Missing the Point

In a head of foolish, youthful fervour perhaps a year and a half ago, I proclaimed that it didn’t matter what supposedly incumbent Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said about the holocaust or about Israel, so long as he stuck to his words in helping out the disadvantaged in Iran, he was a good president. Oh, how times have changed. The problem in Iran is that more or less permanent bodies such as Guardian Council and the Ayatollahs are understandably reluctant to give up power for what we in the West see as the greater good. Ahmadinejad understands this. He understands that an election, according to the archane pre-Victorian model, was simply an act of the people to advise the ruling elite, in this case the Ayatollahs, who should be permitted to form the government. It would seem that despite Ahmadinejad’s grand claims that he had won over 60% of the vote, the precise figure doesn’t matter. If Mousavi emerged as the President-elect, the revolutionary elite would be under serious enough threat that they might even become a thing of the past, swept away by a green, urban, modern revolution. I was foolish when I said Ahmadinejad cared for his own. Regardless of whether or not he initiated the reprisals and police brutality that left at least 13 dead, he has done nothing to halt the bloodshed. Perhaps that is not in his power, lost in subservience to the ayatollahs. But recently, it seems that he does possess that authority – the family of one leading ayatollah was put in jail over the weekend.

Still, some commentators have said that Mousavi is but the wily, more manicured version of what Ahmadinejad represents, a leadership based not on the people but on those who can offer power. At this time, it happens to be the people who can attract the most attention for Mousavi and thus the most power but, apparently, once the winds shift, Mousavi will be nothing more than a white-haired Ahmadinejad. There’s only way to be sure of what to make of the Iranian elections. Recount. Unfortunately, perhaps even the protesters themselves will be wary of the potent for violence, even if they are lead by Mousavi, the martyr who may not have a cause. Just to clarify, I am still missing the point.

An Alternative Perspective

Throughout the western world and perhaps beyond, George Walker Bush is widely regarded as the most incompetent President of the modern era. Swept into office on the back of a Supreme Court ruling, the legitimacy of Bush was always in question and scandal never seemed far behind him, from his failure to go to Vietnam to brushes with drink driving. Whilst President, Bush took America and many other countries to war in Afghanistan (2001-) and Iraq (2003-). There was little evidence and little reason to go to war in the first place and in 2009, there is equally little in terms of a concrete outcome. Likewise, it was on Bush's watch that the American economy began to nose-dive, taking much of the world with it. The problem with these generalizations is that they are so general that they ignore the personal story, the less well-known impact of what others might refer to as Bush Terror. In the United States, Kosovo is synonymous with violence and warfare. People tend to forget that despite the end of the bloodshed, a country is growing in prosper and confidence. And, amazingly, Dubya had a significant role in this rejuvenation. Whilst it was Clinton who got the concept of KFOR off the ground, it was during the second term of Bush that the mandate against Serbian intrusions was finally, sufficiently strengthened. In February 2008, Bush was one of the first international leaders to recognise the Kosovan parliament's declaration of independence. Since then, violence is down, wealth is up and uncharacteristically, George W. Bush had a significant part to play.

Da Blog is Bak

Pardon the spelling but yes, its true, Meldreth Musings is back for the summer. After a hideously busy spring, I will endeavor to whet your appetite for all things vaguely current affairs and then some. Yes, in case you were wondering, this is a current affairs blog. That means that everything post-Montpellier, which can be pretty well summarised with the words "China" and "exams" is irrelevant. Happily, my more recent travels to Holland this past week gave me something to write about, which will be up very shortly.

Montpellier '09

L’Agenda

21/2/09

Voici, c’est la troisième journée en France et je n’ai vu jamais de la nuage ! C’est incroyable, mais aussi assez froid. Au moment, c’a devenu une expérience magnifique. Seulement une heure après nous avons arrivé au lycée, nous avons parti encore au chez d’une copine de mon correspondant. À sa maison, nous avons rencontré avecz les autres gens de l’échange. Nous avons fait et mangé des crêpes – c’était drôle et délicieux Par contre, ce n’est pas le même maintenant – il y a beaucoup de silence mais j’espère que je le casserai. Ce n’est pas tellement une problème – tous les trois de la famille sont très intéressant. Je pense que, pendant l’augmentation de la connaissance entre nous, il y aura une diminution du silence. Surtout, quand nous visitons avec les amis, c’est très amusant et sociale – comme le grand fête hier soir. Nous dansions et parlions à 4h dans le matin ! Aussi, la visite à la belle ville de Nîmes était très impressionnée. Le musée carré d’art a semblé moderne mais un peu sans-cœur. Au contraire, l’arène et le temps libres ont été des occasions pour faire connaissance de l’Hexagone dans notre image.

22/2/09

Quelle chance ! Après mes paroles d’hier, on a beaucoup de nuage aujourd’hui. C’était une journée pour la détente – nous réveillons entre 9h et 10h. Apres le petit-déjeuner, j’ai lu beaucoup parce qu’il faut que mon ami a fasse ses devoirs. Bien sur, j’ai eu une bonne conversation avec sa mère, sur les sujets comme Paris, le sport, le feu d’été – beaucoup des choses, surtout. Aussi, j’ai eu une petite conversation avec son père. Nous parlions au sujet d’île Maurice. Avant nous sommes allé à la plage, on a mangé un déjeuner dégustant. À la plage, nous avons rencontré avec les autres correspondants et fait des jeux comme le rugby, le foot et le volley. Il y a un petit accident mais néanmoins, c’était un jour fantastique, qui était aidé au soir quand j’ai regardé les « Simpsons » en français. Quelle surprise, c’était plus marrant qu’en anglais ! Et demain, au lycée…

23/2/09

Vous avez nous donné du bon conseil quand vous avez dit, « vivre le différence. » Aujourd’hui, mon corres, Kévin et moi ont rencontré avec mes deux amis que viennent de Hills Road. Quelle surprise, les grosses blagues de mes amis ont cassé toute la glace. Maintenant, tous est confortable au chez il. C’est une couture assez différente que chez moi et bien sur, c’est une famille différente mais surtout, nous nous finalement comprenons.

Aussi, la première journée scolaire de l’échange était fantastique – nous avons rencontré dans un salle de réunion – et quelle réunion ! Il y en assez des boissons et des goûts. Le lycée est très généreux. Après la surprise, une prof a nous donné une visite entre tout le lycée. Puis, j’ai une classe d’histoire-géo où on a discuté beaucoup des choses au sujet de Facebook. C’est un peu drôle parce que les anglais parlaient français et les français parlaient anglais.

À midi, nous avons mangé un déjeuner délicieux encore – j’ai eu un grand panini plus fort qu’en Café-Direct (de Hills Road.) Ensuite, dans le géo (le bâtiment célèbre du lycée,) nous avons une lecture sur les banlieues au cinéma français. C’était très intéressant et c’a aussi aidé notre connaissance d’un sujet très important dans notre société européenne.

Enfin, c’était un jour longue et dur mais cependant aussi un jour avec des surprises et quelque chose comme ça. Surtout c’était magnifique.

24/2/09

Aujourd’hui nous avons visite le village principal de Languedoc-Roussillon, Montpellier. Après un départ du lycée un peu paniqué, nous avons pris le tram á la Place de la Comédie, comme le « Petty Curry » de Montpellier. Au matin, nous avons reçu une promenade guidée dans la ville vieille. Il comportait par la maison du commerce et des industries (qui a partage de la terre avec la maison de Heidelberg.) Aussi, nous avons vu la grande église et l’école de santé. C’était incroyable et, simplement, énorme ! C’était fascinant, en particulier l’ambiance espagnole – c’a devenu plus comme ça quand nous avons pris l’escalier á l’haut niveau de les Arc de Triomphe. Quelle vue ! On a pu voir toute la ville – c’était magnifique, avec les arbres, les bâtiments classiques et les montagnes. Après-ça, on a des temps libres avant la visite au Musée Fabre. Malheureusement, la chose le plus impressionnée du musée, c’était la réaction des soldats de sécurités á nous ! Au soir, nous regarderons le match entre Lyon et Barcelone en TF1. Á demain !

25/2/09

La journée scolaire courte de mercredi, c’est une bonne idée française. Le matin a senti un peu ennuyeux (mais bien sur, il y a quelques des moments drôles.) La raison : au premier part, nous avons révisé aux sujets que nous avons déjà étudié au Hills Road.

Utile, mais ennuyeux. Puis, on a rempli un sondage pour un prof de Montpellier III que est intéressé par les nouvelles technologies. Après un déjeuner au cafeteria, nous sommes allé au centre ville pour faire du shopping. Le dommage a devenu chance – j’ai acheté 2 t-shirts pour 6.5 euros ! Ensuite j’ai vu un film avec mes amis français et anglais. C’était le nouveau film de Clint Eastwood, « Gran Torino. » Il a discuté les problèmes crée par le racisme aux petites-filles américains. Malheureusement, ce n’était pas un film très fort, au contraire á notre journée.

26/2/09

Aujourd’hui, j’ai vu le monde par les yeux d’un ado anglais – j’ai visité un ville français touristique (en cet case, Aigues-Mortes) et j’ai bu du l’alcool au centre-ville. C’était drôle – tous les habitants ont nous regardé. Aigues-Mortes était magnifique – les bâtiments, les murs, etc. Malheureusement, presque de tous les magasins ont ciblé aux touristes. C’était bon pour nous – les pétards ont coûté presque rien mais pour un résultat la ville devient moins classique. C’est le même dans un autre ville comparable – Pingyao, en chine. Il n’y a pas un supermarché mais il y a beaucoup des magasins pour de souvenirs.

Cependant, la journée était fantastique. Le tour du ville était marrant parce que, selon de Tom C, le guide aime les drogues un peu trop. Peut-être, c’est vrai – il a parlé vite il a été très énergique et dynamique – après il a parlé constamment pour 2 heures, néanmoins, comme notre phrase préféré, quelle blague !

Lose the Illusion

Bart Jones' 2008 account of the rise and dominance of Hugo Chavez, "Hugo," precipitated a revealing conversation with a Venezuelan friend of mine. During the 2002 attempted coup of Chavez, the Bush Administration adopted a policy disgustingly reminiscent of that of the Latin American side of Reagan's Iran-Contra affair. Otto Reich, closely involved with the Nicaraguan Contras occupied the Latin American desk at the State Department whilst, immediately prior to the attempted whilst, immediately prior to the "coup," $1,000,000 were pumped into Chavez's opposition, via US government agencies such as USAID nonetheless. For the 2-day dictatorship of Pedro Carmona, the US was joined only its close ally El Salvador in endorsing the Venezuelan right who ousted a President who had been democratically elected, chosen by the people on a simple majority. If it wasn't for the actions of the swarms of so-called Chavistas, the US government would have aided and abetted in the abolition of another Latin democracy.
Here my friend enters the equation. She arrived in England from Venezuela in 2003 and disputes Chavez's democratic legitimacy, likening her homeland to the plight of Colombia. Most troubling, she believes that is only a matter of time before the world's most trigger-happy police force, the United States military steps in and removes Chavez. Thus, the realization of the dangerous precedent set by Reich and co. A belief fosters amongst the Latin American elite that democracy can be circumvented by brown-nosing up Washington way. In Venezuela, there aer serious problems in and between the barrios and the gated communities of the elite but unless those problems are addressed by means of a fairly elected government, the class tension will not slacken. It cannot be in the interests of any peace-loving Venezuelan to involve the US in a domestic issue. Even if Chavez bore tyrannical tendencies, he is popularly, democratically elected and is subject to re-election even under the terms of the recent, controversial referendum. Unless all domestic interests absolve to debate and conciliate their differences via democratic due process, the barrios will continue to foster violence and the elites will thus be forced to continue living behind chain-link fences.
Of course, there is an American perspective to this issue. Any American who has been overseas since 2001 will realize just how much respect the US has lost in the 21st century. Barack Obama surely realizes this and, unlike his predecessor, has the brains to respect the theory of war. One should only attack when serious violence is threatened against it. No country should serve as an international police force. That is the responsibility solely of the United Nations. Obama promised change and if the only change is adherence and respect to the above theory, he will have my vote in 2012. There simply cannot be scope for the persistence of the disgusting policies of a crazy old man.
These are the worlds of someone who has lost a loved one due to an American military presence where there was never an American mandate for it. The pain of never being able to know a family member is something nobody should have to endure. If people must suffer such a circumstance due to a morbid desire to circumvent democracy, everything will be lost.

Vote 'Yahu, Vote B-Net

At the risk of falling off the narrow, two-state path I so dearly tread, I advise you all to vote Benjamin Netanyahu for Prime Minister of Israel. There are plentiful reasons to crawl along this radical, illogical line. For instance, the parents of Tzipi Livni were strongly involved in Irgun, a Zionist movement that aimed to overcome the British occupancy that marred the East Mediterranean until that fateful day in 1948 when Israel won its nationhood at the expense of a few million Palestinians and their respective livelihoods. A country that wishes to subsist peacefully in the Middle East cannot bear such bloodlines in its highest office, but that is just one reason to vote Netanyahu.
The thing with B-Net (which ironically sounds a little similar to B'Tselem) is that he can appeal to many tastes. If you have a problem with the Israeli military incursions into neighbouring countries, your favourite 'Yahu has something to offer. He successfully alienated the Clinton clan in 1998 when he pointedly met with Silly Billy's foes, including one Newt Gringrich. Now that President Obama has whipped out a master stroke and appointed Silly Hilly as Secretary of State, one can be reasonably sure that the unquestioned financial and military favours will not continue. Vote B-Net, vote peace.
Perhaps most importantly, the world currently possesses one prominent, quotable Head of State, "Uncle" Hugo Chavez. A vote for 'Yahu will give the press another mirthful opportunity. The ongoing preparations for the United States and Iran to shoot breeze at one another will surely light a fire under a man such as B-Net. And you know what that means? More gems, such as "It’s 1938, and Iran is Germany and Iran is racing to arm itself with atomic bombs." In a reverse scenario, the speaker would be jailed for anti-semitism or forced to recant by the Pope but no, 'Yahu's just a yahoo, so we can look forward to more controversial hilarity if B-Net becomes President.

Snow Snow Snow

Here in the UK, the big guy in the sky only typically allows one, maybe two days of noticeable snowfall per year. In the past week, it has snowed for six days. In Cambridgeshire, many students have only had two or three days in the classroom over the corresponding time frame. But why? Despite the unusual frequency of the snowfall, no day saw more than 2 inches of snow. Even when the snow was falling thick and fast, as in this morning, Cambridge kept ticking along. For a first, the trains were early and there appeared to be little delay for buses in the city center. My surprise that school remained open emanated more from the pattern established by the surprise closings the previous few days rather than any serious concern over our safety and well being. Evidently, the school bore no real such concerns as well - teachers and staff had no real problem with the pitched snowball battles on and around campus so I gradually became used to the idea that school was going to be on. With exams creeping ever closer, we simply can't afford to miss more school time. Thankfully, the school coped well today with the snow so with any luck we have seen the last of the disturbances.
This isn't a complete knock on the government infrastructure here. Whilst so-called pragmatism has seen the economy take a £3 billion hit and grit supplies all but eliminated, the country has proven that a few inches of snow are quite a small obstacle to overcome. Obviously in more westerly regions such as Dorset, which saw over 20 inches of snow in places, severe disruption is inevitable but such conditions were rare across the country as a whole. The problem was more the inexperience of dealing with the snow rather than any practical problems caused by it. That is a mercifully small barrier to overcome so with any luck, normality will return within the coming days.

A Masterclass In Box-Ticking

Just a week ago, Barack Obama was sworn as the 44th President of the United States. Long ago, during the infancy of his campaign, Obama was perceived as acutely sensitive to the Arab cause, befriending several leading Palestinians. This move was canceled out by a subservience to the Jewish lobby during great swaths of the election campaign but Obama looks set to become a man of actions as well as words, or so his first week in the Oval Office would have us believe.
Of course, the most impressive thing about Obama is his tacit humility and sympathy. Only an hour after his inaugural address, the President found himself issuing a statement denoting his hope that the recently stricken Senator Edward Kennedy would recover to a functional state. This is a man definitely wants to do good, to be seen in a positive light not just by his fellow Americans but also across the world.
It was under this context that Obama gave his first interview as President to Al Arabiya, promising that via "a language of respect," he would show that "Americans are not your enemy." While some political anlaysts have pinned up this reconcilliatory gesture as a nod to the Bush Administration, who offered an interview to the Saudi-owned network in 2004, Obama's words provoked a positive reaction in the Middle East. Hisham Melhem, the journalist who conducted the interview commented that, "the reaction has been phenomenal. People thought the president was sincere, authentic."
Obviously sincerity and authenticity are very small steps on the path to repairing America's tarnished image but they are on the trail nonetheless, something that Manouchehr Mottaki, Iranian Foreign Minister recognized, declaring, "we are in a turning point. We are at a milestone now." Given that those words came from a delegate of a government that was more a belligerent than an acquaintance of the Bush administration, their impact is huge. Even for there to be a possibility of normalization represents the change that Obama so often spoke of during his campaign. The Syrian state news agency reported that Al-Assad expressed "hope that dialogue would prevail to overcome the difficulties that have hindered real progress toward peace, stability and prosperity in the Middle East." In one fell swoop, Obama has captured the imagination of the world. Here we have a leader who at the very least will commence a program of actual dialogue. This desire to make amends was evidenced by the appointment of George Mitchell as Special Envoy to the Middle East. Within days, Mitchell had embarked on a tour of Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia in the hope of solidfying a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
However, voters back home will not reelect Obama if he does not solve America's economic problems. It appears he is aware of this circumstance and sides with the general populous, sending an important message that instead of an executive entwined with the oil industry, the United States would be served by a man with the interests of the people at his heart. After the release of the latest Wall Street bonus figures showed little change from the boom of 2004, Obama declared, "There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses. Now is not that time. And that's a message that I intend to send directly to them." Indeed, Obama backed up his powerful words by ordering Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to cancel Citigroup's purchase of a new executive jet after recently having taken receipt of $45 billion as part of the government bailout plan.
For the last two years, Obama has spoken of change. Not limited to the two previous examples, Obama has made a real change even in the first two weeks of his presidency.

I'll take the high road and you'll take the low road...

Israel today displayed its political savvy, declaring a unilateral ceasefire that will in theory end the Israeli atrocities in Gaza but in reality will only see an escalation to the dire plight of the Palestinians. The bombs will stop but whilst Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni gaze from the high road to hatred, the situation within the Gaza Strip will worsen. Israeli troops will remain deep inside the Gaza Strip, thereby intensifying the blockade that will be forgotten now that the Knesset has shown some compassion, making the first move towards peace. As to who they were competing with it is hard to say. Hamas, the Gaza Strip's democratically elected government has been destroyed bec ause it was not in line with Israeli principles. Many of its members are dead and its leader, Khaled Mashaal, is apparently exiled in Damascus, isolated from returning some political stability to the territory that under the rule of law is his to govern.
Instead, conscripts and reservists from the enemy will patrol the streets, ensuring that Hamas cannot regroup or resupply. There is no means for a free and fair election to establish government whilst Israeli troops roam the streets so it is fortunate that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon sees this only as a temporary solution, describing the ceasefire as "the first step leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza." Ban must be hoping that successive steps will involve a withdrawal also of Israeli planes from Gazan skies and Israeli boats from Gazan waters. So long as the blockade continues, revenge from Hamas will have real justification and anti-Western sentiment the world over will only continue to ferment.
Indeed, the War on Terror has failed to eliminate the root cause of the problem. In less than three years, Israel has killed around 3500 Palestinians and Lebanese whilst suffering just 49 civilian deaths. This is summary murder. When the number of Palestinians who died exceeds by far the number of rockets and mortars fired (750 apparently), things have gone beyond retaliation. Such barefaced disproportionality does nothing more than cause abject fury atthe Israeli cause and by extension, the financial and political backing of Western powers, the US and UK in particular. As long as the governments of those countries fail to condemn Israeli-perpetrated breaches of international law, terror attacks will continue and innocent people will continue to die, all while Israel is praised by Western leaders for its bold move to further the cause of peace in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Dedicated to the memory of Malcolm H. Kerr, October 8. 1931- January 18. 1984.

Self-Persecution is a Terrible Thing

Whilst the State of Israel has apparently been torn ragtag by Hamas rockets since the dawn of time, the local Jewish community recently fell victim to attack from one of their own.
At Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge - where I am a Lower Sixth student -, there has been an undercurrent of support for human rights. The school has our own chapter of Amnesty International and also had two former students feature in international news coverage after climbing phone masts in Beijing in protest of PRC's treatment of the Tibetan people.
This undercurrent continued in the form of the Lower Sixth production, an adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof which in essence discusses the responsibility of Jews the world over to maintain their traditions even when impeded. Our Director, Richard Fredman - himself Jewish - seemed uncomfortable with a message that may be interpreted as Zionist within a defined secular education system. It was presumably for this reason that, at the end of the show, a video was shown featuring Israeli tanks and warplanes as well as soldiers rounding up Palestinians.
What followed was a hateful torrent from the local Jewish community. The video, according to a spokesperson of the Cambridge and Suffolk Jewish Community confirmed that Cambridge is an "institutionally anti-Jewish city," "a blot on cultural landscape." The spokesperson then slammed Mr Fredman as "misguided," an abuser of public funds. Julian Cohen-Gold, the father of one of my schoolmates, claimed that Fredman had no right to portray the "very strong political message," especially since it has "no parallel with the pogroms." The influential Jewish Chronicle saw requisite to throw its weight around and claimed that Mr Fredman had intentionally developed a piece of "anti-Zionist and even anti-Jewish propaganda." May I ask, how is it that a Jew can be anti-Jewish?
Mr Fredman thankfully recognised this propensity to find offense where where there was none and preemptively wrote in his programme notes, "I make no apology for dedicating this production to all people forced from their homes by intolerance, ignorance and fear." Mr Cohen-Gold must have been looking to avoid the parallels because they were pointed out to him in the program and then reinforced when the house lights went on at the end. Our principal, Ms. Sinclair offered a vague apology but reiterated that Mr Fredman had raised awareness of political and moral issues "with considerable success and with the college's full support".

I have never been the victim of self-persecution so perhaps I just cannot recognise the symptoms but nonetheless, I consider the depiction of our city, with thriving Muslim and East Asian districts, as a "blot on the cultural landscape" as an extremely offensive remark, especially because the nature of its origin was that the director of a high school musical rightly refused to fall into the political hypochondriac's mindset that seems to plague so many of his religious peers.