In 1867 Alfred Nobel discovered the dynamite and 22 years later he discovered a smokeless explosive matter that was to replace dynamite. By selling his two discoveries of destructive power and through trading in explosives, Nobel amassed great wealth and used it to invest in oil. Having realized later the terrible dangers his discoveries could cause humanity, he set aside his wealth to be given to the winners of five prizes in what came to be known as the Nobel Prize awarded to achievers in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and peace. The first four are awarded to the winners in a ceremony held in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, while the fifth is given in the Norwegian capital, Oslo to the people who rendered great services to humanity by promoting and working for peace through the abolition of regular armies or troop reduction, organizing peace conferences and encouraging peace gatherings to resolve conflicts and crises threatening world peace and security.
Under the rules governing Noel Peace Prize, which is awarded to individuals as well as institutions, it may be shared by more than one winner and may be withheld if no one qualifies for it. The prize should be awarded without any consideration of the nominee’s nationality or religion.
The first peace prize was given in 1901 and was shared by Jean Henri Dunant from Switzerland who founded the Red Cross and Frederic Passy of France who founded the French peace society.
Unlike the other prizes, the peace prize continues to draw suspicion and criticism because of the explicit political considerations, favors granted to this or that party and submission to world powers. The prize is thus mostly given to serve Western political motives.
There has been more than one case where doubts and suspicions surrounded the prize. The most prominent case was that involving the award of the 1973 peace prize when the chief Vietnamese peace negotiator Le Duc Tho refused to share the prize with the then American Secretary of State, Henry Kissenger on the ground that Kissenger who symbolized the United States, the country that invaded Vietnam causing untold destruction and misery to the Vietnamese people and their interests, did not deserve the prize which was given to him as a favor to his country and under intense pressure from the international Zionist movement.
In 1978 the prize was shared by the late Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat, and the terrorist Menachem Begin, the then prime minister of Israel, who led the Irgun, one of the most brutal Jewish terrorist organizations that committed heinous crimes against the Palestinian people including genocide.
As for the latest prize, the media leaked information about 194 contenders including former Czech President Vaclav Havel who helped oust the Communist rule in former Czechoslovakia, Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, Hans Blix, head of the team hunting for Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, French President Jacques Chirac, former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. The list also included leaders rallying behind the American president like Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australia’s John Howard. The most bizarre name is that of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic currently being tried by the international court in The Hague as a war criminal accused of crimes against humanity, and Irish rock star, Bono.
Press reports suggest the leading nominee is Muhammad Al-Baradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency for his efforts against proliferation of nuclear weapons. If a fair and unbiased analysis were carried out for other names it would become obvious that all of them are not worth being nominated for such a prize because they do not meet the conditions. Among them are war criminals and advocates of war, those who lied to their people, those misused their power and racists.
For these reasons and if the prize commission is honest, serious and impartial in choosing the winner and does not submit to any political pressure, it should declare that the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize has been withheld because no nominee has met the required conditions. May be next year we would have someone who deserves to win the prize.
