By William Markiewicz
(As other short items may follow, I've decided to group them together.)
Iran -- Recognize Israel! (10/13)
Everybody knows that Iran is a fundamentalist country, but Iranians have traditionally also been good politicians. A country that dedicates its existence to the destruction of another country, while preparing a nuclear whip, cannot expect the world’s acceptance and has no power to defy the world. No wars have been won for ideological reasons. To breathe freely, Iran must find a way to regain the trust of the world. In my view, things have gone too far; time won't heal the problem. Iran must create a "pacific" surprise. This pacific surprise would be: Iran’s proposal to recognize Israel in exchange for return of the Palestinians to the occupied territories and to Syria’s Golan Heights. So, Iran offers something and asks nothing for itself. The world would be impressed by this noble gesture and Israel would find it difficult to reject Iran's proposal. Of course Iran must wait for the results of the American election to be sure that Western fundamentalism is also in regression.
Politics Seen from the Audience (10/10)
I had a conversation in a café with a stranger who told me he is a Serb. This is what he said to me:
Many of our ancestors bowed to the Turks and became Muslim. The Croats bowed to the Austrians and became Westerners. During the Second World War, Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Albanians, bowed to the Axis (in those times Nazism lured all of Europe). They are rewarded until now even though, technically, the Nazis lost the war. In Yugoslavia, particularly the Serbs resisted Nazism and they are suffering the consequences up to today. Now, Tadic [President of Serbia], remembering the lessons from the past, is bowing to the Europeans.
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William Markiewicz