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T he
PLAIN TRUTH
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Shown above ls a r e production of• a
three-tiered Perslon t ow·er.
lt
was
p~
of the parade ce lebratlng the 2,50!11
anniversary of the foundlng of the Per–
sian Emp\•• by Cyrus the Great, he ld at
Persepoll\, lran In October 1971 . De–
splte the calls for world peace at Per–
sepolls and the lncre as e d number of
"peace t rlps" by world leaders durlng
1-971, the glories of warfare -
espe•
cially post conflicts -
contlnue to
cfnate the mlnd of mon.
'tlllllllill!ll~·· -·-
(Contimted from page JO)
the world chessboard. The obvious goal
ts to enhance and protcct various
national sclf-intcrcsts.
A Desert Conclave
Superimposed on all thc individual
traveling in
1971
was onc of thc great–
est gatherings of world lcadcrs in aJJ
history - and in onc of the most un–
likely locations, the dcscrt of southern
Tran.
During four fabulous days and
nights in mid-Octobcr, top reprcscnta–
tives from 69 nations hclped the Shah
of Iran and Emprcss Farah celebrate thc
2,500th anniversary of the founding of
the Persian Empirc by Cyrus the Great.
One emperor, eight kings, three rul–
ing princes, twelve prcsidents, ten
shciks, two sultans, three prime minis–
ters, a cardinal, two vicc-presidents and
a host of other ollicial designatcs gath–
ered at the ancient Persian capital of
Persepolis for what was billcd as "The
Banquet of the Century."
This writer was in lran during the
festivities, along with three other
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members of
The
PLAIN
TRUTH
staff.
There was more to the show than
mere pomp. Tbe uniqucness of the occa–
sion afforded Shah Reza Pahlavi the op–
portunity to expound some deeply fclt
convictions.
At the festival's chief banquet thc
Shah told his illustrious guests: "A II
the people of the world, irrcspective of
race, nationality and social condition,
share the desire for a world free from
fear, anxiety, and the constant thrcat of
annihilation."
The 52-ycar-old monarch asked the
assembled greats to imbibe of the
"spirit of Cycus." Cyrus the Great,
though a mighty king and conqueror,
nevertheless displayed uncommon kind–
ness toward his subject peoples and
nations.
"Let us hope,'' concluded the Shah,
"that with unity of thought and action
among all men and women of goodwill
in the world, once again, a new page of
history will be turned in our time,
a
page on which there are no traces of
darknes.r, u·anl, ignora1ue, direase, htm–
ger, disCI'Ímination and injlfslice.
January
1972
"Lct us hope that our children will
forever live in a world free from fear
and insecurity, and that their lives wil1
be full of nothing but light."
But
Why
No Peace?
Leaders of the United States and the
U.S.S.R., India and Pakistan, Israel and
the Arab world were all gathered in
Persepolis in one tent at the same time
and place and heard the same plea for
international understanding and world
harmony.
Living as neighbors in the fabled
"tcnt
city,''
the delegates even had the
opportunity for close personal contact to
iron out national differences. The many
tents perchcd on the starkly bare Ira–
oían descrt reminded this observer of
the Hebraic "Feast of Tabernacles"
which Biblical scholars analyze as
picturing a time of millennial peace.
But very little peace acose out of this
festival in Iran - or is arising from the
increased number of contacts among
world leaders today. There is a reason
why.
An editorial in Teheran's daily
KaJ–
hdll lmematioua/
expressed the belief
that "man has come a long war on the
path to perfection; that is what history,
that wisest teacher humanity has ever
known, teaches us. And that is what
makes the future look optimistic."
Unfortunately, the true lesson of his–
tory teaches just the
opposite:
that
man's nature is as imperfect as ever;
that men and nations are still motivated
by self-interest; that meo and nations
have followcd the fatal phi losophy of
gctting at the expense of others instead
of GIVINC. As always in the past,
national self-interest stands in the way
of international peace.
Nothing dramatized the very tragic
dimcnsions of human history more than
the resplendent parade which dimaxed
the Persepolis pageant. While the
speechcs were about
peace,
the parade
consisted almost solely of a revue of the
armies
of the ten major eras of Persian
history!
"The way to peace is to prepare for
war" is an old adage. But
in
today's
world, with all humanity facing the
ultimate calamity of nuclear devasta–
tion, this proverb is an extcemely dan–
gerous bit of advice to follow. O