by Kourosh Ziabari
Saturday, October 13th, 2012
Nobel Prize is the most prestigious honor which one may be awarded in his
lifetime. The legacy of Alfred Nobel is so matchless and incomparable that more
than one century after the first Nobel Prize was awarded, it is still the most
exalted and esteemed prize that can be conferred to people who work for the
promotion and advancement of sciences and global peace.
Many people live their entire life with the dream of winning a Nobel Prize,
without revealing this sealed aspiration to anyone. Chemists, physicists,
medics, economists, authors, poets and activists who invest their whole life on
a groundbreaking achievement which rightfully and truly deserves a Nobel Prize
may witness the swift and unstoppable passage of years, without being ever
recognized for their striking breakthroughs and accomplishments, either by the
Nobel Foundation or the universities, organizations and groups which award
important prizes.
Nobody can doubt that Nobel Prize is an insignificant reality or may diminish
in importance and value with time. Every year, weeks before the announcement of
the Nobel Prize laureates in physiology or medicine, chemistry, physics,
literature, peace and economics, mass media, authors, university professors and
ordinary people begin to make speculations about who may be given the prize and
have their name recorded in the brilliant history of the Nobel Prize.
Upon writing his will in 1895, Alfred Nobel thought that it must be suitable
to entrust the responsibility of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to a Norwegian
committee, because Norway did not have the same militaristic traditions as
Sweden, and “at the end of the nineteenth century the Norwegian Storting
(legislative assembly) had become closely involved in the Inter-Parliamentary
Union and its efforts to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration,”
as written by the Norwegian Nobel Committee website.
Alfred Nobel had realized the need for supporting and sponsoring global
efforts aimed at fostering peace and tranquility around the world, and for this
reason, he demanded that a group of five Norwegian lawmakers should decide about
the destiny of the Nobel Peace Prize each year.
It’s not far from reality to claim that the criteria for the endowment of
Nobel Peace Prize as stipulated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee have been
usually politically motivated, and this is something which is not in line with
the essence of Alfred Nobel’s will. Of course there are people in the history of
Nobel Peace Prize who were awarded the prize righteously for their sincere
efforts to promote peace, encourage dialogue among the nations and reduce or
abolish the standing armies. But, let’s just be fair. Was the European Union
really worthy of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize?
I really don’t know if this union has really contributed to fraternity and
integrity between its 27 members throughout the past decades, but what I have
personally witnessed in the past year is that this union has aggressively
declared an all-out, bloodless war on Iran, affecting millions of innocent
civilians in my country who can’t understand for what crime they are being
targeted and punished in such a belligerent and unfair manner.
The European Union began to impose an inclusive oil embargo against Iran
since July 1 as a result of direct pressure and lobbying by the United States
and in an effort aimed at paralyzing Iran’s nuclear program which they claim is
not aimed at civilian purposes, and finally breaking the back of Iran’s economy
and pressuring it into making political concessions.
As a result of these sanctions, the value of Iran’s currency, rial, has
dropped to its lowest level against dollar in three decades, the country has
been hit by a staggering and overwhelming hyperinflation which according to
Prof. Steve H. Hanke has been increasing the price of goods and commodities by
70% every month since the sanctions began to take effect and the country’s
export of oil has decreased 600,000 to 800,000 barrels each day which means a
50% reduction in sales. Moreover, several international insurance companies,
airliners and shipping lines have ceased their cooperation with Iran as a result
of the economic crisis which has encompassed the country.
As a result of the oil embargo and other financial restrictions imposed on my
country by the EU, the Iranian families are unable to fund their students abroad
and consequently, a large group of Iranian students studying in foreign
universities are returning en masse. Sensitive medicine and pharmaceutical
products which were previously imported from the foreign countries cannot find
their way to Iran’s markets anymore and thousands of patients badly in need of
medicines for such diseases as thalassemia, hepatitis, diabetes, different types
of cancer, heart diseases and psychiatric disorders are facing serious problems
with finding their medicines.
Are the leaders of the European Union recognizing that their sanctions are
taking a heavy toll on the innocent, ordinary Iranian citizens and shattering
the ambitions and aspirations of thousands of youths who cannot realize their
dreams due to the financial problems which have tumbled on their lives?
Are the leaders of the European Union who now carry the grandiose accolade of
the world’s most important prize for promoting peace recognizing that the
purchasing power of the middle-class and working families has experienced an
unimaginable free-fall in the recent months and that their lives is on the verge
of blowing apart?
Waging wars does not take place simply by means of bombarding cities or
dropping nuclear bombs on other nations. What the European Union has been doing
with Iran is the unmistakable representation of an all-out war in which the
ordinary citizens are the silent victims.
Alfred Nobel writes in his will, my capital should be “invested in safe
securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall
be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding
year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.”
Was destroying the economy of Iran and ruining the lives of thousands of
innocent civilians the magnum opus for which the European Union was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize?
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment