Remarks at Iftar Banquet for Jordanian Media Officials

Peace be upon you. May you be well all year.

It is my great pleasure to be together with all of you to break the fast during this holy month of Ramadan.

As you’ll recall from previous occasions with Ambassador Gnehm, we American diplomats do make an effort at sharing with you a few words in Arabic. This can sometimes be harder on you as the listener than on us as the speaker, but we try, in any case.

Sharing with you the beautiful Arabic language, and joining together during this holy time, we look forward to continued friendship and blessings in the coming year.

Now, if you’ll permit me, my vocabulary is rapidly approaching its limit and with the help of our colleague Ali Kassay will say just a few words in English.

(in English)

As President Bush noted in his greeting to Muslims on the occasion of Ramadan, this is a time to celebrate faith and a time to remember the importance of compassion, mercy and peace.

The United States is an immigrant society and a nation of many faiths. Islam is among the fastest growing religions in the U.S. Muslim-Americans, whether recent immigrants or third and fourth generation Americans, are a strong piece of the American fabric and make valuable contributions to our society every day.

In recent years, there has been a great interest among the American people in learning more about Islam, and it has often fallen to Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans to explain the faith and its principals of justice, peace and compassion.

These efforts to create understanding and to bring all Americans closer together are much needed and we are thankful for those who play this role.

It is sometimes said that the people and cultures of the world are growing farther apart. But we see at the same time efforts all over the world to reject this notion and to increase understanding and tolerance. We salute those efforts tonight.

Jordan and the United States enjoy a unique relationship – bound by ties long established. His Late Majesty King Hussein knew nine American Presidents from Eisenhower to Clinton.

The spirit of these friendships has been carried on into the present by His Majesty King Abdullah, whose leadership has seen further advances, including the signing of a free trade agreement and a dramatic increase in the bilateral trade relationship.

Ours is a relationship built on a long history of friendship and trust. And we celebrate with you tonight, our colleagues in the media, in this same spirit.