Part of President Obama's speech

Being on the ground in a Muslim country, you see the sea change in the people's view of America, and for that Im one of the few who thinks he deserved the Nobel he got. Walking around Nkob, the people running the cyber and people in their homes with a satellite are more connected with news than I am--and they are watching either AlJazeera for news or for sports--so I sometimes get bent out of shape when something like the Lower Manhattan mosque controversy happens. It's nice then to get a headline from someone in the US defending that right, and it means even more when it's our President who is both supporting their right to practice Islam in the United States and making it more real the fact that we have those rights. So read for yourself, think for yourself; Im glad that in this case the job will now be a little bit easier when I walk to the hanut to buy some hobz or I walk through the palmerie hunting for tgniy handouts and am asked questions about the US by people claiming don't practice what we preach when it comes to our valuing tolerance but witholding privleges from Arab peoples there.

from Politico.com:
While the comments don't put Obama as far out on the issue as Mayor Bloomberg, who not only gave an impassioned speech exclusively on the issue but also has said some of the critics of the plan should be "ashamed," it puts the president firmly on one side of an issue that relatively few major figures have weighed in on with supportive statements.
Here's the relevant portion of the remarks below:

Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities – particularly in New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country. The pain and suffering experienced by those who lost loved ones is unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.
But let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must endure.
We must never forget those who we lost so tragically on 9/11, and we must always honor those who have led our response to that attack – from the firefighters who charged up smoke-filled staircases, to our troops who are serving in Afghanistan today. And let us always remember who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for. Our enemies respect no freedom of religion. Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam – it is a gross distortion of Islam. These are not religious leaders – these are terrorists who murder innocent men, women and children. In fact, al Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion – and that list of victims includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.
Obama did not mention Bloomberg, who has become the face of the support for the mosque after the speech on Governors Island. But the mayor put out this statement in praise of the president:
Two hundred and twenty years ago this week, the Father of Our Country penned his famous letter to the Jewish Community of Newport Rhode Island or, as he called them, ‘the Children of the Stock of Abraham.’ President Obama’s words tonight evoked President Washington’s own August reminder that ‘all possess alike liberty.’ As I said last week, this proposed mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan is as important a test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetime, and I applaud President Obama’s clarion defense of the freedom of religion tonight.”