The other day, while listening to NPR, I heard a story about Nobel Peace Prize Winner (from Iran) Dr. Ebadi. She claimed that the Iranian government had seized her bank accounts as well as her husband’s accounts. She said that Iran had claimed tax evasion on her Noble Prize, but that Iranian law stipulates that there is no tax on Nobel Prizes. She claimed that her work as a human rights lawyer threatened the Iranian government and that this was a part of their retaliation against her.
I decided that I would write a blog post about this, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to write. I thought maybe I would do something on ethics, but I did some research anyway.
I found this article from the Tehran Times which gave a very different perspective of the story. I found the differences in the story fascinating. It is amazing that two different news bureaus from paradoxically different cultures could have such different views on the same story. I find this as a prime example of the way we can tell our stories of history the way we want to. It reminded me of the Supernews clip below, which is a show on Current TV. Ignore the mildly immature jokes and focus on the story it tells of the American Revolution.
I totally agree with you Sam. I found it interesting that in the article it said "Tehran also accused Norway of adopting double standards toward the issue of human rights, pointing to the country’s lukewarm stance toward the United Nations report on the Gaza war, in which hundreds of Palestinian civilians were massacred, and its indifference to the October 18 terrorist attack in the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan." This looks like a start of a he said she said argument that does anything but solve the problem. This was a interesting parallel because this creates a situation like in the Supernews example, where the British are saying "we are stronger, we are smarter, and we are better on." This I'm better than you mentality makes it impossible to solve a problem.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the great logic. I think that realising the catch 22 of believing that your cause is a just cause, then we can get around our differences and begin an actual dialogue. I would love if The UN would do something actual to get some talking between enemies going. The reason for all of the wars of the world are that civil people get uncivilized and can't get around petty differences. What were we taught during a kindergarten disagreement: talk it out, apologize and get over it.
ReplyDeleteBan Ki Moon may believe in world peace but so does everyone. WE need to get over our differences and take a lesson from our six year old friends.