Different signals and different political attitudes are coming from different countries and different political leaders. Comparing them I can in no way be proud of my being Italian.
On June the 4th US president Barack Obama gave his speech in Cairo addressed to the Muslim world. It was a masterpiece as far as communication is concerned. He stressed the common root of all main religions. He also emphasized Muslim presence inside US itself and also Islam peaceful nature and important role in the diffusion of culture and art all over the world. He used his personal story to point out that there is no due division between a ‘Muslim world’ and a ‘western civilization’. And he quoted lots of sentences from Corano to make the audience in some way nearer to the speaker. After that he also addressed six points on which discussion shall be taken forward in order to resolve the big threats to peace and democracy which put the whole world in danger: the fight against violent extremism in all its forms, the situation among Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world, the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons, democracy, religious freedom, women’s rights.
President Obama stressed the need and the will of defending innocent people as a common objective. He stressed the fact that a war such as the Afghanistan one was a response to this need but he also in some way posed doubts on the opportunity of a war like the one in Iraq. He stressed the rights of Israel to be finally accepted as a state but also claimed the same rights for all Palestinians. He pointed out that democracy can’t be imposed by force and that there are common ideals which are not an American recipe but simply the recognition of human rights. Some Republicans such as Mitt Romney defined the speech as a part of a ‘tour of apology’ in which president Obama uses foreign soil to apologize for US relations.
Just this observation points out one of the main issues which in my opinion characterizes the politicians and the governments all over the world and so in Italy too. Which is the problem with apologizing and doubting sometimes about our nation’s behaviour?
Maybe the answer depends on the situation and the purpose: criticism towards a government’s attitude and decisions can be addressed during election champaign as a sort of propaganda or when in power to shift problem’s responsibility to former government. We are used to that in Italy: lack of public money and problems in public administration are typically attributed to the former government opposed to the one in power at the present. This is a useless attitude which can’t lead to anything good. It’s more like the attitude of a young child unable to accept his own responsibilities.
The recognition of past wrong attitudes can instead be used to reach a specific goal such as in Obama’s case. The goal is the peace and the end of the threats to US and other countries. The path drawn by Bush revealed itself weak in order to reach the goal. The use of force recalled force and terror instead of peace. The way proposed by Obama is the one of diplomacy and discussion. And according to the principle of diplomacy one must be ready to concede something in order to come to a compromise valuable for both sides. Obama admitted some US and Israel faults while gaining in this way the right to stress also US and Israel needs and rights. The only way to obtain the recognition of democracy is just the one in which we give the good example and show the other the right attitude which belongs really to the concept of democracy itself and freedom. Obama stressed the fact that US democracy guarantees the freedom to practise any religion as an essential part of individual freedom itself. He said: “Moreover, freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one’s religion. That is why there is a mosque in every state in our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That’s why the United States government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab and to punish those who would deny it.… So let there be no doubt: Islam is a part of America. And I believe that America holds within her the truth that regardless of race, religion, or station in life, all of us share common aspirations — to live in peace and security; to get an education and to work with dignity; to love our families, our communities, and our God. These things we share. This is the hope of all humanity.”
This sort of open attitude, in my opinion, can get the goal of peace nearer. In the world of globalization people shall be educated to accept different ways of living and different religions and behaviours in the limit of constitutional laws and rights. This is the way proposed by Obama. This is the way which could lead the world to the aim. But this is also the hardest way when the controversy inside a country itself comes to the point. It’s easier to addressed the main problems afflicting a country to a specific ‘enemy’ and then promoting oneself as the one who can defeat this dangerous enemy and so solve all the problems. This is exactly what is happening in this period of elections here in Italy (and what goes on happening in a sort of never-ending propaganda).
There is the economic crisis with all the relating problems due to people who loose their jobs; there are problems related to justice with people who commit crimes rarely punished or prevented to commit new ones; there is a problem in the education system with more than half of the students in the primary school who are at risk of failure and principals who just seek a way to promote them. And we go on discussing about the problem of immigration: if we reduce immigration by preventing boat full of immigrants to approach our coasts all problem in Italy will disappear by magic. If we prevent the construction of new mosques in our cities all problems of terrorism due to the presence of Muslim people in our country will disappear. If we manage in making cities like Milan full of just pure Italian citizens again all problems will disappear. This is what some political parties in the right wing go on repeating as a propaganda which uses people’s rightful fears and needs. From the other side (left wing) a similar attitude can be sadly found: the enemy of Italy is Berlusconi with all his villas and starlets and private affairs and once he will be eliminated (put in jail?) all problems will find a solution: jobs will appear, justice will be proved to be efficient and so on. Other useless propaganda. And what remains is the fact that today and tomorrow (June 6-7) we will vote for European parliament and for representatives in local districts without the chance of knowing the programs of our candidates. Propaganda and gossip related to propaganda won in the past weeks over serious discussions about programs and intentions. It would be more useful to know (as Radicals’ candidate Emma Bonino pointed out in an interview) what the candidates we are going to vote will do about European issues such as the admittance of Turkey in Europe, research for example in the field of embryonic stem cells and the confirm of Barroso as President of the European commission.
We live in a reality in which globalization and multiethnic cities are a reality. We can’t deny it and tell people what they like to listen to in order to be reassured. It is just propaganda which denies reality and the principle of freedom and democracy. Democracy can be real only if people are aware of the reality in which they live and freedom is real only if it preserves also the rights and opinions opposite to ours.
Elisa Camozzi
Tags: Berlusconi, Bush, Cairo, democracy, diplomacy, Emma Bonino, EU elections, European elections, freedom, gossip, Italian Opinionist, Italy, Obama, Obama's speech, peace, propaganda, religion
