ELEFTHEROTYPIA, My Dear Diary
| My Dear …Diary byΑnna Karamanou |  |
| Edited by: ELIZ. KAZALOTTI – VICKY TSIOROU | 16. 8. 2003 |
Member of the European Parliament and President of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament (EP), the first EP committee presidency for PASOK since 1981. Member of the Presidium of the Socialist Group in the EP. Human rights and gender equality are at the heart of her work. A trade unionist at OTE and a member of PASOK since 1974, as well as a member of the Central Committee (1977-2001), she served as Secretary-General for Gender Equality and Secretary of the PASOK Gender Equality Sector. She has been Vice-President of the Socialist International Women since 1996. In 1999, she was awarded the “Peace and Friendship A. İpekçi” prize for her activities in favor of Greek-Turkish rapprochement. She was born in Pyrgos, Ilia. She holds a degree from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Athens, with one year of studies in the United States.
Monday
The alarm went off at 6:00, so I could catch the plane to Brussels at 9:15. I have only slept for four hours. We are flying at 33,000 feet, with clear skies and light (fortunately) turbulence. My colleague next to me is already asleep and lightly snoring. The quiet of the plane, without phones, with polite people taking care of you, is an oasis of relaxation. I put on my headphones and listen to music. They’re playing Verdi’s *Aida*, for the thousandth time, I know it by heart, I could conduct an orchestra. I close my eyes and dream of the performance between the pyramids. It is one of my unfulfilled dreams.
At 3 p.m., I preside over the meeting of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament. The agenda includes a two-hour discussion on the Middle East, with the participation of women from Palestine and Israel. I have always believed that women have the solutions, but they lack the power to enforce them. Naomi Hazan, former vice-president of the Knesset, suggests the creation of an International Women’s Council, in the presence of George Papandreou, who has meanwhile arrived. I like the modern approach to foreign policy and international relations that Papandreou promotes, the policy of peaceful coexistence of peoples, dialogue, respect for diversity, good neighborliness, and the rejection of war as a means of resolving differences. He captivated us with his intervention. He acknowledged that women can play an important role in conflict resolution and peace negotiations. We finished at 6:30. Work continued in the office until late.
Tuesday
The distance from my house to the European Parliament is only ten minutes on foot. It’s raining, as usual. I greet the greengrocer in my neighborhood, a very friendly Moroccan. Further down, the antique dealer, also Moroccan, holds me in high regard because I’ve relieved him of some of the junk he sells – a chest, a secretary, two lamps. I cross the threshold of the Parliament, say “bonjour” to the guards, and open the security barriers with my electronic card, which were installed for safety reasons after September 11, 2001. Just imagine, I think, if the terrorists were to strike the very American Pentagon and neither the CIA nor the FBI had noticed.
My committee starts at 9:00 with votes on the following reports: the “Daphne” Program for combating violence against women and children, women in rural areas in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy, with rapporteur Rodi Kratsa, and the gender dimension in the budget (gender budgeting, etc.).
At noon, a working lunch with 30 Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot women. We even solved the Cyprus issue. The meeting ends at 5:30. Following that, there are about ten receptions inside and outside the Parliament. In the evening, I decided to escape “to four continents” with Serafim Fyntanidis. I enjoyed the trip to Brazil, “where Christ feels awkward.” Hotel “Rio Oto Palace.” Roof garden on the thirtieth floor. Sweet winter twilight of June. The thermometer shows twenty-four degrees…
Wednesday
The meeting with the two Iranian female MPs, 9:00 in the morning in my office, lasted one hour. They were accompanied by about ten men from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They were cloaked in chadors. The men wore Armani. The conversation followed the usual lines. Not a word about the protests shaking the country. However, I made sure, with tact, to remind them about the separation of religion and state, that in modern democracies, politicians govern, not mullahs, and that dialogue between cultures requires respect for fundamental freedoms and the human rights of women. The following appointments lasted until two.
In the afternoon, in the Employment Committee, Repas gave an account of the Greek presidency, and in the Liberties Committee, Petsalnikos did the same. Both received nothing but praise. Overall, the presidency was a huge success!
Thursday
In the Herald Tribune, my eye catches an interesting headline: “How the West Pays to Keep the Rest Poor.” It blasts Jacques Chirac and Frans Fischler for the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy, which condemns developing countries to poverty. Of course, the U.S. is also implicated. The agricultural subsidies of wealthy countries, it says, are six times greater than the total development aid to poor countries. Where there’s poverty, there’s also its fate…
At 10:00, I arrive at the Roma office, which is organizing a discussion. These people have problems. At every step, they face prejudice, contempt, rejection, and racism. I take the floor. They listen to me attentively. Next to me is Miranda, the president, wearing traditional dress. They are rightfully demanding more attention. In my mind, I have images of the Roma settlements in Spata and Aspropyrgos. Small houses of twenty-five square meters house large families. Aspropyrgos doesn’t even have water. I try to remember the Twelve Commandments of the Gypsy, by Palamas.
I catch the flight to Athens just in time. I’m reading *Eros Physis* by Papa-Faros. “One cannot be truly erotic with another person if they are not erotic in general. True love has nothing to do with possessiveness. Love is a search, a constant dialogue with our environment…”
Friday
A holiday! And at the office, only the security staff is waiting for me, that is, my scientific advisor. There are many topics to discuss. The incoming and outgoing mail is a pile, countless phone calls that have been pending for days, maybe even weeks, and how do you convince even friends that you don’t have time, that there just aren’t enough hours in the day?
In the afternoon, I had a very important obligation to two significant people who greatly influence my life, perhaps even my *immortality* according to Kundera (what arrogance!), my granddaughters Eleana and Danae, the cutest little girls in the world (we’ve somewhat become doting grandparents). In a few months, the third one is coming – lucky me… They welcome me with love and adoration, and inside, I wonder why it’s a miracle if they see me two or three times a month. At 7 p.m., the three of us sit in the box at the Opera House for *The Sleeping Beauty* by Tchaikovsky. Pure enjoyment!
Saturday
I’m reading Olga Bakomaru’s *Magnifications* in *Eleftherotypia*: “No one talks about Iraq anymore, about the children with severed hands, about the women whose eyes are a desert – the topic doesn’t sell…”
I feel a sense of melancholy.
At 6:00 p.m., in Volos, I speak at an event organized by the Academy of Theological Studies, on the topic “Religions and Women – The Problem of Violence and Fundamentalism.” Present is Metropolitan Ignatius of Demetrias, and the room is full. On the panel with me are Teny Pirri-Simonian from the World Council of Churches, Marilène Pizant from the Jewish community, Mehrézia Maïza, a Muslim from Paris, and Pigi Kazlari, a School Advisor for Religious Education.
The discussion was extremely interesting, and it ended at 11:00 p.m., instead of 8:30. I wondered, if all the dioceses organized such open discussions, how much better the world’s relationship with the Church would be.
Sunday
I returned from Volos around noon and went straight to my mother, Mrs. Eleni, whom I hadn’t seen in a few weeks. She lives alone, an independent woman and still relatively young. The death of my brother last year on Easter Sunday really shattered her. The only thing that keeps her going is that she has friends, interests, she reads the newspaper daily, and follows the news. She’s my best source of information, my private news agency. A staunch supporter of both Simitis and Papandreou, she’s well-informed about everything and everyone. She considers the Simitis-Papandreou duo unbeatable, admires Vasso and Anna Diamantopoulou, and of course, she doesn’t believe for a second that PASOK will lose the elections. She even backs it up with facts. My daughter Christiana adores her.
In the evening in Drapetsona, by the harbor with the moon, I enjoyed the concert of Mikis Theodorakis, for the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis. The old guard of the Lambrakis group was present. I went to bed at 2 a.m. The alarm clock will ring again at 6:00. Tomorrow I leave for Strasbourg. Life is beautiful!