Iranian Elections
In what nearly all observers think is a
good sign for Iranian relations with the West, Hassan Rouhani won a
landslide victory in the Iranian presidential elections "promising
better relations abroad and more freedom at home". Rouhani won
the election outright after securing more than 50% of the vote - far ahead
of the next candidate, who received just 16% of the vote - and thereby
avoiding the need for a run-off. Al Jazeera reported: "In
a statement, reported by the Iranian media on Saturday, the
president-elect hailed his election as a victory of moderation over
extremism: 'This victory is a victory for wisdom, moderation and
maturity... over extremism.' " The jubilant crowds celebrating in the streets were a
marked contrast to the demonstrations following the 2009 presidential
election, when results showed the conservative Ahmadinejad had won over the reformist candidate.
According to Al Jazeera's analyst: "The outcome will not soon
transform Iran's long tense relations with the West, call into
question its disputed pursuit of nuclear power or lessen its support
of Syria's president in the civil war there - matters of national
security that remain the domain of [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali]
Khamenei. But the president runs the economy and wields important
influence in decision-making and Rouhani's meteoric rise could offer
latitude for a thaw in Iran's foreign relations and more social
freedoms at home after eight years of confrontation and repression
under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." The pace of change will
ultimately be decided by the Ayatollah Khamenei, whom Rouhani visited on Sunday
(June 16) after the election. [Reuters]
[Photo: Al Jazeera]
NSA Surveillance, Snowden and Hong
Kong
The US has charged 29 year old
whistle-blower Edward Snowden with espionage. Kind of ironic, isn't
it? They are charging the person who blew the cover on the NSA's warrantless
surveillance with spying. Snowden meanwhile
remains in Hong Kong. Thursday's South China Morning Post reported on the commentary in China's "party newspapers."
Reporting on an article in the Global Times, it noted the Times commentary "that Hong Kong should
follow public opinion in handling the case, not worry about Sino-US
relations and 'be more spontaneous'." Public opinion in Hong Kong is strongly supportive of Snowden. The People's Daily
said "the Prism scandal was America's trouble in the first
place", but some US politicians were trying to "create a
new link between China and the scandal with their own imagination"
by hinting that Snowden was a Chinese spy. It said such a link was
'nonsense' and Beijing should ask the 'big mouths' to shut up.
"Pouring dirty water on China shows how American politicians are
embarrassed and anxious," it said. Both articles indicate that
China is determined to separate the Snowden case from overall
Sino-American relationship.
UPDATE - 9AM EDT, 6/23/13
Edward Snowden is reported as having left Hong Kong today. Hong Kong officials had rejected the US request for extradition "since the documents provided by the U.S. government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law." Hong Kong had requested more information from the US and said that "there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."
Palestinian Diaspora Forgotten?
Thursday was World Refugee Day. Press TV reported on the plight of the victims of what they termed the world's largest and
longest standing refugee crisis: "Following World Refugee Day,
The Palestinian Liberation Organisation called upon the international
community to hold Israel accountable for one of the largest refugee
crises, since Israel displaced Palestinians from their homeland in
1948. Palestinian refugees constitute the largest and longest
standing refugee crisis in the world with up to 6 million 1st and 2nd
generation Palestinian refugees scattered around the world unable to
return to Palestine." Palestinian refugees have the right of
return per UN resolution 194 which resolves "that the refugees
wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their
neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable
date. It further states that compensation should be paid if they do
not wish to return." In the on again/off again push towards a two-state solution
and the attempts to resuscitate the long-moribund Israeli-Palestinian
peace process, many Palestinians feel that international law is being
ignored as all parties "continue to insist that refugees should
wait indefinitely to return home." The Syrian Civil War has added significantly to the plight of the refugees. 530,000 Palestinians are registered with the UN as refugees in that country. The United Nations News Centre reported on June 17: "Warning that the centrifugal force of the Syria crisis continues to imperil the region, a senior United Nations agency official today said that more than half of the Palestinian refugee camps in Syria have become 'theatres of war,' where killings and kidnappings have become the norm. According to the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Filippo Grandi, seven out of 12 of the agency’s camps are now virtually inaccessible."
[Photo: UNRWA]
Brazil 2014 World Cup Protests
Brazil has won
five World Cups - more than any other nation. It is the fifth most populous
country and, depending on what list you use, has between the sixth and ninth largest economy. Still its social inequity has been as legendary as its Rio de Janeiro slums. Things have been improving somewhat for Brazil's poor especially since the election of "pink revolution" hero Lula (Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva) as President in 2002 and his succession by Dilma Rousseff. Pulsamerica opined in a January article: "Though Brazil remains a country of stark contrasts, its strides against poverty and inequality cannot be underestimated. It can be argued that until recently the focus in Brazil has always been on reducing poverty rather than combating income and social inequality overall, however, an emphasis on distribution, creating more job opportunities, investing in structural education systems and addressing discrimination are being implemented to ensure more equality in the future." But the movement towards more social equality is far from complete. (See, for example, Harper's Magazine's June 2013 article "Promised
Land" by Glenn Cheney about the efforts of Sister Leonora
Brunetto for agrarian land redistribution.) Just how far from
complete the march towards equality is was demonstrated this past week as protests erupted
against the money being spent on 2014 World Cup
preparations (~18 bln USD) . As reported Friday in the Daily Mail: "More than a
million Brazilians took to the streets of at least 80 Brazilian towns
and cities in demonstrations that saw violent clashes and renewed
calls for an end to government corruption and demands for better
public services. Riot police battled protesters in at least five
cities, with some of the most intense clashes in Rio de Janeiro,
where an estimated 300,000 demonstrators swarmed into the city's
central area." At least one person has been killed in the
rioting. President Rousseff , who was "a former Marxist rebel who
fought against Brazil's 1964-1985 military regime and was imprisoned
for three years and tortured by the junta, pointedly referred to
earlier sacrifices made to free the nation from dictatorship. 'My
generation fought a lot so that the voice of the streets could be
heard,' Rousseff said. 'Many were persecuted, tortured and many died
for this. The voice of the street must be heard and respected and it
can't be confused with the noise and truculence of some
troublemakers.' " The protests continued Saturday.
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