Warsaw and Geneva ,two Venues for Global Peace

I attended the COP19 conference on climate change in Warsaw last week. The global community has sensed an urgency in the matter, but little action has been taken to reverse the devastating trend of the warming of the earth's atmosphere and the ensuing extreme weather events , drought, rising sea levels and immense social and economic losses incurred upon societies. In Warsaw, global powers that are responsible for the major part of the green house gases produced during the industrial era were not ready to accept their historical responsibilities and developing countries, many who are still grappling with abject poverty in their societies, were not ready to undergo quotas to reduce their GGHs drastically, when the major part of the industrialized world including the US never acceeded to the Kyoto protocol. The EU initially pushed to impose their version on the rest of the world but they faced a strong group of like minded developing countries who threatened to leave the conference if consensus was not achieved based on common understanding. In the end, a neogiated text was agreed upon in the final moments, to save the negotiation process. During my stay in Warsaw, I was invited to speak about the role of women in promoting global peace at the European Academy of Diplomacy, I also delivered my country speech at the opening of the high level session on the first day. A press conference with Polish journalists, a speech at PISM a Polish peace research institute on the Internal and External Evolution of https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=1429fa1502b42547&attid=0.1&disp=attd&safe=1&zw and a long working dinner with the Polish foreign minister were also on my agenda. Since the sensitive 5+1 negotiations with Iran were underway then in Geneva, they overshadowed our talks in Warsaw. I had the chnace to speak with the President of Poland at his reception and along with the Iranian delegation we had a lengthly meeting Mr.Ban Ki Moon, the UNSG. In that meeting, I told him I tweeted last night : Planet earth pleads us tonight: Give the world a chance for peace in Geneva , give the global environment a chance in Warsaw. He liked the tweet but sarcastically also noted that it was similar to what he had said a few weeks ago : Give diplomacy a chance in Syria! The success of the 5+1 and Iran negotiations in Geneva was a great achievement for peace and multilateralism, as opposed to the violence and conflict prone policies in today's world. This success proves that even the most difficult and apparently insurmountable obstacles can be overcome with patience and dialogue.https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/s/?view=att&th=1429fa1502b42547&attid=0.1&disp=attd&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P-en6RqDALqBdRUe3mK1csg&sadet=1385872288279&sads=TvPHgoxBnrX1FI_wImmXINOyNOQ

Burgha or Hijab: Still a Hot Issue

In 2004, when the controversial debate on the Islamic covering in France took a new turn and a bill bannig the covering in educational institutions was introduced by Jacques Chirac the President of the French Republic, I wrote a letter to him in the capacity of the Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I reminded him of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed in the  Human Rights Charter and noted that choosing ones way of dress and religious freedoms should not be undermined in a secular Republic that claims to cherish these values. I objected to the French government's approach on the Hijab and noted that this policy was not in line with his claims to support cultural diversity in the Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. There was a general feeling that Muslims were stigmatized in France and that Islamophobia which was on the rise after 9-11, had much to do with these legislative measures.
The ongoing debate on identity and Hijab has now taken a new twist to include a strict ban on  the Burgha or Neghab in all public spheres. I was watching a live debate last night on France24 where politicians from a wide spectrum including the Socialist Party that opposed Sarkozy were on the panel. The socialists were against the bill and along with Amel Boubeker a sociologist residing in Beirut and a religious expert from Reuters they  questioned the rationale backing this controversial bill .
Although the Burgha is a rare and extreme form of Hijab and many Muslim scholars do not approve of this type of covering which seriously restricts the social participation of women, the Sarkozy approach on this matter, depicting it as a symbol of suppression and themselves as the saviours and protectors of women's rights is unacceptable. The ruling party in France sees the Burgha as an insult to the dignity and freewill of the women, while at the same time the extreme manifestations of nudity and pornographic material in public sphere is disregared and the general commodification of women is ignored. Extreme behaviours are usually a reaction to other excesses in society , the Burgha  may be the  manifestation of denial in face of a culture that promotes promiscuity and commodifies women for the sake of the profits of the corporate market.
In any case the issue of Hijab in other European countries and in countries like Turkey and Tunisia is an  emerging social and political issue indicative of a vibrant Muslim society attempting to regain the identity they lost decades ago. Pressures in Iran against women who resisted the full Hijab also created another social debate in Iran which ultimately added to social discontent in contemporary times. 
Stereotypes against Muslim women and equating the Hijab with the subordination and oppression of women are stigmas of the past. We need to change our approach and direction in proportion with the growing awareness and sense of identity among women in our societies.