By sheer luck, I had the opportunity to attend a public lecture by H.E. Dr Seyed Mohammad Khatami, ex-president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. What was supposed to be a fully registered event turned out to have a few more places to take people like me who was on the waiting list in. Dr Seyed Khatami spoke through an English translator in Persian on the role that constructive dialogues could play in today's insecure world to inject back some sense of justice and peace. A known scholar, Dr Seyed Khatami spoke with wisdom and depth. Unfortunately, because his speech had to be translated, the pace was staccato-ish and it drove me to la-la land during the first few minutes. Subsequently, what he said led me to think about the topic for this year's JAL Scholarship program. Hence I spent another few minutes drafting my essay while he was talking. But that doesn't mean I wasn't listening ok?
Finally, the Q&A session started off with a very intense (or should I say, taboo) question on Iran accepting Israel's existance through "constructive dialogues" and subsequently a few double-edged questions - criticizing Iran's domestic policies and situation whilst questioning the logic behind "constructive dialogues". In my opinion, the Q&A session was more exciting than the actual lecture itself.
All in all, it was good exposure and although I only managed to have dinner at 9, I think it was definitely worth it. :)
News articles on the event:
The Age - "We can coexist with Israel'
Sydney Morning Herald - "No answers yet, but talk is solution in Middle East: Khatami"
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