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Alfred Nobel said the Peace Prize should be awarded to an individual who had contributed to "fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." This, unfortunately, has not always been the case.
The selection of individuals for the Nobel Peace Prize in recent years defeats the will of Alfred Nobel. There is a consensus that it should be given to those whose actions justify the acknowledgment. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the Nobel Peace Prize.
The credibility of the noble peace prize was diluted with the award to US President Barrack Obama last year, who is still waging wars. It has lost further credibility with this year's choice of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
Last year
the peace prize was awarded to Obama only eleven days after he assumed office. Ironically,
Obama's citation credited him "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen
international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." By the time
Obama accepted the prize, he announced troops' surge in Afghanistan by
30,000 more troops. Moreover, while accepting the noble peace prize, Obama justified
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq by saying
that wars were necessary to establish peace. He endorsed pre-emptive invasions
and said the American military action underwrites global peace.
This
year, the peace prize was awarded to the famous imprisoned Chinese dissident
Liu Xiaobo, a key
leader in the Tiananmen Square protests in
1989. Last year Liu, 54, received an 11-year sentence for 'inciting subversion'
after drafting Charter 08 - which called for multi-party democracy and respect
for human rights in China.
The Nobel Foundation citation read: 'Liu has consistently maintained that the
sentence violates both China's
own constitution and fundamental human rights.' It praised Liu for his 'long
and non-violent struggle' and highlighted its belief in a 'close connection
between human rights and peace'.
Chinese foreign ministry's reaction was: "Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who violated Chinese law. It's a complete violation of the principles of the prize and an insult to the Peace Prize itself for the Nobel Committee to award the prize to such a person."
Liu's choice prompted the following 19 countries to boycott the rising political overtones of the peace prize: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Venezuela, the Philippines, Egypt, Sudan, Ukraine, Cuba and Morocco.
Tellingly, the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, sided with the government of China, boycotting the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo on December 10, honoring the imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
The controversy and "politicization" of the noble Nobel Peace Prize is not new. A cursory glance at the list of honorees reminds one of the political underpinnings that dominate the awards' list with only a spattering of awardees who actually did work for the community, humanity or the environment. A simple examination of the award list is ample to bring out the controversial leanings of the award.
Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin
In 1994, Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat; Israeli Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. But peace remains elusive in the region.
Nobel Committee citation said: "For several decades, the conflict between Israel and its neighbor states, and between Israelis and Palestinians, has been among the most irreconcilable and menacing in international politics. The parties have caused each other great suffering. By concluding the Oslo Accords, and subsequently following them up, Arafat, Peres and Rabin have made substantial contributions to a historic process through which peace and cooperation can replace war and hate."
Rabin, while in the Israeli military, had ordered the expulsion of Arabs, from areas captured by Israel during the 1948 War. He had also been responsible for the aggressive Israeli crackdown of the First Intifada while Defense Minister. Rabin also continued to authorize the construction of settlements in the occupied territories despite the peace agreement.
Peres was responsible for developing Israel's nuclear weapons arsenal, and was later blamed for the Qana Massacre. The Qana Massacre occurred in 1996 when the Israeli military shelled a village of 800 Lebanese civilians who had gone there to escape the fighting. 106 were killed and around 116 others injured. Four Fijian United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon soldiers were also seriously injured.
Arafat was regarded by critics as a terrorist leader for many years. KÃ¥re Kristiansen, a Norwegian member of the Nobel Committee, resigned in 1994 in protest at the awarding of a Nobel Peace Prize to Yasser Arafat, whom he labeled a "terrorist".
Menachem Begin
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