran a gennaio con l'accusa di spionaggio in favore degli Stati Uniti e condannata il 18 aprile, in un processo a porte chiuse, a otto anni di prigione, la giornalista Roxana Saberi è oggi al suo nono giorno di sciopero della fame. La donna, secondo quanto riportato dal padre Reza, iraniano d'origine ma da anni residente negli Stati Uniti, non avrebbe toccato cibo e manterrebbe le forze solo bevendo acqua zuccherata. La reporter trentunenne, irano-americana, da sei anni viveva nel suo paese d'origine dove, secondo le autorità iraniane, stava lavorando 'illegalmente' anche dopo che il governo le aveva confiscato il tesserino giornalistico.