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New Straits Times
28-05-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Follow the ethos of the UN for Earth's survival
ACCORDING to the order signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, 2025 has been officially declared as the Year of Constitution and Sovereignty. And the reason is clear. Since the dawn of humanity, the necessity for norms has been evident, arising from human beings` capacity of reason and free will. Norms were established to safeguard the human mind/capacity of reason from descending into malevolence. Another crucial point that warrants emphasis is that the so-called "Wild World/Wild Nature" — which I personally find a misnomer — requires no normative structures, whereas norms are absolutely indispensable for human society. Among the core principles of the peace agreement proposed by Azerbaijan to Armenia in 2022 were respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the neighbouring countries. In ancient Greece and even in Confucianism, there was a concept/goal of common good. This concept, which has developed over time with the influence of various religious, political, ideological, conjunctural processes and other factors throughout the history, maintains its essence. This is Civilisation of Peaceful Coexistence. The main idea of Confucianism was: "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire". Plato argued that a just society is one where everyone fulfils their role for the benefit of the whole. According to Plato the common good is linked to justice, harmony, and the moral development of citizens. Aristotle defined the common good as the flourishing (eudaimonia) of all citizens through virtue and civic participation while Cicero was advocating for laws that serve the common welfare. Al-Farabi envisioned the ideal society as one that aims toward the perfection and happiness of all its members — collective happiness/common good is achieved through the development of moral and intellectual virtues. St Thomas Aquinas defined the common good as the purpose of law and governance: peace, justice, and the flourishing of the community in alignment with divine law. Enlightenment thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that the general will (the collective interest) represents the common good. If everyone attempts to declare and impose their own version of "the good" upon the society they live in, chaos becomes inevitable. It is not the individual's benefit, but that which is reasonable and serves the common good of all, that constitutes the demand of universal ethos. The most comprehensive document serving the common good of world society is the United Nations Charter. The advancement of our level of civilisation is directly proportional to the strengthening of the UN Charter's constitutional authority. The devastating consequences of the First World War prompted humanity to recall the notion of the common good. In response, the League of Nations was established, and a (weak) mechanism was designed to secure global peace. Unfortunately, within the prevailing atmosphere shaped by the demands of humanity's then-level of civilisation, the League of Nations was stillborn. The absence of an effective mechanism to secure world peace flung the doors wide open to the Second World War. The tragic aftermath of the Second World War gave rise to a new organisation — the United Nations — emerging from the ashes of the League of Nations. Let us remember Article 2(1) of the UN Charter: "The Organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members." This means that all member states, regardless of size or power, have equal rights and responsibilities under international law. Article 2(4) states that "All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." Within the framework of the UN Charter and, more broadly, international law, Azerbaijan ended Armenia's occupation by military means in 2020 and 2023. After patiently waiting for three decades for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874, and 884, Azerbaijan was ultimately compelled to enforce/fulfil them through military action in 2020 and 2023. As long as we remain committed to the UN Charter, we will begin to see our fundamental problems — and the grave dangers that await us — with greater clarity. Chief among these are poverty and climate change. Tomorrow may be too late. Let us not destroy our shared home — our Earth.
Asahi Shimbun
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Tokyo Expo that never was still echoes Japan's war history
An English-language pamphlet of the 1940 Tokyo Expo (Asahi Shimbun file photo) A short walk from The Asahi Shimbun's head office in Tokyo's Tsukiji district brings you to the striking silhouette of Kachidokibashi bridge. I crossed the iconic double-leaf bascule bridge, envisioning its former glory, when its massive steel girders would rise to grant passage to ships navigating the Sumidagawa river. Completed in 1940, the bridge was built as a key access route to a grand international event scheduled for that year. The event, known as the 'Grand International Exposition of Japan,' never came to fruition. The main venue for the planned expo was set in a waterfront district that would later become known as Harumi and Toyosu, areas now defined by sleek residential towers and bustling commercial complexes. Illustrations from the era envision a majestic spectacle: the bridge leading to an imposing front gate, flanked by a concert hall and a cinema. Around 50 countries were expected to participate, with ambitious plans for interactive exhibits, including a diorama-based facility designed to let visitors 'travel the world.' A circus was also scheduled to perform as part of the entertainment. These details are chronicled in Shinichi Fuma's 'Maboroshi no Tokyo Gorin and Banpaku 1940' (The phantom Tokyo Olympics and Expo 1940). The timing of the event was steeped in irony. By the time Japan announced its plans to host the exposition, the military had already triggered the 1931 Manchurian Incident—a pretext for its invasion of northeastern China—and the nation had withdrawn from the League of Nations. Despite these developments, the exposition was billed as a celebration of international peace, a claim that, in retrospect, feels more like a ceremonial gesture than a sincere objective. Ultimately, escalating conflict with China led to the expo's cancellation. A reader's letter, published in The Asahi Shimbun's Letters to the Editor section on May 18, shared a poignant discovery: an entrance ticket to the 1940 expo found among a grandfather's belongings. One cannot help but wonder whether similar forgotten mementos still lie tucked away in attics and drawers. In an acknowledgment of 'the weight of the history,' the ongoing Osaka Kansai Expo has chosen to allow original 1940 tickets to be exchanged for a day pass. What is the true purpose of a world expo? In earlier eras, it was a stage for displaying national power. During times of rapid economic growth, it fueled a collective yearning for the future. What message, then, should the latest expo impart? Crossing the Kachidokibashi bridge, I wandered through a cluster of towering condominiums. I came upon an unassuming signboard there. It marked the site where the administrative headquarters of the 1940 Tokyo Expo once stood. It is one of the few remnants of a dream that never came to pass. —The Asahi Shimbun, May 19 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Irish Times
05-05-2025
- Irish Times
The Irish passport at 100: Not just a travel document but a declaration of hope and of reclaiming identity
Weeks after Terence Reynolds, originally from Cloncowley, Drumlish, Co Longford , died at his home in Yonkers in New York , his daughter Christina found an old suitcase in the attic. '[It had] a single identifying label in cream tape with a handwritten writing stating CLONCOWLEY,' she wrote in reply to a request from the Department for Foreign Affairs for stories about Irish passports. The story of Terence Reynolds is one of scores told in an exhibition on the history of the now 100-years-old passport at Epic , the Irish emigration museum on Custom House Quay in Dublin. Throughout, it has not just been a travel document, but often a declaration of hope in a better future for those who left Ireland's shores, or a reclaiming of identity by many of those in the Irish diaspora today. READ MORE The suitcase was the one Terence Reynolds, a carpenter, had carried from his Cloncowley home: 'Inside, I found what I believe was my dad's very first Irish passport. It was in pristine condition, frozen in time.' His photograph was one she had never seen before, revealing 'a very young, fresh-faced' man 'full of hope, ambition, and the quiet determination that would carry him across the Atlantic'. 'I sat there imagining this young 20-year-old in 1968 getting on a plane for the first time and landing in 1960s New York, taking up abode in Inwood,' his daughter writes. The passport of Terence Reynolds who emigrated from Co Longford to the United States in the 1960s The contribution by Christina Reynolds illustrates one of the key themes of the On The Move exhibition, says Epic's historian, Catherine Healy: 'We really wanted to tap into the emotions around passports.' The first Irish passports were used by WT Cosgrave, Desmond Fitzgerald and the delegation that went to Geneva in 1923 to take up the Irish Free State's League of Nations place 'to resounding applause'. The public began to apply for the passports from April 1924, although significant tensions emerged between Dublin and London over the terminology to be used. Writing from London, Fitzgerald, the minister for external relations, told the department's top official, Joseph P Walshe, of a meeting with 'a most objectionable' Foreign Office official. The British were insistent that the term 'British subject' be used, arguing that any other language breached the Anglo-Irish Treaty and would 'cause endless trouble and confusion'. Regarding the Irish passport as 'a branch' of the British one, the British side, the records show, 'didn't want Irishmen going around over in the US saying that they're not British subjects'. The British arguments were a nonsense, Fitzgerald told them, since 'the term 'British subject' included everyone from (prime minister Stanley) Baldwin to an undiscovered savage in British Guiana'. In the end, an uneasy compromise was reached: 'Ultimately, bearers were described as a 'citizen of the Irish Free State, one of the British Commonwealth of Nations',' says Healy. The Irish Free State passport of Emily Dolan, issued in 1928, part of the exhibition On the Move: A Century of the Irish Passport at Epic, the Irish emigration museum. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill The early troubles did not end there because British consular officials sometimes refused to recognise the passport or doctored it if it was handed in to them, writing 'British subject' in, she says. The first passport, well finished with a hard cover, cost 1 shilling. For most in the 1920s and 1930s, and later, it was not a declaration of pride but an exit document required for emigration. Now available usually within days, for decades passports took longer to get. 'Passport officials were handwriting documents right up until the 1990s,' says Healy. Security has tightened, too. A cabinet illuminated by ultraviolet light highlights just some of the security features of today's passports, including Celtic imagery invisible to the naked eye. Ultraviolet light illiuminates some of the security features of a contemporary passport. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill The latest electronic passports now display the holders' biometric image three times – as a photograph, a laser imprint and a hologram. Tougher security was prompted from the late 1980s following a series of incidents, including the conviction of an Irish official in 1989 who sold passports to North African buyers. Irish passport security measures now include Celtic imagery invisible to the naked eye. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill In 2010, Micheál Martin, then the Minister for Foreign Affairs, ordered an Israeli diplomat to leave Ireland after Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, used Irish passports in the Dubai killing of a leading Hamas figure. [ From the archive: Fake passports? They're part of a very long story Opens in new window ] The exhibition tells the stories of the famous, and those not so famous. Poet, WB Yeats – by then a senator – travelled on Irish, not British documents, to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in Stockholm in December 1923. WB Yeats with his wife, Georgie Hyde Lees, in 1923, the year he won the Nobel Prize. Photograph: Keystone/Getty Not every artist thought the same way, however. James Joyce, who lived in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s , never applied for one: 'That surprised me,' says Healy. However, he did seek one during the second World War for his daughter, Lucia, who he tried to move to Switzerland from the Parisian mental asylum where she was staying. 'German officials were already aware that she had British papers and said that it wouldn't be possible. She remained (in Paris) until 1951,' says the Epic historian. Joyce never explained his attitude. 'It could have been purely pragmatic,' she says, 'or possibly resentment against the Free State, which he saw as quite suffocating. James Joyce never applied for an Irish passport, says Epic historian Catherine Healy. Photograph: Getty 'In one of his letters to his son, he says he was advised to get an Irish passport, and he declined and got a British replacement instead. So, he consciously chose not to do so.' For others, however, an Irish passport has been hugely important. Take Abigail O'Reilly, two of whose grandparents, Bill Phillips and his wife, Jean, left Cabra and Fairview respectively for 1960s England. 'They were part of the 'forgotten generation',' says O'Reilly, telling of how her grandparents 'ended up working together on the buses where he was the driver and she the conductor'. During a break in Covid restrictions, O'Reilly moved to Dublin in 2020 for college. 'My grandfather and I have forged a really special bond. He has started opening up to me about his childhood,' she says. Abigail O'Reilly with her mother Fiona O'Reilly and grandfather Bill Phillips Suffering from dementia, his childhood memories are now uppermost in his mind; cycling through Moore Street with friends, knowing Brendan Behan. 'Ireland now seems to hold a much more romantic and nostalgic place in his mind,' says O'Reilly. A year ago, she received her own Irish passport. 'I feel incredibly lucky and proud to have been able to return to a country which my grandparents were not able to remain in. I feel all the more connected to them,' she says. The exhibition also tells of the secrets of the past, including of the adoption of thousands of Irish children who were sent abroad on Irish passports until the 1970s, 'With their birth name in the document', says Healy. She tells the story of Brian Burke, who was born in Dublin to a single mother and spent his first year in St Patrick's Infant Hospital in Blackrock. 'He was adopted by an American couple in the US in the 1950s, even though legislation at the time didn't allow overseas adoptions. In his photo, he's just over a year-and-a-half old,' she says. Once adopted, his name was changed to Daniel Doherty. Before his mother died, his adoptive mother shared with him his carefully kept adoption records. Embarking on his journey to discover his Irish heritage, he requested in 2021, when he renewed his passport seven decades later, that both of his names would appear. And now they do. A year later, he returned to Ireland, learning of 'an amazing family history'. 'I am blessed and thankful for the life I was given and the path I was set on so long ago,' he said. 'I am proud to be from Ireland and I value my Irish citizenship. It has been an amazing journey that started 70 years ago with a little green Irish passport.'
Express Tribune
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
War and human civilisation: a moral paradox
Listen to article The question might sound naive to bellicists, yet it is pertinent in this age of admirable human development and scientific advancements around the world: Can, despite all the claims of human knowledgibility and maturity of consciousness, the raging wars in Gaza and Ukraine be justified, particularly when the war casualties impact the innocent children and women? After all, what type of future is being bequeathed to the generations to come? Would they not think that the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, consciousness, scientific progress and human development cannot guarantee a world sans barbarism which human civilisation claims to have left far behind? Such wars seem to be the telltale signs of human regression towards the Stone Age with animalistic instincts as the law of the jungle. Such bloodshed and genocide with carte blanche remind me of Mark Twain's satirical essay, The Damned Human Race, wherein he proposes a theory and corroborates it with historical details that man is not the highest point of evolution, rather arguably the lowest. He says that unlike humans, animals kill only for a reason, not for fun or greed; they don't conduct wars because they don't possess any religion or patriotism. Similarly, in the second voyage of The Gulliver's Travels by J Swift, on the Gulliver's proposal to the Brobdingnagian king to use gunpowder against the enemies, the king appallingly summarises the human civilisation: "I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the Earth." The so-called guardians designated to keeping or restoring peace on this earthly planet, like the League of Nations and the United Nations Organization, had and have proved incapable of implementing their existential writ the world over. As the former had failed in stopping WWII from happening and died its natural death, the latter too would follow suit if it fails to stop either of the above wars because such wars can balloon into a world war. These institutions had been established to be proactive to defang the impunity of any group, organisation or country to threaten the world peace, but their inertness shows that peaceful human existence would soon become extinct as it has already become an endangered species due to the species' own self- or auto-destruct practices. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres branded the war "the deadliest of conflicts" in decades. Speaking of Israeli carte blanche, he highlighted that Israel killed 196 humanitarians, including 175 UN staffers; most of them belonged to the Palestine relief agency UNRWA. "More women and children have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades," says an Oxfam study published on 30th September 2024. Now the question is not "Will the UN act to play its role in stopping genocide in Gaza?" as it has long been answered with a resounding NO. Instead, the very question arising from the pyre of disappointment with the UN has matured into a philosophical, moral and deeply political one: Is the UN helpless against the impunity of the US and Israel? "To assuage their collective guilt for their early years of indifference towards one genocide - the Nazi extermination of millions of European Jews - the United States and Europe have prepared the grounds for another," said Arundhati Roy in her acceptance speech on receiving the PEN Pinter Prize 2024. "If the US government withdrew its support of Israel, the war could stop today," she said, calling a spade a spade. The justification of Israel's egregious human rights violations against Palestinian civilians by labelling the October 7 attack by Hamas as a terrorist attack reminds me of one of the Aesop's fables wherein a wolf cooks up false rationale to attack the lamb. It would not be wrong to say that the world is under the siege of exploitative capitalistic pursuits. "The nuclear-armed state of Israel was to serve as a military outpost and gateway to the natural wealth and resources of the Middle East for US and Europe," says Arundhati Roy in the speech.
Roya News
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
'Evacuation Day': King Abdullah congratulates Syria President
His Majesty King Abdullah II extended his congratulations Thursday to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of Syria's Evacuation Day. Evacuation Day, known in Arabic as "Eid al-Jalaa", is Syria's national holiday celebrated annually on April 17. The day commemorates the withdrawal of the last French troops in 1946, marking the end of the French mandate and Syria's full independence. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Syria came under French control through a League of Nations mandate in 1923. Despite declaring independence in 1941 and being recognized as an independent republic in 1944, French and British forces remained in the country. It wasn't until April 17, 1946, that the final French soldiers departed.
