KHATAMI IS IRANIAN MACHIAVELLI, ADEPT OF WESTERN LIBERTIES: WEEKLY
By Safa Haeri
TEHRAN 25 Feb. (IPS) The unprecedented attack on Hojjatoleslam President
Mohammad Khatami by a conservatives-controlled publication, likening him to the
famous Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, is seen by most Iranian analysts
as the first possible "range poles" to the road leading to his
impeachmenti.
The weekly "Feyziyeh" that is published in the religious city of Qom, considered as the cradle of militant Shi’ism, wrote under the title of "Khatami, a New Offspring of Machiavelli", that the insults aimed at Islam during President Mohammad Khatami's tenure were "far worse than those during Reza Shah's era, and let us note that the latter was commissioned to uproot religion!", referring to the founder of the Pahlavi Dynasty, deposed by the Islamic revolution of 1979
The publication that has a very limited circulation, in its latest issue claimed that Hojjatoleslam Khatami’s ideas and ideals are all based on the beliefs of such European philosophers as Machiavelli, (Thomas) Moore, (Thomas) Hobbes, and (John) Locke, "philosophies and view points that are irrelevant in Islamic teaching".
Written by a certain Abolfazl Musavi, a name that some informed sources believe must be a pen name, the article then asks: "How can we consider President Khatami with his Machiavellian tendencies as a clergy who is meanwhile faithful to Imam Khomeini's ideals? Why and till when are we going to be fooled with his smiles and his baloney mottoes?"
A cartoon showing a newspaper vendor shouting accompanies the article: "Latest news! Latest news! He has put his faith on Sale!", or "Pluralism versions of monotheism, civil society, religious lenience".
Though the periodical claims that it has no connection of any kind with the management of the Qom Seminary or the Feyziyeh Theological School, but enjoys the collaboration of a number of prominent clergies of the Qom Seminary", yet the same sources say it is controlled by the Haqqani School where teaches Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, probably the most outspoken among senior hawkish clerics.
An Islamic centre in Qom renowned for the extremist views it teaches students on Islamic theology, the School is the hive breeding extremist and most orthodox clerics, many of them present rulers of the Islamic Republic.
In a controversial statement made last year, Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi, who is both closely associated with and much respected by Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the fundamentalist leader of the Islamic Republic, said it is the duty of the faithful to kill the apostates and throw their bodies down in the ravines, and in doing so, they don’t need to get authorisation from the authorities.
The declaration got the appreciation of the leader, but was denounced by reformists as a call for disobedience, encouraging anarchy and undermining the authority of the President and his government.
However, in the introduction to the article that contains insulting comments about President Khatami, the managing director of the periodical, Mohammad Dadsetan, writes that "Feyziyeh periodical was founded in 1994 and we have merely been publishing high level theological articles up to now. But we felt obliged to break our silence regarding the new front of hypocrisy and the modern cultural onslaught of the enemy."
In the article, the author opines that Khatami tries to "merge religious thoughts with liberties that are essentially western type ideals" and portrays him as "a modern liberal intellectual" which, "Feyziyeh" claims, is another "sin" attributed to the President by a supporter.
The article immediately met with indignation by reformists supporting Mr. Khatami, also accused of "violating" the country's constitution and criticised for having created an atmosphere favourable for those who both undermine and questions basic canons of the faith.
Reporting the incriminated article, the official Iranian news agency IRNA that backs the President said the item present the author’s personal viewpoints that are "thoroughly negative regarding all the policies adopted by President Khatami".
"Without presenting any logical or scientific justification, the writer not only fails to understand how different are the ideas of the said philosophers, but allso does not present any vestige of similarity between President Khatami's ideas with those of the above-mentioned figures", IRNA observed.
According to the Agency, Mr. Musavi does not provide any proof for his accusations and claims, "except repeating them, for, any pious believer knows that accepting a religion is equal with abiding by certain restrictive codes."
Mr. Mohammad Mehdi Khalaji, a former Editor of "Entekhab" (Choice), the only moderate daily close to the conservatives described the article as an "effort by religious extremists to question Mr. Khatami’s religious standards and show that he has no base in Qom and in the theological centres".
Reminding that more than 70 per cent of the voters in Qom had opted for Mr. Khatami in the May 1997 presidential elections, Mr. Khalaji, who now lives in Paris told "Iran Press Service" that Mr. Mesbah-Yazdi or the "Feyziyeh" weekly represents a "tiny minority" of clerics and theological students that are "fed" by the conservatives.
In his view, Mr. Khatami, "through both patience and perseverance" has succeeded to open a breach in the conservative’s front, creating a moderate branch of which "Entekhab" is a symbol.
"The "Feyziyeh article can be interpreted as reflecting the extremists’ fear from their growing isolation, including in their own camp", he noted.
But Mr. Qasem Sho’leh Sa’di, a lawyer and a former MM (Member of the Majles) from Shiraz, the capital city of the southern Fars Province observed that the hard-liners are "so much hated in the public opinion that their support to anyone would sink him".
"Considering the fact that a great majority of youngsters and students are already criticising the President for his lack of firmness, lack of plans and organisation, his failure to meet public’s demands and aspirations, in one word, a balance sheet by the reformists that is negative compared to two years ago, Mr. Khatami would certainly loose more of his supporters than the number of conservatives he might possibly attract to his side", he said. ENDS KHATAMI FAYZIYEH 25201