Life
Learning from Istanbul
From Nilüfer Göle to Seyla Benhabib and Andrew Arato. The unanimous chorus of disapproval at the Istanbul Seminars, greeted the Turkish Constitutional Court’s decision to overthrow the law allowing the veil to be worn in universities. Sociologist Nilüfer Göle spoke of a attempt addressed at “confiscating democracy and public debate in the name of legalism”. This same Court could now decide to close down the governing party, the AKP, the moderate Islamic group led by Premier Erdogan and the President of the Republic Gül. Should this happen it would be a terrible blow to Turkey’s hopes to join the EU. The alliance of the three extremisms – secularist, Catholic and Islamic – would be the only one rejoicing.
All the stages in a risky game
This time Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey have had a lucky escape. With the delivery of the defence’s case, the trial proceeds against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has a moderate Islamic orientation and holds 341 of 549 seats in parliament. At the last election, the AKP won almost 47 percent of the votes cast, totalling 16,800,000 votes. It now becomes clear that the AKP are attempting to reach a verdict as soon as possible, to exploit the advantage of the ‘victim effect’ in the potential upcoming elections, (which the party’s possible ban could create). The trial against the majority party is literally damaging the country’s people and its economy.
“This way the extremists will win”
“Perhaps we are seeing the end of the democratisation process”. Ayşe Kadıoğlu, Professor of Political Science at the Sabancı University in Istanbul, says she is worried about the ruling from the Turkish Constitutional Court that has rejected the law about wearing headscarves in universities: “Those directly affected by this law are adult citizen. This problem is totally different from issues in Europe, where the debate about the veil only concerns primary and secondary schools”. According to Ayşe Kadıoğlu, radicals are wining the match in all sectors, and Europe must be careful to move cautiously: “The result of the debate on Turkey’s entry in the EU is what will shape the future of Europe”.
An interview with Daniele Castellani Perelli.
A blueprint for the Middle East
In recent years the interest of Arabs towards their Turkish neighbour has grown hugely. The main Pan-Arab newspapers such as Al Hayat and Al Quds Al Arabi give events in Turkey a lot of coverage. The two satellite channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya have full time correspondents based in Ankara to follow closely all the news. So it is therefore not an exaggeration to refer to the ‘Turkish blueprint’, from which Arabs expect convincing answers to solve the huge problems regarding all of their countries: the national path to democracy; the separation of the military from politics; the rejection of violence as a means of forcefully establishing relations and defining the role of religion in the public sphere.
“The Left that is no longer capable of providing protection”
European citizens today are frightened, fearful, and in search of protection for themselves and for their countries. They increasingly vote for political coalitions promising protection from the effects of globalisation. Is it therefore fair to state that the real criteria on which choices are made in general elections are no longer the (old) distinctions between the right and the left, but rather the position a political party assumes with regards to global change? This is the subject discussed in this interview with Zygmunt Bauman, a sociologist of Polish origin, who explains that the Left has lost its identity and forgotten its commitment to defend the poor; hence the “no global” logo has become the prerogative of the Right.
Suspicion and scepticism in Cairo
The attitude of Egyptian onlookers to the result of the recent Italian election, with the return of Silvio Berlusconi as Prime Minister, is one of caution and distrust. It’s not hard to understand why the evolution of Italian politics is so attentively followed by the southern side of the Mediterranean, you only need to quote the results of the complex commercial exchange between Italy and Egypt at the end of 2007: equivalent to approximately 4 billion euros (Information from ISTAT), with Italian exports at 2.1 billion (+39.4% compared to 2006) and imports at -16%, providing a total trade surplus of 321 million euros.
The return of Calderoli sparks fear in the Arab World
It seems the Arab World has not celebrated the news of Silvio Berlusconi’s recent victory in the elections, who has taken hold of the wheel which drives Italy for the third time, as reported by Lebanese newspaper Annahar. Most Arab media sources are simply reporting the story of the Italian elections without, however, attempting to study it in depth, due to the complexity of home-grown political games. Only Turkey is rejoicing.
“The new Italian government, Islam and the Middle East”
“The Northern League’s agenda is based on identity and the party appears to have obtained the copyright as far as immigration is concerned. The Democratic Party (PD) has instead tried to emphasise the optimism of goodwill, neglecting conflictual issues that worry citizens”. Renzo Guolo is a columnist for the daily newspaper La Repubblica and a Professor of the Sociology of Islam at Turin University. Also the author, among other books, of “Xenophobes and xenophiles. The Italians and Islam” and “The path of the Imam. Iran from Khomeini to Ahmadinejad” (Laterza), he explains how the new government will change Italian foreign policy: “Berlusconi will put in the attic the centre-left’s ‘equidistance’ regards to Israel and Palestine, however, as far as the Middle East is concerned, he will only implement his own agenda if the Republican McCain is elected to the White House”.
The police hunting down the vices of Riyadh
To be brief in the West the “Commission for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vices” is known as Mutawwa. An organsiation which was born in Saudi Arabia in 1940 and formed from a small army of 4000 men, with the special task of making sure the laws of Islam are respected by the popultion in the public sphere. The Mutawwa intends to make real an explicit verse from the Quoran, which reads: “You are the best community of all people, you will promote virtue and prevent vices”. It is, in fact, no mere chance that it is often called the “religious police”, since it embodies the will to verify, guard and impose Islamically correct behaviour on everybody on Saudi territory. The punishment being an initial warning, then arrests and at times corporal punishment, as has already happened in some instances.
The deal with Turkey (in the name of Islam)
It is not an isolated state. Saudi Arabia is bursting within its borders, especially when it come to business and especially if this business is done with a State that is getting more friendly, such as Turkey. It is a relationship which has become stronger in recent years, and it is no coincidence that it is under the first moderate Islamic government, led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. There are many reasons for this. First of all, the new commercial strategy put forward by the Minister responsible for foreign trade, Kurşad Tüzmen, who has strengthened all their ties, not only with Turkey’s bordering countries, but especially with those in the Islamic world. By creating dozens of areas of free exchange, favourable conditions and a lot of direct foreign investment on the land of the only country of the Crescent Moon leaning towards Europe.
“Iran is not the devil. It’s just a 'crazy country' like Israel”
“War? The most stupid activity of human being. It made me old at the age of 21” says Israeli journalist Yigal Sarna reporting, with a dose of irony and pessimism, an endless conflict. Born in Tel Aviv in 1952, Yigal Sarna is one of the most renowned reporters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which he has covered for almost 24 years. He’s actually reporter and also member of the editorial board of Yedioth Aharonot, Israeli’s largest daily newspaper. Co-founder of the “Peace Now movement”, he is also a successful writer and novelist. After having served as a tank commander in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, deeply touched by the experience of the war, Yigal Sarna decided to create with other ex-soldiers “Peace Now”, the largest extra-parliamentary movement in Israel.
The difficult conquest of the Jewish vote
The relationship between Barack Obama and the Jewish community is not one of the easiest. The Senator of Illinois is not so bothered so much by the “accusations” of being Muslim, but more so by a series of old indirect embarrassing connections. For example, with the much-discussed Louis Farrakhan, who supports him and is his mentor’s friend, the reverend Wright. Obama is doing everything he can to save his relationship with the Jewish community, but it is an uphill struggle. Out of the 74 Jewish Democratic Super-Delegates who will be participating in the Denver convention at the end of August, 36 have stated they are going to vote for Hillary Clinton, and only 12 for the senator from Illinois.
Against Integral Cosmopolitanism
I delayed responding to Andy Arato in the hope that Tariq Ramadan and Tariq Ali might clarify some issues by demanding a boycott of the Olympics to protest the killings in Tibet, a poor land occupied brutally since 1951. Alas, I cannot report that Ramadan has called on members of the Arab League or Iran to act against Beijing, which is also a chief patron of Sudan’s genocidal government. Ali does not seem to be urging intellectuals to action on China comparable to his (and Ramadan’s) campaign to deny Israel honors at European book fairs. Perhaps sport must just go on, as did the Olympics in 1972 after the Israeli team was massacred.
Rage and Pride: The Conversion of Magdi Allam
Baptised by Pope Benedict XVI himself during the Easter Vigil and at St Peters, the conversion of Magdi Allam has created a stir, but it’s the ‘spectacular’ approach of the conversion from Islam to Catholicism rather than the conversion itself which has aroused debate. Voices of protest are heard from the Arab and Muslim world, which view this episode as another provocation towards Islam, a bit like the Pope’s well-known speech in Regensburg. The Vatican has kept its distance, stating “they are his beliefs, not ours”. For the disputed controversialist and deputy editor of Corriere della Sera, it is the end result of a turbulent journey. The debate is open: how will the public role of Magdi Christian Allam change? Can Corriere della Sera, the most prestigious daily newspaper in the country, leave the Islamic question in the hands of an enraged convert?
Immigrants as candidates? No, we can’t
They participated in their thousands in the primaries of the PD, but then Veltroni’s party did not even nominate one immigrant as a candidate. He even went so far as to exclude from the lists the only one who had a seat in parliament for the PD, Khaled Fouad Allam – complains the writer Amara Lakhous, who has been in Italy for ten years and is the author of the novel “Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio”. The PDL does not do much better, since Souad Sbai’s candidature is a mere farce. Italians abroad, who do not live in Italy, can vote. Children of immigrants, who support the national football team, speak local dialects and perhaps have always lived here, cannot vote. Dear Italian politicians, integration is obtained with facts and not with words.
But we too need to step forward
In the halls of the parties everybody knows, but nothing is said, that the topic of immigration and immigrants results in a loss of votes. In brief, it is better not to talk about it, also because the overwhelming majority of them still do not have the right to vote. A negative tendency which in fact results in the marginalisation of not only immigration, but also leaders of immigration, who have all too often served as a “coloured” background to the great political kermes. And so why is it that despite the experience of the party’s leader Veltroni in favour of dialogue between cultures, the party which “Can do” has not included on its lists members of the world of immigration? Is it also the fault of leaders of foreign origin, who should step forward?
"Our politics are more backwards than our football"
"Soon the black football attacker Mario Balotelli will play for the Italian national team: but with the present political outlook, a coloured candidate is impossible. Football is more progressive than politics". So says Gad Lerner, presenter of TV show 'L'infedele' [The Unfaithful] when commenting on the lack of candidates representing immigrants (especially Muslims) in the Democratic Party. "It's the umpteenth indication of Italian provincialism", the La7 journalist states harshly, who has made his Jewish identity well-known: a Hebrew who grew up in Milan, his latest book is called ‘Tu sei un bastardo. Contro l’abuso d’identità’ [You are a bastard. Fighting identity abuse], Feltrinelli, 2005. He criticises the pursuit of the Democratic Party to the right when it comes to homeland security (‘the centre-right voter will not be convinced by imitations’), and on the specific political events of Khaled Fouad Allam he says, ‘one single parliamentary representing Muslim culture was already not enough, but to go from one to none is really an ill-judged use of marketing’.
"Veltroni has ignored us, I choose the right-wing"
Italian Islamic consultative council and President of the Association of Moroccan Women in Italy, comes onto the field with Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right party ‘People of Freedom’. Sbai attacks the ‘multiculturalist do-gooders’ of the centre-left while trying to win her 20th seat on the list with philosophy in Puglia, which puts her election in the balance. She thinks that immigrants should also be given the vote in political elections (“Citizenship is not necessarily required, having a stay permit should be enough”), and when we remind her that her ideas will have difficulty being accepted by the allied Northern League member Roberto Calderoli she replies: “It’s better to discuss with Calderoli than to receive indifference from Veltroni. In ten years the former mayor of Rome has never deigned to come and visit our centre”.
“Supporters of Israel often come close to the most obvious ethnocentrism”
As far as I now see it the 1967 War was an aggressive Israeli war. But the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank in 1948, and its subsequent Israeli quasi annexation in 1967 are illegal irrespective whoever attacked first. What about the Arab citizens of Israel? Will Cohen follow Lieberman and those who propose forcible transfer, loss of citizenship, and thus a soft form of ethnic cleansing? Unfortunately supporters of Israel often come close to the most obvious ethnocentrism, that is so at variance with the Jewish tradition since the 18th century.
"Dear Andy Arato, you miss the point"
Tariq Ramadan is quick and unequivocal when it comes to a call to boycott Israel at book fairs, but needs a moratorium to initiate a process of deliberation about religious justification of stoning women. The real philosophical dispute between Arato, whose work I respect highly, and myself concerns his definition of a state as “a people, a territory and coercive organization.” I disagree. States exist in history and not just by definition or in law books. Arato objects to Israel’s “Law of Return.” He must also object, I suppose, to affirmative action programs for Blacks or women in the US (or for poor Muslim immigrants in Europe) because they use the same logic.
What is that on your Head? Turkey’s new Legislation Concerning the “Headscarf”
The rift that I saw one afternoon within an educated, affluent Istanbul family is running through the hearts and minds of millions of Turkey’s citizens in the aftermath of the Parliament’s resolution on February 10, 2008 to abolish strictures on the wearing of the headscarf in institutions of higher learning. I support removing the headscarf ban, as I would support reforming Article 301 (prohibiting “insulting Turkishness”), and I believe that the legislative package which the AKP has put forth so far carries within itself the potential for many progressive “democratic iterations” in Turkish society, whose reach will go beyond the ban on the scarf alone.
“Dear Mitchell Cohen, attacking the Left is pure evasion”
“Yes, let us support the Israel's right to exist – writes Andrew Arato, a constitutionalist and the Dorothy Hart Hirson Professor of Political and Social Theory at the New School University of New York – But which territorial entity should we accept as the state of Israel? Attacking "the Left", without answering this question is pure evasion!“
“For Russia, Islam is no longer a threat”
The situation is calm, so far from the one Moscow had in the Nineties. The second Chechen war is over and Vladimir Putin, the outgoing president of Russia, no longer has to deal with Islam as a threat, nor does his dolphin Dimitri Medvedev. “Today the Muslim community in Russia has good relations with the central state”, says Alexey Malashenko from Carnegie Endowment for Peace. Malashenko is an appreciated expert of Islamic issues in Russia and has written several books and essays on the topic.
An e-mail on “Orianism”
Giancarlo Bosetti is right in saying that "Orianism" is just a form of racism and is found in all groups of society, intellectual and illiterate - Patricia Wilson, one of our readers, writes - If one takes each of the attacks separately, each was done for a different reason by a person or persons from a different ethnicity. Time and skin color are the least important qualities.
Blowing on the fire
Various local politicians from the extreme left have called upon people to boycott the Book Fair in Turin, guilty of asking Israel to be its guest of honour. This has sparked off a heated debate in Italy, where the reasons of those against the boycott have come across as much more balanced and sound (one cannot compare the Israeli government to its writers, and the authors invited, such as Oz and Yehoshua, are men of peace and discussion). Someone however (who really could not wait) has seized the occasion to expose some anti-Semitism and "Islamic fascism" in someone who in reality only reacted due to political reasons, such as Tariq Ramadan.
“Musharraf’s was an enlightened dictatorship”
“Enlightened dictatorship”. This is how Pere Vilanova deems Pakistan and Musharraf’s government. Professor of Political Science at the University of Barcelona, Vilanova contributes to El Pais. Almost a dissenting voice in this issue, he confides that the next Pakistani election - which are going to be held on February 18 amid a feisty atmosphere after Bhutto’s assassination - shall not be rigged and that murky dealings will not take place under international observers’ control. As an eastern researcher and expert, since the 80s Vilanova has frequently travelled in Pakistan and in Central Asia and through the years has taken notice of the developments of a country which he says is passing through “a long transition period”.
Benazir and Arab malaise
The election of Benazir Bhutto in 1988 was a cultural shock to the Arab world. No Arab woman had ever run for president or prime minister. Even today, women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive a car, based on truly ridiculous customary rules. How did Benazir manage to come to power at the age of 35, while Arab Muslim women have been left behind? The successful political case of Benazir Bhutto shows that Pakistani people do not take notes from the Wahhabist Saudi model like the Afghani Taliban do, but instead follow the English or Indian path.
“An example for the Arab world”
“The people of Pakistan have always wanted democracy. They have voted for a female prime minister, even though she had been denigrated by the mullahs and by our own military. Pakistan can show the way to the world by creating a Muslim democracy; it can be a model for other Islamic countries like the Arab countries. The only question is: will the Pakistani military and its American backers let it become a democracy?” In this interview, Hussain Haqqani, former advisor to Benazir Bhutto and now Director of the Centre for International Relations and Professor at Boston University, expresses his wary optimism for the future of his country: “The likelihood that the People’s party and Sharif’s party will win a free and fair election is very high - says Haqqani, who regularly comments on Pakistan on Cnn and Bbc - And I think they can certainly govern together”.
Islamism and human rights: an impossible dialogue?
The possibility of an effective process of assimilation of human rights in the Arab world is dependent on an inclusive dialogic process reflecting the pluralism of this context. Despite the common belief that Islamism is hostile to human rights, its rise has been accompanied by the development of a literature and a set of documents that embrace the language of human rights and project it onto the Islamist political ideal. In order to frame this issue in a more familiar way, we may consider Islamism as a kind of communitarianism that recognizes the legitimacy of social institutions (human rights included) conditionally to their foundation on the constitutive values of the community of membership. Islamism has had a relevant role in the affirmation of an Islamist way to human rights.
“A show to prepare an attack against Tehran”
Bush, Olmert, Abbas. The main characters at the Annapolis summit have one characteristic trait in common which makes it even more improbable that they will be able to find a peace agreement: three leaders who are irreparably weak. Palestinian journalist and Al Jazeera columnist Samir Al Quaryouti says so in this interview: “Why was there all this rush to promote the Conference, if it is not for media and propaganda reasons, and perhaps to support Bush? The fear is that the aim was to establish an anti-Iranian front, to wage a war against Iran in the space of a few months”. Al Qaryouti paints a dreary scene: “If the declaration of Annapolis is not applied, no one will be able to save the region from a Third Intifada”.
“Israel has to take the first step”
A revived road-map? A photo-opportunity? Or a real possibility for peace? “The key is in Israeli hands. Israel is the occupier and Israel has to take the first step”. Gideon Levy, left-wing Israeli journalist of Haaretz, former spokesman for Shimon Peres (1978 -1982), and, according to the French newspaper Le Monde, “a thorn in Israel’s side”, does not beat around the bush when talking about the recent Annapolis peace conference. Not overly optimistic on its likely outcomes, although conceding that it offers a glimmer of hope, Levy urges both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take a leap forward by abandoning brinkmanship and approaching peace with courage.
And Egypt no longer knows what side to be on
The main Egyptian press is following the ambiguous line of the President, Mubarak, “his jacket being tugged at” by, on the one side, the United States and Israel, and on the other by countries of the League and of its own public opinion, still mainly close to Hamas’ position. In terms of the results brought home by Egypt, the words of the foreign affairs Minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit stand out in the governmental newspapers. He gives Cairo the credit for having convinced Syria and the Lebanon to take part in Annapolis. The weekly newspaper Ahram Weekly puts forward the theory that the summit served to prepare an American military attack against Iran, as ResetDoc was already told by the ACPSS political analyst, Amr Al Shobaki. In the time being, there is the theory that Mubarak can go to Jerusalem.
Israeli scepticism and Iranian conundrum
As the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert repeated the day after the conference in Annapolis, Israel risks disappearing if it does not take a step back soon, to guarantee the formation of a Palestinian state by its side. The reactions to the mega media event are pessimistic, and at best, sceptical. Many analysts believe that Israel has won at Annapolis because it did not need to make any concessions. But the Iranian conundrum bears down. Does Bush, feeling stronger thanks to the large turnout of Arabs at Annapolis, intend to attack, with the aim of destroying, the nuclear plants of the Ayatollah? And if it is not him who gives the orders, will it be Israeli pilots (who continue their training for the long flight) who will fulfil the raid?
“Let Kosovo be independent”
Not long ago Mehmet Kraja, one of the most famous Albanian writers and dramatists, wrote in his latest book that “the world has carried out a war for us but now it has no interest to what we say or to what we think”. After an eight-year long limbo under UN administration, Kosovo is on the verge of declaring its independence unilaterally. Sabine Freizer, director of the Crisis Group’s Europe Program, helps us throw light on Kosovo’s thorny plight and on the reasons why Russia has no intention of backing its independence. In order to start on the right foot she makes it clear right away: “Kosovo is a unique case incomparable with any other situation around the world”.
All the risks of an explosive plot
Resolving Kosovo's status has already been delayed once following the UN Security Council’s inability to agree on UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari's recommendations last spring. To do so again threatens to destroy what is left of the tattered credibility of the international community and Kosovo's current leaders with the province's population. It is likely is that Prishtina will declare unilateral independence, perhaps before Christmas. That will precipitate more crises, including perhaps inside the EU where there still is no consensus on Kosovo. Putin sees no need to be cooperative. Kosovo independence will deepen Balkan instability, thus further tying down the US, EU and NATO.
“No rush. We need a shared solution”
The waiting time is very short and Oliver Ivanovic, leader of the Serbian List for Kosovo, welcomes the reporter in his office with a “hello” which confirms this polyglot’s hunger, as well as his moderation, the other quality of this politician, ex black belt in karate, over the years qualifying as a precious interlocutor who, among Western negotiators, diplomats and chancellors, is working hard for peace in this restless region. A region where the “Berlin of the Balkans”, Mitrovica, is the current hot spot. It is obvious: for Ivanovic peace does not mean independence. Like all Serbs, whether radical or not, he opposes the complete sovereignty of Kosovo. Fully aware, however, that the party, having reached this point, is lost. “It is still possible nevertheless, to work towards a more reasonable compromise, which is less painful for the Kosovo Serbs”, says Ivanovic showing a Giolittian approach, that is to say, of someone who tries to obtain more than what they actually can.
“Religion has been the true force”
“Do you know why the West has been so stunned by the Buddhist monks opposition to the Burmese regime? Because it has a distorted view of religion – either the war-like image of fundamentalist Islam or that of religion as a useless, private affair, a kind of magical-mystical game. In fact, faith gives us strength to face everyday life, and the Buddhist monks have shown this.” So Father Bernardo Cervellera, editor of the website AsiaNews (www.asianews.it), one of the most important journalistic sources on the Asian continent, responds implicitly to the observations made by the political philosopher Michael Walzer on the Burmese monastical revolt, which were published in the Italian newspaper Repubblica (“I admire these monks, but, frankly, I would prefer a revolt based on social democratic principles.”)
“The opposition has no chance right now, but this is only the beginning”
“Right now the opposition is under great stress. Burma today is as most repressive as it has ever been: they basically shut down all the cities every night, and they roam the streets and go and arrest people, it is almost like Nazi Germany. That is why the opposition has no chance right now”. Maureen Aung-Thwin, director of the Burma Project/Southeast Asia Initiative of the Open Society Institute, which is part of the Soros Foundations Network, makes no illusions about the future of the “Saffron revolution”, but she observes that the international pressure is growing, especially from the U.S. and also Europe (“can play a big role”), and that’s why she declares herself optimistic: “The trend of history is not towards more repressive dictatorships. It is impossible to totally isolate a whole population from the rest of the world in the 21st century”.
“But Christ would have had them built”
“The media is throwing petrol on the fire, and hardly ever are the numerous examples of harmonious coexistence of Muslims and Christians on Italian territory brought to light”. Silvio Daneo, former national vice-secretary of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (Wcrp), with a twenty-year experience in Asia, in this interview destroys the arguments of all those who are opposed to the construction of new mosques in Italy. He also criticizes the part of the Church who “seem to forget the Second Vatican Council”, and on the reciprocity in Muslim countries says loud and clear: “Jesus has never used a criteria of ‘interested’ reciprocity, Jesus speaks of ‘giving’ without expecting anything back in return”.
Deliberative polls and the Australian lesson
“Do you know that Australians are rather contradictory? In theory, they go mad for multiculturalism, but then in practice, they are afraid of non-European and non-Anglophone immigrants. They think they can change their landscape, physique and culture. In fact, for example, by building mosques”. Pamela Ryan, director of Ida (Issues Deliberation Australia), an study institute on the public opinion which is working between Australia and the United States, is verified expert on cultural prejudice. “Facilitating Global Dialogue”, this is the motto of her think tank, which aims to improve the quality of public debate on socially and politically important themes, such as immigration.
“The radical left is wrong, it is right to be cautious”
“The citizens’ fears are legitimate, the mayor’s office in Bologna is right to use prudence and graduality. But it is not true that there are too many Mosques in Italy, in fact there are too few: the total capacity of all the places of Muslim worship is fewer than 60,000 believers, which corresponds to only 7% of Italian Muslims”. Mario Scialoja, member of the Italian Muslim Consult and authoritative voice of Italian Islam, applauds the decision of the mayor of Bologna, Sergio Cofferati, to call a local referendum on the construction of a Mosque in his city, and attacks the radical left: “It sees certain Islamic movements as representative as the real base, of the real proletariat. It has a certain affinity with them because it interprets them as anti-imperialist and anti-American movements, but it has the wrong end of the stick”. Ex Ambassador in Saudi Arabia, ex Italian representative in the United Nations, Scialoja converted to Islam in 1987, and on the inadequate transparency of Italian mosques he adds: “My fear is not the arrival of foreign money of dubious origin, but that they gather money to finance dubious activities abroad”.
“Referendum? A very big mistake”
“I'm not saying that there are no problems concerning the construction of mosques, but they are not those that people are talking about. The real problem is making sure that there are no extremist preachers, but this issue is already being tackled.” Stefano Allievi, Professor of Sociology at the University of Padua, an expert on Islam and author of the book Italian Islam (Einaudi) does not agree with the modus operandi of certain Italian mayors with respect to the construction of mosques. Allievi cites the example various European states, such as the UK, which give pause for reflection, and also makes a reference to the US as an example of a country in which freedom of religion is an inalienable right.
An interview by Alessandra Cardinale.
All the stages of a European debate
In view of the protests and concerns of a section of the population, the mayors of Bologna and Genoa have recently decided to halt the construction of two new mosques. There will be a local referendum in Bologna, whilst in Genoa the Minister of the Interior has been asked to intervene. The debate on the construction of the mosques concerns not only Italian, but also European politics. Germany seems to be the country which has the greatest difficulties in managing the problem, but there has also been controversy in the UK and in France, too. The question remains however: how many mosques are there in Italy? And how many can really define themselves as such?
Elections in the Maghreb, melancholy in Egypt
It might not have won, but at least the PJD, the Moroccan Islamic party, was able to participate freely in the recent elections. The dream of a democracy open to Islamic political groups is a reality in several Middle Eastern countries, from Turkey to the Palestine to Morocco; but it continues to be a taboo issue for one of the most important countries in the region – Egypt. “In a multi-party system, Islamic movements are destined to win strong majorities, because their experience of the social fabric is far greater than that of the others”, explains the Egyptian political expert Diaa Rashwan. And this is why, after an initial opening up, President Mubarak has returned once again to the repression of the Muslim Brothers, who are the main force of opposition in the country. And which now looks on at Morocco with a certain melancholy.
Asian Values or Values in Asia?
“There is no common tradition in Asia to define the Great Book of the East”, as the American Orientalist de Bary put it in a valiant attempt to construct an Asian canon. On the other hand – writes Eva Pföstl, researcher at the Istituto di Studi Politici „S. Pio V”, in Rome – a pluralism of "Asian values" is still Asian values. There is nothing wrong with noting the diversity of values and still claiming that they are Asian. It is true, that "Asian values" is a construct. But then so are "the West" and "liberalism", both of which encompass a tremendous diversity of views. Because "Asian values" has been tainted by misuse by politically oppressive regimes, one suggestion is to replace it with "values in Asia".
But then Beijing will be like Luxembourg?
Can democracy turn China into Luxemburg who enjoys the highest per capital GDP in the world or into Finland who ranks first in Transparency International annual report or can it help students to find jobs after graduation? Democracy is far from being perfect. The demands of modern and complex society are sometimes beyond the abilities of ordinary people and the will of the majority may harm the interests of the minorities. In his Beyond Liberal Democracy, Daniel A. Bell suggests the creation of an upper house composed of people selected through a nation-wide competitive system, that will be awarded substantial power to restrict the power of a lower house composed of democratically elected representatives. It seems fine to me.
Hadassah Hospital, when Palestinian and Israelis work together
Young Hadassah International has held its first conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Rome. It took place over 4 days, and included such prestigious speakers as Dr. David Linton, Director of the Intensive Care Unit at the Hadassah Hospital in Israel, Dr. Dan Shanit, Deputy Director General of the Peres Center for Peace, and Liya Kebede, supermodel and WHO Goodwill Ambassador. Speaking before an audience of thousands of young Jews and non-Jews from around the world, they explained the wide reaching impact that the Hadassah Hospital has around the world.
Berman, Ramadan and that “credulous” Buruma
Is Tariq Ramadan a dangerous man, or is he the real moderate alternative to violent Islam? It is a heated debate. Today the controversy has exploded once again for the portrait which Buruma has dedicated to Ramadan in the New York Times Magazine. The Dutch writer has absolved the Swiss philosopher from the main accusations against him: “His politics offers an alternative to the violence which, at the end of the day, is reason enough to install a dialogue with him. In a critical way, but without fear”. On the other hand, it is not reason enough for Paul Berman. In his long essay, Who’s Afraid of Tariq Ramadan?, which came out in the American magazine The New Republic (and in Italy in the Berlusconian newspaper Il Foglio), the author of Power and the Idealists bitterly criticizes Buruma’s article.
What's at stake . . . and what isn't
We landed in Istanbul May 16 for work and to visit family and friends. We traveled to Ankara, then went southeast to villages near Kayseri, then back to Istanbul for an international anthropology conference before visiting the port city of Izmir for a few days, traveling inland again to the textile center of Denizli and eventually returning to Istanbul and departing June 5. We talked to as many people as possible, from taxi drivers to millionaires, businessmen, leftist activists, and academics, to ascertain the political climate of this country at the crossroads of civilizations. This is our account of those conversations. Note: To protect the privacy of our interviewees, all names have been removed, except for Jenny White who gave permission to use hers.
“That invisible majority of moderate Muslims”
By a quarter past six in the evening Ezhar Cezairli has finished visiting her last two patients, and is finally free to speak for us for a few minutes on the telephone. Because, in addition to being a secular member of the German Islamic Conference, she is also a dentist, practising in Frankfurt. “The conference has enabled the beginning of a dialogue, and within the community, too, we have finally begun to discuss”, Cezairli tells us. The first Turkish woman to obtain a school leaving certificate, she has founded an association of secular Muslims and believes in a private faith: “The majority of the German Muslim population are well-integrated and moderate, but they are not organized and are not visibile” she argues. “The Germans are lucky, because most Muslims have Turkish origins, and in Turkey, up until now, religion and politics have been separated. But I worry that the recent developments in Turkey will influence German Muslims too”.
An interview by Daniele Castellani Perelli.
Kermani: “Finally my Germany is facing the problem”
“On the whole I feel very much at ease in Germany, and especially in Cologne. The second and third generation of migrants are starting to penetrate the élites, and will know their own worth. And Germany has already become much more open, if we compare it to the cold years of the 1950s”. Navid Kermani observes optimistically the last steps of integration of the Muslim community in Germany. The young writer, playwright and orientalist of German-Iranian origins, born in Germany of Iranian parents, has passionately told the story of immigration several times. He is also author of Gott ist schön – Das ästhetische Erleben des Koran (2000) and of the recent novel Kurzmitteilung (Ammann Verlag, February 2007, 180 pag).
“Hezbollah? It is a double-faced Janus”
The South of Lebanon, after 10 months from the Lebanese war, is still struggling for the reconstruction of the areas involved in last summer conflict. Augustus Richard Norton, professor at the University of Boston, in his last book “Hezbollah” (Princeton University Press), published in April in the Usa, explains, very clearly, the goals and the importance of the Lebanese organization in the political and social system. In the book he describes Hezbollah as a double-faced Janus organization with both solidaristic and military aims. And after Israel withdrawal in 2000 and the war in summer 2006, it has become always more a model organization for the Middle East society.
Work, corruption, reforms: the issues at stake
It is an electoral campaign characterised by the need to regain the trust of the citizens, and dressed with the leit motiv of the appeal for a massive election turn out. The election officially opened in Algeria on 26th April and will involve the Country until 17th May, the day of the third pluralist legislative consultation in Algeria’s history since the elections in 1991, won by the dissolved Islamic Salvation Front (Fis) and then cancelled, since then 15 years of internal violence have ensued. The next elections, from which the Islamic integrationalists and radicals have been excluded, will see on the lists a large number of ministers and leaders of outgoing parties.
Mind in Paris, body in Algiers
In Arabic countries the elections are decided beforehand. But when, miraculously, the elections are slightly free, the people then go to vote to spite the government in power for many years, to punish the leaders for corruption, for the failings. For many it is essentially a question of a vote of protest as we saw after the victories of Hamas and the Muslim Brothers. Algerians, however, remember very well the legislatives of 1991, won by the fundamentalists of Fis. There will therefore be no surprises, because the fundamentalists will not have the majority in parliament. Nevertheless there will probably be a high level of absenteeism and this should be interpreted as a protest against the hegemonic party of the Fln.
What a bore, this paralysed democracy
The governing coalition has performed a political first. The three constituent parties have transformed themselves into committees to support an independent candidate who is external to each of their respective political structures – in this case Abdelaziz Bouteflika – when they ought to be focusing upon achieving power themselves, and imposing their own individual political programmes. The continuing existence of this political configuration, which was formed in the wake of the 2002 general election, has rendered the political landscape opaque, monotonous and sterile. It is a return to another form of political monopoly – three parties built around a single thought.
Farewell to socialism, here comes the regime of the businessmen
On March 26th a popular referendum approved the change to some important articles of the Constitution. An almost universal vote in favour (76%) was expected, but only 27% of the assignees went to the polls. What does this change for Egypt? Notions of socialism, the socialist system, socialist principles have been completely cancelled: local businessmen have buried Nasserism. In the political world the regime is even more authoritarian: parties of a religious nature are banned (but the Sharia still remains the source for legislation), electoral supervision of judges has been eliminated, emergency anti-terrorism laws have become definitive.
But the price of bread counts for more than the reforms
The reformation in the air of the land of the Nile is the product of the new way of thinking, the new philosophy which President Mubarak inaugurated in 2002. The fundamental “flaw” in the new way of thinking – writes Marco Hamam, expert on the Middle East and author of Egitto, la svolta attesa (Egypt, the awaited turning-point) (Edizioni Memori 2005) – is however the lack of realisation of Egypt’s actual impelling problem, which is not the increase of democratic practice. In a country where there is a new birth every 23 seconds, where more than half of the population survives with less than 40 euros a month, people are more interested in the progress of the price of bread than in constitutional reforms or in participating in politics.
Nixon in Egypt
If Richard Nixon were still President of the United States, would he enter into dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood? “Well, it’s a very hypothetical question, but I think so, yes. I think that a dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood would be coherent with the strategy of realist Republicans. At the end of the day, Nixon opened up the Soviet Union, and he was the first American President to visit China.” Robert S. Leiken, Director of the Immigration and National Security Programs at the Nixon Center, and the author of the forthcoming Europe’s Angry Muslims, has provoked much debate with his essay ‘The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood’, co-written with Steven Brooke and published in the March-April issue of Foreign Affairs.
Gilles Kepel: “Our foreign policy will not change regardless”
“The Arab world is anxiously following the presidential campaign”. Says Gilles Kepel, well-known journalist of Le Monde Diplomatique. “The worry – explains the professor at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris and author of Fitna and Jihad. The Trial of Political Islam – stems from the fear that France will renounce its independence in foreign policy. And from the fact that none of the candidates has international stature”. Worries which Kepel nevertheless deems to be unfounded. “The next president – he adds – will not have the possibility of making big changes. Economic interests and strategies are such, that even if Nicolas Sarkozy were elected, the much-feared alignment with the United States would be impossible”.
Sarko et les musulmans: the story of a non-existant love affair
Nicolas Sarkozy, the right’s presidential candidate, worked for a long time towards ensuring the recognition of French Islam, only to later alienate a large part of this electorate with his repressive u-turns on immigration and policies towards the banlieues. In reality, the relationship between the former Interior Minister and the Muslim population has always been ambiguous, and linked to an electoral opportunism which brought him up first against the republicans, and later against Muslims themselves. Certainly, it is too much to say that no Muslims will vote for the UMP candidate, but it can be confidently stated that his image as former Interior Minister has at least been compromised in their eyes.
“Without a secular state there is no religious freedom”
“In this electoral campaign the crisis of the Republic is clearly visible”. Theo Klein is ruthless in denouncing the lack of ideas for the future and the communitarist drift, which in his opinion is “a threat to the foundation of French democracy”. An ex-partisan, one of the most authoritative voices of French Judaism/Jewish), Theo Klein was president of Crif (Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions) from 1983 to 1989, and is a lawyer, still today. So attached to Jewish identity that he obtained Israelian nationality, and has played a leading role in a heated debate with the representative of the Arab League in France, Hamadi Essid.
An interview by Simone Verde.
“Egalite? For us, black people, it doesn't exist”
Patrick Lozes has no doubts: if the candidates to the French presidential elections want the votes of “Black France”, they must say how they intend to act “pragmatically”, not to abolish, but “to improve a republican system of integration which does not work”. In fact, according to the president of the Representative Council of Black Organisations (Le Conseil Représentative des Associations Noires, CRAN), discrimination black people have to put up with is the real handicap, and this compromises the republican principle of equality: “61% of black people interviewed say they have been a victim of discrimination in the past 12 months. Compared to other French people, when you are black you have 2.25 less chance of becoming management and 1.5 more of working in a fast food restaurant”.
An interview by Luca Sebastiani.
UN Report – Women Trapped Between House and Veil
According to the fourth UN report on human development, education, health, politics, work and rights are areas to which access for women, in Arab countries, remains difficult and limited. Certain articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, for example, are noted as being in conflict with national laws and with the sharia in some countries. Unemployment, illiteracy, Aids and domestic violence are problems which Arab societies continue to do too little to resolve. And yet, in the opinion of the report’s authors, it is, in fact, the conquest of full autonomy on the part of women which could bring about a trading, economic and cultural renaissance within these countries.
The world is flat, but not for women
“One of the sacred texts of ‘globalising’ literature, by Thomas Friedman, has as its paradigm, a flat world. The World if Flat. The image which accompanies the logo of this Forum of entrepreneurial women from the Mediterranean is that of a woman who is energetic, sporty, committed to free-climbing – says Emma Bonino, Italian minister of International Trade, ex European Commissioner and Emeritus Professor at the American University in Cairo; this reminds us that it is not always flat. Not for everyone. Some still have to struggle; but they do it with conviction, with enthusiasm, with determination, without complaining: they do it looking ahead”.
Middle East, the Female Capitalism Revolution
In the Middle East and North Africa region (Mena) unemployment rate is very much concentrated among the youth and among women predominantly, and only 13 percent of the businesses are own by women. However – according to Nadereh Chamlou, Senior Advisor of the World Bank and co-author of a World Bank report on how gender disparities affect economic performance in the Mena region – women entrepreneurs’ businesses have a larger number of employees as well as a larger size. They hire more skilled labour, more educated labour and more women labour. They are able to attract more foreign investors, they export more than male entrepreneurs and outperform the male-owned businesses.
Stop Bullying Iran
“Increasingly, a lot of secular Iranians, like myself, are figuring that even if Iran is turned into the most democratic, secular, fair and peaceful state on earth, there is no guarantee the US won't find another excuse to try to overthrow its government. I am an atheist and this can easily get me into serious trouble in any Islamic country. I did not vote for Ahmadinejad and I would do anything to democratically bring him down. I have also risked my life and future in Iran by becoming the first Iranian after the revolution who has publicly visited Israel. If the US waged a war against Iran, I would absolutely go back and defend Iran”. A controversial perspective by the most famous Iranian-born blogger.
“Don’t let my Iraq become Khomeinist”
“An American attack on Iran would transform Iraq into a frontline hostage. Tehran would be able to use many of its followers in Iraq to carry out attacks against the Americans, or even against Iraqi institutions.” So says Erfan Rashid, a Kurdish-Iraqi, former opponent of Saddam, and currently managing editor of Arab affairs at the AdnKronos agency. He explains how war with Iran would spell disaster for Iraq, points out that there are significant differences between Iraqi Shiite Muslims and their Iranian counterparts (“the first are Arabs and the second Farsi”), and adds: “If Iraq remains a country controlled almost exclusively by Shiite political parties or militias, it runs the risk of becoming a photocopy of khomeinist Iran.”
Khamenei-Ahmadinejad. Is the Match Broken?
In Iranian grocery stores, it is hard to find tomatoes because their price is extremely high. The president’s popularity is rapidly decreasing as his economic policies fail, and the nuclear rhetoric blows. The criticism against Ahmadinejad is not coming from the reformers front only, but also from the conservatives. According to The Economist, “it seems that a clique of senior figures in the regime, perhaps including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, have endorsed the criticism”. Did Khamenei and Ahmadinejad definitely break up? Or is the fracture between the two more in form than in substance?
“Dear Edgar and Vasken”. The Story of Bush and the Armenian Genocide
“Dear Edgar and Vasken, the Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that defies comprehension and commands all decent people to remember and acknowledge the facts and lessons of an awful crime. If elected President, I would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of the Armenian people.” Thus spoke Texas governor George W. Bush in February 2000, during his first presidential campaign. Seven years later George W. Bush is a twice-elected U.S. president, but the U.S. doesn’t label the annihilation of the Armenian people as a genocide. Now a bill introduced by a Congressman could finally recognize that crime. But Turkey says it is a “real threat” to its relationship with the U.S.
“The genocide? The truth is making progress, like the dripping of water onto stone”
It may seem a paradox, but tragic episodes can sometimes open up a glimmer of hope. When Antonia Arslan, an Italian writer of Armenian origin and author of a best-selling novel which recounts the genocide, says these words, she is thinking of the murder of Hran Dink. And also of the hundreds and thousands of Turks who attended the funeral of the journalist, murdered for his attempts to bring to light the truth of the genocide, those who shouted in the streets “We are all Armenians”. And when she sees these glimmers, Arslan is also thinking of how the Armenian question made its sensational entry into the International Film Festival of Berlin; from her novel La masseria delle allodole, the Taviani brothers have made a film which was presented at Berlin.
“100% Armenian, 100% French”
There is no doubt that relations between Armenia and France, especially through the diaspora, have become ever closer over the years. To show this, last September Jacques Chirac himself went to Yerevan on an official visit and for a concert of one of the most well-known French Armenians, Charles Aznavour. This was a first for a president of the Republique. We met Harout Mardirossian, president of the Committee of defense of the Armenian cause (CDCA), who has been fighting in France and in Europe, for the historical truth of the Armenian people to be restored.
“Diasporas are not ghettos, they are bridges to larger communities”
“I am an Armenian by birth, American by citizenship, and culturally I would describe myself as predominantly influenced by Armenian-Asian literature, Russian literature, French and English literature, and last by Italian translations. I feel that I am a minority, in a sense. I do attach a great emphasis to minorities, and as a Christian minority in the Middle East, I do not feel uncomfortable. It is something that just reinforces your identity, whether you want it to or not.” It is true that Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York since 1997 and the author of ‘Islam: a Mosaic, not a Monolith’ (Brooking Institution Press, 2003), is a perfect citizen of the world, but he has never forgotten his Armenian roots.
Story of an international conflict
Somalia is a country trying to free itself from precarious uncertainty. For six months the people of Mogadishu and the south of the country have been living under the control of the Union of Islamic Courts, in a state of relative but illusory calm. Now intervention of American and Ethiopian troops in support of the provisional government has ousted the Islamist forces, plunging the country once again into instability and transforming a local conflict into one with international implications, with clear opposing stances adopted by Al Qaeda’s number two, Ayman al Zawahiri, and the Bush administration. The future of the country, however, remains as uncertain as ever.
Teaching Political Theory in Beijing
When he told his western friends he would accept a contractual post at Tsinghua University in Beijing (China), they thought he’d gone off his rocker. But for Daniel A. Bell, that was the one-shot occasion to see the evolution of a changing country and to teach its future elite. In comparison to Singapore, China is a paradise of academic freedom. There is no censorship on the subjects you can teach, with an exception: Marxism. Furthermore, the professor is considered both an intellectual authority and an ethical person who nurtures the student’s emotional development. The Cultural Revolution’s antipathy to intellectual elites seems to be long forgotten.
Internal conflicts: Next Stop Bahrain
During the 90s, Bahrain was often affected by conflict between the Sunni government and the Shiite majority, which felt confined outside business, opportunities and fundamental social rights. On the one hand, Bahrain is a close friend of United States, but its Shiites sustained Nasrallah during the war in Lebanon and King Al-Khalifa’s clan keeps suspecting Shiites as being fomented by Iran. As the country approaches parliamentary elections, due to take place next November, the Shiite opposition is accusing the government.
Jewish brothers, come back to Lebanon
"Everyone was a victim from the civil war, but it was our Jewish brothers who paid the heaviest price". Aaron-Micaël Beydoun is a Lebanese Shiite Muslim, who devotes himself to revive the Lebanese Jewish community through his blog. "Lebanon was left alone to bleed for decades - he says - I believe sincerely, that if we fail to live together in Lebanon religious coexistence will fail throughout the world".
"Beirut back to life. But Israel has generated so much hate"
"Hate against Israel has always been there and now it can only grow, after all the incredible destruction Israel inflicted on Lebanon." Rami G. Khouri is the director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, and editor-at-large of the Beirut-based newspaper Daily Star, published throughout the Middle East with the International Herald Tribune. He is a Palestinian-Jordanian, a U.S. citizen and an internationally syndicated political columnist and author. He describes a city that is trying to start a new life, but in which uncertainties still loom large. "Hezbollah has basically put away its arms in the south", he admits "they don't walk around with their arms in public, but they are not disarming". An interview by Daniele Castellani Perelli.
''Haifa, my town, still a model for Middle East''
The recent Lebanon war didn't change the soul of Haifa. "Muslims, Jews and Christians still live together in peace, and Hezbollah's popularity is not growing among the Arabs" passionately explains Israeli writer Sami Michael, a symbol of the city. Born in Baghdad, he has lived in Haifa since 1949. He has received many international literary awards, including the Israel Prize for Literature and the President's Prize. For his work for peace, he has been honoured by the UN-supported Society for International Development. Author of the novels All Men Are Equal, But Some Are More, Victoria and A Trumpet in the Wadi, he was against the war from the start, but he has always strongly criticized Hezbollah. And now he says: "There is no winner, there are only losers from both sides".
Ahmadinejad's attack against freedom of thought
It’s not easy living in Teheran, under Ahmadinejad’s regime. Ask the journalists, the scholars, the opponents who lay in prison without a reason. Iranian journalists complain about the escalation of pressures and media restrictions, but restraints and limitations are also affecting University campuses. According to a government-conducted survey, “45 percent of young Iranians indicated that, given a chance, they would leave Iran for a life of exile”. That’s how it is, being young in Teheran.