genuine schizophrenia today characterizes the politics of human rights in the world. This is an extreme sensitivity, refined and detailed to the human rights policy when it comes, first, to certain categories of relationships or to social and political issues related to our society, and on the other hand, a progressive indifference to the same themes when dealing international scenarios. It 's a breakdown experimental, primitive, which is still waiting for a better definition is that I hope the discussion. But surely we can say that in past years, the United States were trying to close the gap in sensitivity to human rights: political doctrines that have guided the foreign policy of which we do not discuss the inevitable problems, departed from 'idea that the oppression of the people was an issue that directly penetrated the domestic politics, however, that every man on earth, as written by Natan Sharansky, want the freedom and right to pursue it.
E 'was a natural expansion of the American way of life, in which the rule of law, the rule of law , should be extended within the confines of historically religious and linguistic negotiations. But Europe has made to the wording of a kind of doctrinal human rights treaty of 170 pages of rules that define oppressive conduct a post-modern "non-discrimination" which actually undermines the local identities emphasizing abstract principles, and its appurtenances established rules of "human rights" for every detail, strict and abstract principles for which they precede the primary rights of the community, and also independent of the actual situation. I will do the examples below. But I think the misjudgments on Italian policy towards immigration, but also the inability, for example, to value the freedom of the Iranian people while it gives the Roma to go to school even if their company absolutely refuses to do so, preferring to use children other purposes. I think the discussion on the burqa and the right of women who want to wear it, completely ignoring the multiple meanings or challenge to an oppressive society of rights, prohibitions on smoking furiously to think, to defend the right of a Swedish newspaper to write that Jews extracting organs from Palestinians who kill deliberately, in some schools to ban the crucifix to hang and do the Christmas tree, the prohibition license to draw a cartoon of Islam laugh, to publicly denounce some other customs such as polygamy ol'escissione. There is so much confusion on human rights in Europe. They are confused with a deep sense of intimidation. It came from the U.S. to Europe is always a sign of clarity, an indication of the historical terms of integration, the link between democracy and Judeo-Christian tradition.
Today gap that existed in the past between us and the U.S. seems to be reduced, specific signals, such as the lack of emphasis on the issue of human rights of Chinese people by the Secretary of State, the absence of democratic criticism autocratic Islamic regimes, termination, right now, disbursement of all federal funds to ' Iran Human Rights Documentation Center , the leading nonprofit organization that documents human rights violations in Iran, as well as the timidity of certain positions relating to Jerusalem (but remember the position taken by Clinton, who distrusted Arafat from proceeding on the ground of denial of origin Hebrew University of Jerusalem) are missing from the U.S. to Europe to greet his constant reminder to the theme of freedom.
some time, however, the human rights policy that the world founded after the war with the United Nations faces a crisis ever seen before. In the Glass Palace has not been even the semblance of a spiritual need for freedom, the aspiration to the abstract realization of democracy and equality. The lack of a quick victory in the war against terrorism, which in fact are configured as a war of civilizations, which were addressed recently by the U.S. and its allies, the difficulties (and do not call them losses) related to the theme of exporting democracy met with an unpredictable, increased hostilities in the so-called developing world, or out of alignment, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the Islamic world, even the traditionally more open to dialogue, has been fascinated ideology of jihadism that promises victory and a way of life and identity victorious after seven hundred years of oppression, against the usual enemy of Western Europe, invaded by migrations of peoples for whom human rights are in their infancy compared to the path by we made in the protection of the weak (women in particular) and legal certainty, scored his wonder and his fear with a condescension spread almost everywhere. It 'obvious that the people, Islam, the tribal cultures that have become a major ideological and dignity never touched in the last century, this has been a political banner that expresses itself firmly on the international stage of public discourse. Meanwhile, it created UN increasingly large in number, the more automatic anti-Western that had the first sign of the USSR, and today the Islam and totalitarianism.
I speak not only of the horror of seeing the UN stands invaded by various Chavez who feel it stinks because the devil has gone beyond the U.S., or Ahmadinejad who preaches the extermination of the Jews and sdottoreggia on justice in the world and is strangling its opposition, or calling on Gaddafi to transfer, and he's right, the United Nations in the southern hemisphere of the planet. What impresses are the hugs of Nicaragua Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, president of the last General Assembly, Ahmadinejad, after he has just finished to evoke the approaching end of the Zionist regime, or the fact that Sweden, President of the European Union, which remains in the room during the Iranian president's speech because he does not see that, while held on the theme of Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world, has passed no red line fixed by the brilliant minds of the European Union.
I would not look too iconoclastic, but the chairman of the United States, which among other things in recent days has not found the time to receive the Dalai Lama - the first rejection of the White House in 18 years - so is preparing for a important meeting with Hu Jintao later this month, shows a fundamental change in the West for the theme that interests us here, in his strange semigenuflessione the Saudi monarch, and evidently felt in its true policy of the outstretched hand toward civilization entirely devoid of the very concept of democracy, in its intimate, historic, relationship with a religion at this time to attack the West in the world. Shows a propensity for substance (perhaps unconscious) processing of the acquisition of human rights, as we understand them, in a matter of secondary importance.
Bush would never have rejected the request for a meeting with the Dalai Lama on a visit to Washingon. Obama certainly knows that in the light of this episode, is more effect that has met Chavez and various Arab dictators. Indeed, George W. Bush did give the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor in the United States, calling the Tibetan spiritual leader "universal symbol of peace and tolerance," despite protests from the Chinese authorities.
I personally saw in June 2007, George Bush in Prague to meet a one of the dissidents in countries in all continents where human rights are violated, including Russia, Libya, China, or countries whose strategic importance in international order is beyond doubt. For that administration, however he will judge the work together, respect for other culture has always been about identifying the appearance Viable , viable, where expresses an aspiration to freedom. An interesting way to look for a syncretism, for example, with Islam, or Eastern or African culture. The idea syncretism is itself linked to survival: two cultures come together and mingle to live together, but now the premise of respect for tolerance and coexistence in full decline. For example, the Islamic Courts because they do not respect human rights that we won, do not contain any principles of integration or co-existence, and yet we in Europe have quietly accepted, and we also have absorbed such practices as polygamy, excision, the full veil, or rehabilitated in fact horrors with which our society had done to deal decades ago, such as homicides and suicides (induced) of honor: in short, all the immigration problems that in fact exclude our idea of \u200b\u200bhuman rights.
The issue of human rights, we thought we had solved after the horrors of World War II, but returned to the most current dramatically.
And here a fundamental point: the role far greater in the sentencing to death of human rights has been the misunderstanding of the Palestinian issue with the consequent birth of what I call "Palestine." The conversion to UN eyes in a humanitarian issue is a question born of Arab rejection and fed by special interests first and then by the international jihad, largely bankrolled by Iran, was lethal. The abnormal amount of attention devoted by the UN and the matter relates only to the third worldism typical of the Cold War on the one hand, and the other an invincible historical antipathy toward the State of Israel as a Jewish nation state, has a paradoxical trend, which has hammered to death and the Western mind has destroyed any chance of actually fighting the battle for human rights.
The UN has found the time to devote one third of resolutions of the Security Council to condemn Israel invented the incredible formula Zionism equal Racism, in 1975, just three years after the massacre of the Olympics in Monaco, has managed to transform an international conference against racism, to Durban in 2001 in a racist conference against Jews and Israel, in which Castro, Arafat, Mugabe, but also all international organizations also spoke of new apartheid, citing Israel as exclusively maximum violator of human rights on the globe, has tried to replicate this 'year in Geneva last April, with the "Durban Review Conference", but this time many countries have protested in advance and at Italy's decision to retire was decisive, he has promoted through the Council for Human Rights, the Goldstone Commission of Inquiry on the conflict in Gaza, the conclusions create a dangerous precedent in international institutions do not seem to account: removing Israel's right to defend himself, stating that we must surrender to terrorism that strikes and makes systematic use of civilians as human shields, in essence promoting terrorism around the world.
Just last September 29, the Council for Human Rights, the discussion of the relationship Goldstone has granted emeritus of human rights violators such as Yemen, Venezuela, Libya, Iran, Cuba, Pakistan, Sudan, to speak of "Israeli genocide, crimes against humanity" against the Palestinians.
The constant victimization of the Palestinians, the exclusivity of the Palestinian refugees and their descendants, institutionalized with the creation of UNRWA in 1949, that is the only UN agency that deals with a specific group of refugees, while all others are subject to the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees), has helped to foster this concept "sector" of an issue that extends instead to the four corners of the earth.
bodies to defend human rights are driven by people and countries which only the idea of \u200b\u200bhuman rights is horror. Suffice it to say that the preparation of the conference against racism known as "Durban 2" was assigned to countries like Iran, Cuba, Pakistan, serial violators of human rights.
We do not want to imagine the chorus of protest would be relieved if he had dared to propose an Israeli candidate for the presidency of the General Assembly. Yet, no one has raised a doubt as to whether the Libyan presidency Ali Trek, which will lead the 64th Assembly opened on September 23.
was recently prevented a further havoc on international institutions with the non-election of Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, the direction of the principal world body for the promotion of culture. It would be ridiculous to see the lead by a character that UNESCO has issued more than one occasion anti-Western and anti-Semitic statements and that applies censorship in his country against those who are not in line with the government.
Of only 10 special sessions held so far by the UN General Assembly, 6 were devoted to Middle East issues. The tenth, which was opened 12 years ago at the request of Qatar, has practically become a standing committee on Palestinian rights (it's called: "Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory"). The most serious problem that justifies this discussion would be the decade of Israeli construction in the neighborhood of Har Homa in East Jerusalem has not been clearly decided to stop this existential debate or at least it aside to talk about the irregularities of the elections in Iran and the ensuing repression, right to quote one of the topics that most have inflamed public opinion in the world this summer.
In 2008, in the face of the 28 decisions issued by various UN bodies on Israel - of which only six by the Council for Human Rights - Burma, to name just one, were made only four resolutions. In general, in all of 2008, Israel was the main country guilty of human rights violations: 120 acts of various kinds have been dealing with this country, followed with great detachment from Sudan (47 acts), Democratic Republic of Congo (37), Burma (32), and listen, listen! ! United States (27). Not one resolution was adopted on Zimbabwe over the period from March to July 2008 was the center of great controversy because of the disputed presidential election that led to clashes, arrests and a number of victims never found.
The 2009 will not break the tradition now have been issued 96 official documents of various kinds on Israel. Sudan: 46; Burma: 32, Iran 23, of which not even a resolution, despite during riots in June.
In recent years human rights violations around the world were, as always, and exacerbated by the huge growth in religious clashes. The genocide in Darfur perpetrated by the Janjaweed endorsed by the government of Omar Al-Bashir, to stay in Sudan: No UN condemnation has come again to the terrible news of these days, that comes to us in another shameful delay due to shortage of Information on those forgotten areas of the crucifixion of seven Christians by infiltrating the Lord's Resistance Army of Uganda, we have no idea what exactly happened in the Swat Valley in the operations undertaken by the Pakistani government to deal with the advancing Taliban and that caused more than 1 million displaced, the UN has decided not to have to examine the side effects of the war on terrorism in this case, the violent repression of a demonstration by Uighurs in Urumqi, the capital of China Xinjiang, in July, the UN response has been limited to a statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, in which he said "alarmed over the high death toll," noting that it is a "Extraordinarily high number of people to be killed and injured in Less Than a day of rioting "and the" Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination "in an annual report stated that "Beijing should provide greater protection to various ethnic groups", the use of deadly tens of thousands of child soldiers, he calculated that 300 thousand fighting in various parts of the world, mostly under the age of fifteen, the persecution of the Iranian regime, tortured, hanged, for political, religious, sexual discrimination, persecution by Hamas of Fatah men, their killing without trial along with those of seven other men contrary to their regime ...
All this has been without response. The idea that "if the Palestinians had a state ..." seemed to fancy international panacea Iranian aggression, Taliban, Islam in general, the palm of peace in exchange for permission to extend.
It 's great in the resolutions of the international tribunal on the fence to defend terrorism was not taken into account, and now the Goldstone Commission did not consider that his response to events is completely unmoored from reality in which human rights are first violated by the aggressive party, Hamas. The Palestinian issue has disrupted Europe in the first place is the foundation of organic mutation of the concept of human rights that I mentioned at the beginning. They, and I also speak for the U.S., are the ontological constraint, the lifeblood on which to build the relationship Interatlântico.
The U.S., despite the Sept. 11, do not know the fear that creeps in European cities, and Europe does not know or recognize, the sense of a war against terrorism that the world returns to the road of civilization. And instead of mutual understanding is essential in this endeavor, we strive even, each, to remove our own anxiety with a selective policy that alienates us from ourselves, from our glorious history of human rights.
Fiamma Nirenstein is Vice Chairman of the Foreign Commission of the Chamber of Deputies and member of the Board of Foreign Policy of the Magna Carta Foundation.
