Shirin Ebadi, Iran's Nobel Peace Laureate

By Pat McDonnell Twair

AN ESTIMATED 800,000 Iranian Americans live in Southern California-and it seemed as if half of them were on the UCLA campus May 14 to hear Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In truth, 1,400 people lined up in front of historic Royce Hall to hear Ebadi deliver a speech entitled, "Islam, Democracy and Human Rights." Her appearance was sponsored by the Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations.

During the nearly 90-minute wait, this writer asked an Iranian journalist if she was proud to have Ebadi speaking in Los Angeles.

"Of course, I'm proud," she replied, "but not as proud as I was on that day in 2003 when she received the award."

Round upon round of applause followed the human rights activist's calls for freeing political prisoners in Iran, for the U.S. to remove its troops from Iraq, and to allow foreign students to once more study high technology on American campuses.

A lawyer and one of her country's first females judges, Ebadi's legal work on behalf of students led to her own imprisonment. Pulling no punches, she urged her government to release political prisoners and reform its election laws. On the topic of Iraq, she opined that, if intervention was necessary, it should have been done under auspices of the United Nations.

"Personally," she said, "I wish that Saddam had been overthrown by his own people."

In the past decade, she noted, 54 countries have seen their economies decline. More than 1.2 billion humans have a daily income of less than $1, while 62 million people are infected with AIDS, and their number will soar to more than 100 million if a cure isn't found.

Poverty negates human rights, she argued-the right to nutrition, to housing, to health care and to education. She called for reforms in the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and U.N. Security Council to diminish the vast gap between the haves and have-nots.

"We must put an end to immunity from punishment for those who are violating human rights and creating social disasters," Ebadi emphasized. "We must also see that multinational corporations that operate beyond borders are made responsible for their actions."

Turning to the plight of women in impoverished areas, Ebadi said they are the first victims of poverty because they are victims of discrimination in a male-dominated world.

"It is not only the poor, both men and women, that are deprived of their rights in Iran," she elaborated. "In our culture even women who have higher educations are barred from elevated political and social status. Women account for 63 percent of university students in Iran, but the unemployment level of women is three times that of men.

"Discriminatory laws against women and criminal laws say the value of a woman's life is half that of a man's," she continued. "Under the law, the testimony of two women is equal to the testimony of one man."

On the topic of the war against terrorism, the Nobelist drew applause when she stated:

"I object to the special procedures and regulations installed after 9/11 on the pretext of fighting terrorism. Those who are defending human rights are facing intimidation and even losing their lives."

The audience rose to its feet when she stated: "Myself and many others were imprisoned in the years past. Attorney Nasser Zarafshan is in Evin Prison. Unfortunately many of the writers, journalists, political and social activists and university students remain in prison. I am at this moment taking the opportunity to ask for their freedom."

She criticized the Western notion that extremists from the Islamic world who carry out violent acts are Muslim warriors hellbent on destroying the Christian world.

"Separate the faults of people from religion and culture," she advised. "Not only are the two cultures not in conflict, but they have a lot of common ground."

For example, Ebadi said, the U.N. has passed many resolutions criticizing Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians, but these violations of international law should not be interpreted as a flaw in the Jewish religion.

A lasting peace can only be based on the two pillars of democracy and justice-otherwise, the Nobelist warned, a society is strangled into silence.

"Those who make people quiet with jails and bullets achieve silence," she acknowledged, "but it is the silence of the cemetery. Let us not forget that 70 years of the former Soviet Union was a silence, and that same silence is present in some countries."

Democracy is an historical process, Ebadi averred, and cannot be imposed by military means.

"You cannot export democracy with weapons," she argued. "You cannot pour human rights on people's heads with cluster bombs. Those countries claiming they are sympathetic to human rights and democracy should do it through the United Nations."

Ebadi received a standing ovation when she explicitly stated: "I take this opportunity to wish once more that American forces exit Iraq as soon as possible. That they place that country under the care of the U.N. and the people of Iraq. And that they pay back the damages done to that country."

Her final point was to decry the U.S. policy since 9/11 to deny access to "students from the countries of the South" to pursue studies in higher technology.

"If we consider the world as a global village," she explained, "we must all share its benefits, including sharing education. You cannot claim internationalism and separate some of the people of the world from education."

The first question from the audience dealt with how democracy can be brought to Iran.

Reiterating that democracy is an historical process, Ebadi said the first step to bring it to Iran is to amend the election law so that all people can choose and vote according to their wishes.

As she was asked to comment on the struggle of Iranian women in the post-revolution period, dozens of pro-shah agitators began shouting insults from the main hall and balconies. Accusations were loud and threatening as the feminist who had been incarcerated for her advocacy of dissidents was called an agent of the mullahs and worse.

The disturbance lasted a good eight or nine minutes, until security guards physically escorted the noisy monarchists from the auditorium.

"My prize was for peace, not war," Ebadi quipped.

Proceeding to answer the question, she said, "In 1959 and 1960, at the beginning of the revolution, Mehrangiz Kar and myself were among the few who dared to go against discriminatory regulations and fight. Our work did not have feedback because traditional women were against what we were saying. Gradually they started to understand our words, and now even traditional women are saying the same things."

Another audience member asked if religion could be the source of democracy.

"Muslims all over the world should not be deceived by the claim that Islam is incompatible with democracy," Ebadi replied, "and [that] we must choose between accepting democracy or the tradition our ancestors wanted. We can have both."

And, finally, Ebadi was asked why she was appearing without a chador.

"According to the Islamic law governing Iran," she noted, "the chador is required for all women in Iran. I respect this law when I am in Iran. Since the law is limited to the borders of Iran, I do not wear it when I am out of the country."

Die-hard pro-shah advocates who had remained outside Royce Hall engaged in shouting matches with exiting audience members whenever local Iranian TV cameras focused on them.

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Pat McDonnell Twair is a free-lance writer based in Los Angeles.

This article was published in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. It is used here with permission.