photo: UN / JC McIlwaine
from any opportunity of learning or observing, although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by Athens liberality."(1) And how dare Socrates question Pericles's beautification projects, like the Parthenon that housed the goddess of liberty, Athena, and his goal to forge an empire, even if it meant war and sacrificing tens of thousands of citizens.
In the midst of institutional slavery and excluding women from the Athenian Assembly, Pericles added that Athenians "cultivated knowledge" and looked forward to free deliberations and debates. It was this "equal justice for all," then, that Athens had earned "merit" to rule the world.(2) But Socrates still questioned Athens' limited democracy and its wealth and greatness, its empire building and the Delian League, and Athens' disastrous defeat at Syracuse where thirty-thousand Athenian soldiers were killed. On the same spot Athenians executed its generals for losing the imperial war against Syracuse, a war that only male Athenians democratically voted for, the State condemned Socrates to death. Until the end, though, Socrates maintained that the unexamined life was not worth living. He also believed an unexamined state and unexamined empire was not worth living in, as neither was the unexamined Delian League.
Socrates knew everyone had their own truth and reality. In other words, truth for one person was different from truth for another person. Therefore, always ask questions, followed by more questions, and then followed by even more questions. And above all, continually question and evaluate a State's religion and ideologies.
Socrates' trial and his incessant questioning came to mind when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly. President Ahmadinejad again questioned if the U.S. government might have been behind the September 11, 2001 attacks. He wondered if the U.N. nuclear watchdog, IAEA, was being manipulated and controlled by the U.S., and if the U.S. had illegally released the names of Iran's three nuclear scientists that were just assassinated. He also questioned the number of those killed in the Holocaust, along with Israel's inhumane policies towards Palestinians. A few minutes into his speech, U.S., European and several other Western delegations marched out of the General Assembly announcing their disapproval. While Israel boycotts President Ahmadinejad's speeches as a general rule, countries like Norway said it was important to listen to his words and then directly engage or challenge such claims.
At issue with President Ahmadinejad's claims are different realities, specifically in regards to Israel and Palestine and the U.S. and Iran. President Ahmadinejad reminded listeners of U.S. President Barack Obama's promises and election pledges to help secure a Palestinian State and to improve relations with Iran. President Ahmadinejad has already sent several personal letters to President Obama requesting direct meetings. He has also requested a public debate, a free deliberation, over Palestine's right to exist and Iran's right to pursue peaceful and civilian nuclear enrichment. But so far, President Obama has declined such invitations. Israel's staunch leaders continue to build settlement homes on Occupied Territory, while vehemently opposing Palestine's sovereignty and right to exist. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Israel have tens of thousands of troops that are occupying or militarily intervening in Iraq, Gaza, Afghanistan, the West Bank, and in many other nations.
This was the State religion, the State ideology, that President Ahmadinejad questioned. It is an ideological religion, a god, in which some States, backed by powerful militaries and advanced weapons, are more "free" to militarily intervene, start wars, and oppress people than other States. It is a religious ideology built on selective histories, like only the Holocaust, at the expense of other truths and realities, that is, the suffering of Palestinians and a U.N. that once promised statehood. President Ahmadinejad also questioned why the U.S. and Israel have the right to pursue nuclear enrichment, even producing massive nuclear arsenals, but Iran is not free to pursue nuclear energy for its hospitals and schools. Like President Ahmadinejad said, "At the end of the day, at one point, the Palestinian government will stand up, will be created-if not this year next year, if not next year the following year, because these people do exist and you cannot erase them from history."
On behalf of Palestinians seeking statehood status with the United Nations (Delian League?), Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: "No one with a shred of conscience can deny our application." Would Socrates, co-founder of Western conscientious thinking and action, agree with President Abbas and President Ahmadinejad?
After Socrates carried out his execution, one imposed by a democratic state and a crumbling empire, it was said that Socrates was "the bravest and most upright man."(3) With regards to how the U.S. and Israel and United Nations has treated Palestinians, can one also say that Palestine has been the bravest and also most upright state? Was it not enough for Socrates to drink hemlock? Why then make an entire people, Palestinians, do the same?
Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)
(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)
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