Iranian activist Shirin Ebadi has won the Nobel Peace Prize. It's a very hopeful award - Ebadi is known for her human rights work, especially with women and children, and the committee wasn't shy about pointing out its hope that the award would inspire humans rights workers in the Muslim world. Provocatively (and correctly, I think) Ebadi doesn't feel there's a conflict between Islam and funadmental human rights.
I know I've been joking all week about all the Nobels here in Illinois, but there were plenty of rumors about a local contender for the Peace Prize, former Illinois Governor George Ryan. Ryan was nominated for pardoning or commuting the sentences of everyone on death row here in Illinois after several were found to be innocent. Of course, it's probably best that they didn't give it to him, since he was almost certainly involved in the contemptible licenses for bribes scandal here in Illinois, and there have been other allegations of corruption. On the other hand, the award has gone to some pretty engimatic characters in the past.
MORE: Ogged (of Unfogged) takes issue with the idea that folks should be awarded the prize for essentially political reasons - ie trying to inspire folks around the world with a choice rather than perhaps selecting the most obvious candidate. I don't have a problem with this myself - but it doesn't seem to be part of the committee's mandate. Hard to argue, really, when the process is so opaque.
Arafat was a pretty bad choice for a Nobel, but then Kissenger got one after bombing Cambodia.
Arafat certainly has turned out to be a bad choice now, and he had a pretty bloody and terrible past, but back when he got it, what he did (or seemed to have done) was undoubtedly worthy of the prize.
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