If members of a civilization in a far away solar system out
there in a distant corner of the Milky Way have been capturing our
communication signals for a time, and have been wondering what we make of the
concept of good and evil, they will cease to wonder because the General
Assembly of our United Nation would have given them an example of the way that
we understand that concept, and how we live it on planet Earth. They may have
captured two of the speeches that were given at the world forum; one presented
by the president of Iran ,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and one presented by the prime minister of Israel ,
Benjamin Netanyahu.
They will see that Ahmadinejad began the speech by
describing his country of Iran
as being a founder of human civilization in that it contributed to “knowledge,
culture, wisdom, morality, philosophy and mysticism.” He called his country
“the land of compassion, enlightenment, scientists, scholars, masters of
literature and writers.” And he mentioned some of its great contributors such
as “Avicenna, Ferdowsi, Hafiz, Maulana, Attar, Khayyam and Shariar.” He went on
to call Iran
“a great, proud and conscious nation dedicated to the cause of freedom and
compassion … one that values the blessings of peace and stability.”
He called his people “noble,” called the General Assembly of
the United Nation “august” and referred to the “sisters and brothers” who came
from around the world to assemble here in this week. He said he wanted to show
them that his nation – as brilliant as it was in the past and as noble as it is
today – has a “global vision and that it welcomes every effort intended to
provide and promote peace, stability and tranquility.” And he made it clear
that these goals can only be achieved “through harmony, cooperation and joint
management of the world.”
This being his eighth annual appearance at that podium, he
tackled the same issues he did before but tackled them from a different
perspective this time. He began by saying that regardless of their differences,
people of all colors, languages and traditions have wanted “a more beautiful
life blessed with lasting peace, security and happiness.” Despite the effort of
many to achieve these goals, the history of mankind has been “marked with unfulfilled
dreams and failures.”
Then, instead of listing the reasons that led to human
misery rather than the fulfillment of those aspirations – which would have been
a depressing thing for the readers to go through – Ahmadinejad did something so
creative, you can say he pulled a vision of hope from the jaws of despair. What
he did is begin by saying: “Imagine for a moment,” and then listed the darkest
moments in history by inviting the readers to imagine how history might have
unfolded had it not been for those dark moments.
In this regard, he mentioned big moments such as the Dark
Ages of the medieval period, the wars of the Crusaders, the periods of slavery
and colonialism, the two great wars ... those in Korea ,
Vietnam , Africa, Latin
America and the Balkans, as well as the occupation of Palestine . All of which, he went on to say,
contributed to the displacement of millions of people and to genocide around
the globe. There was also the invasion of Iran
by Saddam, the events of September 11, and the military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq .
And he invited the listeners of his speech to imagine a
world without “selfishness, distrust, malice or dictators violating the rights
of others.” A world that was free of terrorism where the pen was used to
promote the well-being and amity among nations. It would be a world in which
the sectarian and racial conflicts of one were not used to advance the
political agendas of another. A world in which the right to free speech allowed
the honest criticism of Zionism to shed light on the reality of that regime,
instead of the current deceitful gestures that allow offending the beliefs of
some by pretending to back the free expression of others.
From there, he went on to discuss the unfair distribution of
power on the global stage such as the Security Council that is dominated by a
small number of governments. As well, there are the international economic
institutions which are not allowed to perform fairly or justly. And he ended
this part of the presentation by offering the following thought: “Imagine how
beautiful and pleasant our lives would have been [without those irritants] and
what a lovely way the history of mankind would have unfolded.”
Well, this was the imagination but there is a reality that
is different from it. To discuss that reality, he divided it into four
situations: Economic, Cultural, Political and Security, and then there is the
Environmental. However, his discussion in these areas being no different from
what passes for middle of the spectrum assessment of the world order, I shall
not take it up here.
Having drawn up that list, Ahmadinejad now asks the
question: “Who is responsible for all that suffering and for these failures?”
He answers the question by saying there are people who blame the victims then
justify the situation by describing it as being based on the theory of
“Survival of the fittest” which they continue to propagate. But he goes on to
say that this is not what the majority of the people want, be they Muslim,
Christian, Jewish, Hindu or Buddhist. Instead “the current abysmal situation …
is due to the bad management of the world by the centers of power that sold
themselves to the devil.”
He then describes these centers of power in a way which
conveys the notion that the people who donate millions of dollars to election
campaigns do so not because they have the interest of the people in their
hearts but because they invest in the quest to monopolize power, thus expand
their domination of the world. He asks what would be the way to rectify the current
situation; and he answers that the world needs a new order as well as a fresh
way of thinking.
What he offers in this regard are platitudes that speak of
the belief in God, the adherence to truth and justice, the quest for human
dignity, happiness, perfection, peace, security and the welfare of all. Not to
forget kindness, justice and equality before the law ... You name it; it's all
there. But then he asks if this can be achieved. And he answers, yes it can be
achieved by acquiescing to the joint management of the planet, and the creation
of global structures that will make possible the implementation of the right
sort of policies.
If by now, the beings out there in the Milky Way would have
asked themselves who would be in charge of overseeing these changes,
Ahmadinejad had an answer for them. He said in his speech that Marxism being no
longer around, that Capitalism being in a self-made quagmire, and the United
Nation lacking the efficiency to bring about the sought after changes, the
responsibility for doing the heavy lifting should fall on the shoulders of the
Non Aligned Movement (known by the acronym NAM) and whose 120 member nations
congregated in Teheran not long ago.
To end his presentation, Ahmadinejad played on the vision of
the three divine religions where the Jews still await the coming of the
Messiah, where the Christians await the second coming of Jesus, and where the
Muslims await the coming of the Mahdi – an event that will take place in the
company of Jesus. When this happens, said Ahmadinejad, humanity will have been
reborn and will, from then on, enjoy the good life as life was meant to be.
Now the beings who are out there in the Milky Way turn their
attention to the Netanyahu speech where they encounter this passage: “And of
course, Iran 's rulers
repeatedly deny the Holocaust and call for Israel 's destruction almost on a
daily basis, as they did again this week from the United Nations.”
And the beings look at each other and yell: WHAT? Where in
earthly hell did the Iranians mention the Holocaust or Israel ? Is this
thing they call Netanyahu a human being or is it the rug pissing dog it is
reputed to be?
They label Ahmadinejad the refined gentleman who represents the good on Earth, and they label
Netanyahu the cruel beast that represents evil on Earth and possibly the whole
Universe.
And they turn
off their equipment to go to bed.