A minister of true Justice
2 Comments Published by Tom Gara on Monday, January 15 at Monday, January 15, 2007.
Via arabist.net - Spain's Justice minister refused to deliver a speech at a Saudi university today after female Spanish reporters were denied entry. It would be nice if more foreign dignitaries looked at such uncool'ness in the face and chose not to grace it with their presence - Prince Charles obviously didn't have a problem with it when he spoke there in March last year.
Are you arguing in support of Spain's Justice minister? It sounds like you are.
In that case, I would say that there is also an argument to be made for pragmatism. It is arrogant to refuse to deal with others just because they won't acquiesce to your differing values when you come visit. The Saudi's were only following their standard university regulations according to the article.
Whether these regulations are right or wrong isn't relevant to the point I am making. And whether in this particular example the Justice Minister acted rightly or wrongly isn't the point either. I am speaking more generally, in response to you saying it would be good to get this more often.
To take it to a personal level, do you agree with everything the Egyptian Government does? Maybe you have a minor-in-practise but fundamental-in-theory objection to one of their regulations, such as opening/screening/censoring all postal mail that arrives in Egypt from overseas before the recipient gets it. Why then do you contribute money to the Egyptian government? (When you get a visa to enter Egypt, you give the government money. I'm sure there are other examples of how you contribute taxes etc to the Egyptian government.)
Why not boycott Egypt and everything to do with the Egyptian Government?
And of course the answer why you don't do this involves multiple factors, including exercising a degree of pragmatism and also recognising that you being in Egypt might offer more positive benefits to Egypt that outweigh the consequences of you giving $20 to the government when you got your visa. Plus you probably to some degree recognise Egypt's right as a state to have a degree of autonomy within its own borders (even if it's not a true democracy).
I think it's quite important for foreign dignitaries to do the same. Compromise is not a dirty word, and there are very few moral absolutes in this world.
"It is arrogant to refuse to deal with others just because they won't acquiesce to your differing values when you come visit."
Likewise, there is an adjective carrying equally negative connotations for those who acquiesce their most deeply held values in order to satisfy others. The female Spanish reporters were already wearing the abaya and were not informed of the ban until the night before. What is that if not compromise?
The difference between Saudi Arabia and Egypt is of course a matter of degree, and clearly Prince Charles and Spain's Justice minister have different moral absolutes.
On a basic level diplomacy serves to help states talk with each other. But such cross-cultural interaction inevitably also carries forces of socialization.