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Diplomatic Envoys Walkout of UN Anti-Racism Conference
oldmanken
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During a speech today by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Western representatives got up and walked out as the Iranian President called Israel "totally racist." Links to the BBC and CNN stories. Prior to the walkout, two protesters attempted to disrupt the speech before being ejected.
What strikes me most is the people applauding, as seen in the video at the BBC, and I wonder, were they applauding for what Ahmadinejad was saying or because the Western envoys were walking out? Also, how does the US begin to approach Iran diplomatically with this guy in power? Do they just wait until after the next Iranian election?
What strikes me most is the people applauding, as seen in the video at the BBC, and I wonder, were they applauding for what Ahmadinejad was saying or because the Western envoys were walking out? Also, how does the US begin to approach Iran diplomatically with this guy in power? Do they just wait until after the next Iranian election?
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That said, this conference was being boycotted already by a few nations, and it's pretty much just a circus event between Iran and Israel.
Except the general consensus is that his positions have not actually played well in Iran, and he is likely to lose the next election.
Parts of it are, they banned a political party for being racist against the arabs previously, iirc.
That said, let's not take this thread in a horrible direction already.
Of course hearing this from someone as equally racist, sexist, and generally loony toony doesn't really help.
Unfortunately, that's not really the case. The President of Iran is responsible for foreign relations, and while the Supreme Leader can intervene, that has become less common and likely since the President and Prime Minister offices were merged.
From what I've read, Ahmadinejad rode into power on a populist message of improving the domestic economic situation in Iran, and has used his increasingly bellicose foreign policy stances as a way to distract the Iranian populace from his utter failure to do so.
Yes, but I read a piece in the Economist a few months ago which seemed to indicate that the foreign policy stunts are not really distracting the Iranian population. If Khatami runs in the upcoming election, he'll likely win it.
Gays do not exist in Iran!
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It's like saying Michelle Bachmann is representative of the United States.
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Except the whole thing with the Arab parties seemed to be personal. From all accounts, the Arab parties got into a pissing contest with the nationalist parties, and the nationalists won.
What probably prompted the walkout is Iran (I'm not going to bother trying to spell the name) saying Israel was the most despotic regime, when one can bet that the western countries that were there were there to try to address Darfur.
Honestly, I think Israel would be well served to raise a stink about the Uighurs in Xinjiang. It isn't as dependent on China as we are (in fact, China bankrolls most of its enemies) and needs the good will in the Muslim community. If it pulls it off, Israel could become a flag bearer of pan-Islam.
Can I assume you meant "Iran" there and not Isreal? o_O
I'm not sure where you're going with that point, but Michelle Bachmann is representative of a pretty large minority of the US.
She is A representative, but she is not representative.
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I don't think the proper response is to walk out on him though. Maybe laughter would be better.
I'm calling the NTSB, another thread has been derailed into right-wing bashing... again.
I meant representative, not repub.
But okay...
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Just ignore it.
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He knows what you meant... to the extent that he can ever really "know" anything not dictated to him by Fox News.
Regardless.... Israel is racist, but in much the same way the U.S. is racist. It's policies can be abhorrent, but they aren't representative of all the people the states encompass.
Frankly, getting a lecture from the guy who hosted the Holocaust is Bullshit symposium is pretty fucking rich.
Some of their population/parties are really fucking racist. While it's considered rude to point this out on a national stage (up there with pointing out the Armenians and expecting Turkey to not throw a rock at you), the Iranian president likes to take it 8 steps too far as a hobby.
At least one of the protesters was wearing a rainbow-colored clown wig and threw red clown noses at Ahmadinejad. Which may not fall under the definition of a "proper" response, but I found it amusing.
And the fact that he is absolutely corrupted by the drive for power would make him better?
There is some racism, but it's pretty consistent with other nations (Israeli Arabs only complain that veterans get special treatment, and Israel tends to frown on Muslims serving because it doesn't want to force people to fight family or violate their beliefs [the Quaran outlaws intermuslim combat], and some trouble visiting family in the PT). There is a fair bit of nationalism, though.
They actually didn't ban parties based on race. As I noted earlier, both Arab parties were involved in a pissing contest and lost. If I remember correctly, one of the party's leaders said something the nationalists didn't like, and so the MKs started hurling insults at each other. The other Arab party joined the fray with some insults, and the nationalists were able to get enough of the Knesset to say "fine, whatever" to kick the two parties out.
Yeah, I saw that after I posted. Apparently a poll from the end of March puts this new candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, at about 52%, whereas Ahmadinejad is only coming in at about 32%. I think you're going to see a bit of a change in the regime come June.
Indeed.
It was two specific parties who were targetted, not all arabs/muslims
If you ask me, the whole barring them from the elections was STILL wrong (I lean to the left when it comes to Israeli politics.), but let's not misrepresent things.
The idea was that it's conceivable for a reasonable person trying to make progress leading his country to say bullshit things to stay in power so that he can make progress leading his country. It appears that this guy is not a reasonable person, to say the least. I'm not very knowledgeable about middle eastern politics, it appears that while my comment may be true in the general case it is highly unlikely in this case.
Would you trust peace made with a man who is so comfortable with lying?
I'm sorry, but your whole covert-ops take on fixing a country from within by pretending to be a bigot so that you can get elected is cute, but it is also the stuff of Hollywood, not the stuff of reality.
We're getting off-topic, but yes I would, and I think it's more naive to think that in some cases good politicians* say things they don't believe to stay in power than to think this never happens. It's a moot point anyway because it seems the overwhelming evidence is that the Iranian prez is not a good politician*.
*defined as politicians who are worth approaching diplomatically and may be willing to make reasonable compromises
No, I'm talking about how Israel can get on its neighbor's good side by being a frontrunner in area interests ((Xinjiang is pretty much Tibet with Muslims). It's kind of like all those GE ads about how green it is.
I'm saying that a man like Ahmadinejad who is willing to go SO FAR in what he says is not a man to expect things to come from. There are limits to propriety.
I think you're placing too much Power in Israel's hands.
Israel will never be seen as a champion of the Islamic world as long as certain extremist clerics are still having attention paid to them. Arab/Muslim Rejectionism will paint Israel in a negative light no matter what they do.
She gets a ton of support for even her most vile comments from the mouthpieces on the right, and thus by the people who listen to those mouthpieces. I'm not saying she's representative of the entire country, or even the entire GOP, but there is a not-insignificant number of people who fully embrace her rhetoric. Hence "pretty large minority".
But, yeah, this is off-topic; I just wanted to clarify what I meant.