A Piece of Peace in Iran
To be born a woman in Iran is to be born a second-class citizen. This year an amazing feat occurred when one of these 'second-class citizens' was awarded the most prestigious peace award in our global community: The Nobel Peace Prize.
WHAT IS THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?
When the wealthy Swedish scientist, inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel died in 1896 he left an extraordinary will. In it he announced that most of his vast wealth was to be used to award six prizes in the following fields; Literature, Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Economic Science and finally Peace. The peace prize was to be given to the person or group "who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity (friendship) between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding of peace congresses". Since its inauguration the award has recognized a whole variety of people who have worked towards bringing harmony and peaceful reconciliation into our world.
WHO IS SHIRIN EBADI AND WHY DID SHE WIN?
This year Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first Iranian ever to win the award. She is also only the tenth woman to be recognized. The 2003 award was consequently a momentous occasion.
Shirin Ebadi is a courageous human rights activist. She was given the award for her work fighting for democracy and the rights of women and children. Shirin Ebadi is a lawyer and became the first female judge in Iran (until a revolution banned women from serving on the bench). When she was not allowed to be a judge she continued to practice law and also started to speak out about equal rights. In particular, her campaigns focused on refugees, women and children. These three groups are the most discriminated against in our society. Her campaigning for children's rights lead her to start and lead the Association for Support of Children's Rights in Iran. She has also written many books (translated in to a variety of languages) that focus on the rights of the child. Ebadi has made many friends in her life; she has also found many enemies. In 2000 she was thrown in prison for her work trying to expose corruption and human rights violations present in the Iranian government.
Ebadi has also worked tirelessly towards creating peace within her Islamic faith community. Ebadi comes from a country where many people interpret their Islamic faith in a fundamental way. In many instances this has meant that the rights of women to work, get educated and express themselves have been denied. Ebadi argues for a new interpretation of Islamic law that focuses on harmony between cultures, equality in law, democracy, religious freedom and freedom of speech. She argues that there is no religious basis for female inferiority - a point that is extremely important for the 500 million or more Muslim women in our global community.
A peaceful world will be brought about when people stop fearing the other and begin to accept difference. It will occur when all people regardless of their gender, nationality, religion, economic status or age are given equal rights. The Nobel Peace winner for 2003 Shirin Ebadi is a brave woman fighting to make this ideal peaceful world a reality, in doing so she can be seen as a role model for us all.
TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Activities Across the Curriculum
1. One way to become actively involved in working towards peace is to attend the Marist National Justice Festival for Young Adults (17-30 years) which is being held in Ballarat, Victoria in January 2004. The theme for the festival is taken from Pope Paul VI 1972 message: Want Peace? Work For Justice! To find out more information go to: www.maristmelb.org.au
2. Another way to work towards peaceful solutions in our community is to become involved in the Caritas Think Globally Act Locally Program.
To find out more visit: www.caritas.org.au/education
Religion
1. Islam is the second biggest religion in the world, following Christianity. 21% of the world's people are Islamic. Shirin Ebadi is attempting to reform some of the Fundamental Islamic laws in Iran. Go to the following sites and find out about some of the key components of Islam.
www.islamicity.com/mosque/Intro
islam.about.com/
www.islamicity.com/mosque
Record five points under each of the following headings:
Muhammed
Allah
Key Beliefs
The Koran (Qur'an)
Rituals/Practices
2. In January this year Pope John Paul II issued a statement on peace. Go to the following site and read the document: www.catholic.org.au. Using the document, compose a peace prayer to be read in a class.
HSIE
1. Visit the following website and chose one of the 10 women who has won the Nobel Peace Prize to research:
www.nobel.se/peace/articles
Read the information and write a report entitled: 'A Heroine of Peace' on the woman you have chosen. In your report include the following:
Name
Nationality
Year the prize was won
Work that was done in order to win the prize
Evaluation on why you think the winner was a great candidate for the prize
2. One of the issues that Shirin Ebadi was campaigning about was the right of students to exercise free speech. Read the article at the following website to find out more about how student's rights are violated in Iran: www.hrw.org/press
Record 10 of the key points outlined in the article.
Art
This year as a consequence of the War on Terror people all over the world actively protested against war and called for peaceful solutions to global problems. Using the google image search icon at www.google.com find images from the peace marches that were held across our global community in 2003. Use these images to create a collage.
Science
1a. Visit the following site and read the information on nuclear weapons:
www.nobel.se/peace/educational
b. Check your knowledge of nuclear weapons by playing the disarmament game where you are asked to take on an international mission to disarm the world of nuclear weapons:
www.nobel.se/peace/educational
COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS AND PARISH GROUPS
1. Shirin Ebadi has campaigned strongly for women's rights within Islamic communities. There is often a stereotypical view of Muslim women as "poor and oppressed", while this is the case in some instances it is a vast generalization. In actual fact the Islamic sacred text - The Qur'an gives women many rights. Read and discuss the following article: Are Human Rights Compatible with Islam? The Issue of the Rights of Women in Muslim Communities found at www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/6443. Discuss whether the stereotype of Islamic women being "poor and oppressed" is accurate. Give reasons for and against.
2. Scroll down to the section entitled 'Rights of Women: Qur'anic Ideals Versus Muslim Practice'. Why do you think Shirin Ebadi thinks it is essential that she changes Islamic practices as a Muslim and does not give up her faith?
1. The following statement was written by Pope John Paul II about the situation in Palestine. Read and discuss the statement.
"No one can remain indifferent to the injustice of which the Palestinian people have been victims for more than fifty years. No one can contest the right of the Israeli people to live in security. But neither can anyone forget the innocent victims who on both sides fall day after day under the blows of violence. Weapons and bloody attacks will never be the right means for making a political statement to the other side. Nor is the logic of the law of retaliation capable any longer of leading to paths of peace."
- John Paul II (10 January 2002)
Focus questions for discussion:
Why is retaliation incapable of leading to peace?
Who are the real victims of war?
What other options are available for the Israeli and Palestinians?
Other useful Links
www.greenpeace.org provides useful information and visual footage of the Greenpeace 'No War' campaign in Iraq.
www1.umn.edu/humanrts/links is a site that provides links to excellent websites that cover women's rights.
