All in moderation
Another eventful week for President Mohammad Khatami of Iran.
On a four-day visit to Spain, the moderate leader promoted his dialogue of civilisations, signed bilateral accords with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on investment protection, tourism and customs issues, and, at a joint news conference, took the opportunity to criticise the foreign policy of George W. Bush.
Have the erroneous policies of the United States made bin Laden more popular or more hated than before in various sectors of the Islamic world? he asked, not needing an answer. Have the erroneous policies of the United States weakened Islamic trends that favour wisdom and democracy? The United States with its hegemony has strengthened bin Laden, so we ought to condemn it in some way for supporting terrorism.
Well, Khatami should know. His struggle with the conservative clerics of Iran has taught him all there is to know about the difficulty of favouring wisdom and democracy over its alternatives. I hear a discourse from two poles, he said. One is the voice raised from Afghanistan by bin Laden that says, Whoever is not with us must be destroyed. The other is the voice from the United States that says, Whoever is not with us is against us.
Back in Iran, the storm continues to brew. This week, the close ally of Khatami and hugely popular former Vice-President Abdullah Nouri was freed from jail after serving only two years of his five-year sentence for political crimes. But another leading figure of the reformist movement, Abbas Abdi, was arrested.
Meanwhile, the Iranian parliament has begun debating a bill designed to strip the hardline conservative Guardians Council of its right to veto election candidates. Golam-Hossein Elham, head of the Guardians Council research centre, is unimpressed. This bill is supported by anti-revolutionary elements, he said, and if approved, all the infidels, former Marxists and non-Iranians
can enter parliament.
To succeed, the parliaments reformist bill needs approval from you guessed it the Council of Guardians.
The Diary wishes them luck.
(Dont miss Wendell Steavensons new 'Tehran Diary')
Womans day?
And speaking of Middle Eastern liberal reform
To Bahrain, where the first parliamentary elections in nearly thirty years took place this week. A higher than 50% turnout (despite calls from Islamic parties for a boycott) brought widespread success for the Sunni and Shia candidates.
Majeed al-Awali, an exiled Bahraini researcher, told Reuters that Bahrainis have proved that they are a civilised people committed to their nations future, adding that the opposition deserve credit for the fact that it all went so peacefully.
The election marked the first time that women in Bahrain have been able to vote and stand for election in a national poll. Eight of the 177 candidates were women. None of them won as in the May local polls - but the Diary cant help thinking that a hurdle has come crashing down.
The elections coincided with the second Arab Womens summit in Amman, Jordan, hosted by Queen Rania. Following on from Cairo 2000, the summit sought to alter the stereotype of Arab and Muslim women and send a message of peace as the region prepares to face a war against Iraq (BBC). Unlike Cairo 2000, delegates took part in round table discussions on specific womens issues, instead of just delivering speeches.
The summit was held under the slogan The Arab woman a new vision. The vision included the creation of an Arab womens organisation, which will work under the auspices of the Arab League, while Jordanian women emerged with greater rights and the Arab world and media was urged to improve the image of women.
Of course, there was some disagreement. Unsurprisingly, the Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian delegates demanded that the issues of Iraq and Palestine be mentioned in the declaration and recommendations. Others werent so keen, but condemnation of plans for war in Iraq and Israeli state terrorism did appear in the final declaration.
(Dont miss openDemocracys Europe and Islam debate )
McDoh!
Problems for McDos in France. It seems José Bovés job is being done for him by his Grande Mac-selling arch-enemy.
McDonalds France have angered their bigger US sisters by publishing an advertorial in Femme Actuelle magazine that associates the hamburger chain with child obesity.
Deliberate reverse-psychology negative advertising? Apparently not. The advert appeared in May, but has just come to the attention of the New York Times as the US, basking in its victories over tobacco giants, gains enthusiasm for the fast-food lawsuit.
There is no reason to eat excessive amounts of junk food, nor go more than once a week to McDonalds, the French advertorial preached. We do not share this view at all, replied a statement for McDonalds USA.
The Times turned to John Banzhaf III of George Washington University, who pioneered lawsuits against the tobacco industry and now has his eye on the fast-food industry. We want to combine the altruistic motives and profit motives of lawyers and use them against obesity, he said, enthusiastically.
Expect high cholesterol damage.
Net record
And finally, following a match in Madagascar this week, the world of football will never be the same again.
When they took to the pitch, the eleven men of Stade Olympique IEmyrne must have been dreaming of a famous victory over their arch rivals and newly crowned champions AS Adema. But after a hard fought ninety minutes the scoreboard read like this: AS Adema 149 - 0 Stade Olympique IEmyrne.
This was the thrashing to beat all thrashings.
So what happened? Well according to Radio Madagascar, following a disputed refereeing decision, Olympique began deliberately scoring own-goal after own-goal after own-goal
It seems that the Olympique coach, Ratsimandresy Ratsarazaka, lost his temper with the referee. In a show of solidarity, the Olympique players decided to head towards their own net following each kick-off. The AS Adema players, who sealed the title this weekend, are said to have stood and watched as their opponents went into self-destruct overdrive.
Lets not even mention goal-difference
Quotes of the week
"I'm encouraging all people across this country to vote.
President George W. Bush
We have tactical elections. We dont have big elections because theres every prospect that you can win by thinking small.
Stanley Greenburg, a veteran pollster for the US Democratic party. The Washington Post said that Instead of big and bold, the campaigns of 2002 have been marked by caution, vagueness, negativism, niche issues and sloganeering. The contest was nicknamed the Seinfeld election (i.e. it was about nothing).
So my call to America, if you to want to join in the fight against evil, is to do some good, is to love your neighbor just like youd like to be loved yourself.
President George W. Bush
I dont see any change, neither positively or negatively, in US-EU relations.
Romano Prodi responding to news of the results in the US elections.
Sometimes you have to live with differences in your family.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on the US-German quarrel.
On a wave of emotion we have in fact legitimised censorship and practically banned criticism of the authorities in emergency situations.
Sergei Yushenkov, leader of the Liberal Russia party, describing the draconian new media curbs imposed by the Duma.
I dont think he went soft on the accounting industry.
Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary, on Diary favourite Harvey Pitt who resigned this week as chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. (Click here for some Pitt background)
I love the [House of] Commons but I dont want it to dwindle gently into a museum attracting visitors on the strength of an heroic history. I want the Commons to remain the great forum of our nation in which the views of the public find voice and in which their opinions are heard.
Leader of the United Kingdom House of Commons Robin Cook, defending reforms of working hours.
Figure of the week
39%
The percentage of US voters who turned-out for the mid-term elections. (Dont miss Apathy: the new voting?)
Contact the Diary Editor: dominic.hilton@opendemocracy.net
Readers' responses
- Richard Howitt writes in response to Rupert Isaacson
I write to endorse observations made by Rupert Isaacson about the forced removal of 2,000 Bushmen/San people from their homeland in the Kalahari area of central Botswana. I recently visited the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and observed the plight of the Bushmen there. I have therefore tabled a question in the European Parliament asking if the Bostwana Government is already using, or if it intends to use, EU development assistance to support the resettlement of the Kalahari Bushmen.
Like Rupert Isaacson I found plenty of evidence that the resettlement is forced and not, as the Botswana Government claims, voluntary. I hope that your readers will lend support to the campaign to ensure justice for the Bushmen. Meanwhile I have asked the Commission to review the issue and in particular to give positive consideration to providing assistance that will support alternative development, so as to enable the Bushmen to remain on their ancestral lands.
It is my belief that money from the EU should be used to ensure that the Bushmen can stay within the desert, follow their lifestyle, and respect their traditions and heritage. Any *development* must take place on their own land, and to their own advantage.
Richard Howitt MEP
Member of the British Labour Party which forms part of the Party of European Socialists at the European Parliament East of England Region.
