Peace and Politics
“It’s very good for human rights in Iran, especially for
children’s rights in Iran. I hope I can be useful,” said Shirin
Ebadi after hearing the news she had received the Nobel Peace Prize
Oct. 10. A devout Muslim, Ebadi has long been a crusader for
reformation and recognition of rights of women, children and others
in her homeland. One of the first female judges in Iran until 1979
when she was barred by the hard-line revolutionary government that
came to power, she now works as a lawyer, defending those she sees
as unfairly prosecuted or downtrodden.
Besides starting the Iranian Children’s Rights Society, she also
worked “to reveal the principals behind the attack on the students
at Tehran University in 1999 where several students died” and fight
for the murdered students’ families, said the Nobel Committee in
its recommendation. A defender of students in her home country, her
award should particularly resound with us students here at CSU as
well.
Imprisoned for her work in this case, this controversy over her
work with the students wasn’t the first or the last time Ebadi has
experienced attacks on herself and her efforts. Indeed, even with
her illustrious reputation and worldwide recognition for her
efforts in human welfare, her receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize has
come under fire from two opposing sides recently.
While celebrated by many in her homeland, there are some in Iran
who dismissed the award as nothing but political manipulation
designed to embarrass the existing Iranian government. According to
CNN, Iranian president Mohammad Khatami (once considered a reformer
himself) criticized Ebadi by calling the award “not that important”
and dismissing it as political commentary directed at the
conservative Iranian administration by Western forces.
The government should not take this award as an embarrassment,
says Ebadi herself, but should rather see her as a compatriot who
respects her country and the law and simply wants to see it
improve. “I always acted within the law,” Ebadi said. She even
covers her head out of respect to the Islamic laws that govern her
beloved nation.
Besides criticism from the Iranian government, the choice of the
Nobel committee has also come under fire from some in America as
well. Amber Pawlik, writing for the conservative Men’s News Daily,
said in an almost mirror argument of Khatami’s that the award was
given to Ebadi not for her diligent work in human rights, but as a
statement against the Bush administration’s action in the Middle
East. Considering the Nobel peace committee (and by extension
Ebadi) “compromisers of our time” and “evil,” Pawlik seems to
suggest that accolades should go to someone voicing violent
rebellion or American involvement in Iran instead. Pawlik
criticizes the suggestion (which she sees Ebadi’s award as
exemplifying) that reform can be accomplished peacefully from
within the nation rather than externally through an invasion.
If both criticizers looked beyond their own agendas and at the
work of Ebadi instead, these notions that the award is an
embarrassment to the factions they claim to represent might make
them instead question what they are supporting. If recognizing the
work of a woman who has fought diligently and at personal risk for
children’s rights, women’s welfare and general human rights is
truly considered a slap in the face to either government, those in
that regime that see human rights as an affront to their agenda
should reexamine their own agenda instead of Ebadi’s.
Ebadi deserves this award for her work devoted to peaceful,
inclusive reform in an era where we have seen so much violence, and
also for being a voice for the often voiceless. Congratulations to
Shirin Ebadi for her work in human rights are most definitely in
order.
Meg is a graduate student at CSU. Her column runs every
Wednesday. She enjoys dancing, yoga and meditation in her spare
time.
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