These are the times of high levels of immigration and low levels of tolerance. They are the times that inherited the straight-jacket rhetoric of the politically correct. They are times of neutered political debate due to reverence to populistic positions and knee-jerk reactions.
Somehow you get the feeling that these are not times that could produce a historic document like the Magna Carta, the Declaration on the Rights of Man or the Charter on Fundamental Human Rights.
Barack Obama has just published the legal advice given to George Dubya to justify appalling interrogation techniques. Obama called for “reflection, not retribution” thus enraging both the right and the left. He does not seem to want to take any action against the perpetrators of the evils that contributed no small amount to giving the States a bad name. There’s something funny about these parties who fight to gain power in the name of justice then just let justice slip through their fingers once they are sitting on the throne. Do the words S.A.G. spring to mind?
Obama’s government was not present in the Durban revision talks – known as Durban II. Don’t let the name fool you. Durban II is actually being held at the UN HQ in Geneva, Switzerland. Eight years after Durban I, the UN returned to the prickly subject of attempting a global definition of racism. It did not get off to a good start – what with the US and Canada (Funny how Canada almost always springs up when a list of misfits is needed – South Park where are you?), among others boycotting the procedure(1).
The procedure/debate is rendered rather difficult by the constant attempts by certain countries to define racism in terms of “Zionist Israel”. Well, not exactly in those terms but you get the jist. Enter Iranian Supremo (or second supremo if you’re of the Ayatollah bent) Mr Ahmadinejad and we get yesterday’s speech about how Zionist Israel is still performing acts of racism on the aboriginals of the strip of land that different deities seem to have promised to different peoples at different times.
The “different deities” bit is a wanton phrase of irony here. You see whenever the big faiths get together they often rush to speak of the One God common to all. For a moment we are all sons of Abraham, Yeshua or Mohamed but once the niceties are over and political expediency requires the battleover the land promised to men via burning bushes, black stones or simply out of revernce for remembrance of Roman torture proceedings then we revert to treating each other like the sons of bitches that we all really are.
This has nothing to do with the walkout at Ahmadinejad’s speech in Geneva of course. It did have it’s positives – like uniting Europe’s feet as the representatives of the EU countries quit the room while Ahmadinejad ranted on against Zion and the Gideonites. Ahmadinejad got what he wanted once again – the world’s attention on the Palestinian issue. It’s a pity because for a while we could have gone along with his efforts to bring nuclear energy to the nation with one of the greatest historical heritages in the world. The pity is not that Ahmadinejad wants to discuss the issue but the way in which he ignored Obama’s extended hand to participate as an equal player on the world scene and chose this petty mode of confrontation.
Poor Ahmadinejad started his speech speaking of the Sons of Abraham and ended up ranting about the sons of bitches in so many terms. That, in essence, became the marking point of Durban II. Whatever Ban-Ki Moon will say will never eclipse Ahmadinejad’s clumsy moment in the spotlight.
(1) The US, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and New Zealand had all boycotted the conference being held in Geneva, in protest at Mr Ahmadinejad’s appearance.
