Meeting between Hollande and Iranian president is cancelled ‘after French officials refused...

[bananas]

Source: Daily Mail

...cancelled ‘after French officials refused request to serve halal meat and NO wine’

- Francois Hollande and Hassan Rouhani were due to dine together in Paris

- Cancelled because Muslim leader asked for halal meat and booze-free table

- French officials said bowing to request is contrary to its republican values

- Breakfast was suggested but Iranians reportedly rejected it as 'too cheap'

<snip>

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3312610/Meeting-Hollande-Iranian-president-cancelled-French-officials-refused-request-serve-halal-meat-NO-wine.html

[bananas]

1. France won’t dine with Iran unless wine is served

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/10/france-wont-dine-with-iran-unless-wine-is-served/

France won’t dine with Iran unless wine is served

By Anthony Faiola November 10 at 3:03 PM Follow @Anthony_Faiola

BERLIN - Guess who’s not coming to dinner – or even breakfast or lunch?

Ahead of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s landmark European trip kicking off this weekend, French officials reportedly nixed plans for a formal meal in Paris with President Francois Hollande following a dispute over the menu. The Iranians, according to France’s RTL Radio, insisted on a wine-free meal with halal meat – a request based on Islamic codes that amounted to culinary sacrilege in France, a nation that puts the secular ideals of the Republic above all else.

The French, RTL said, counter offered with a presumably alcohol-free breakfast – which the Iranians promptly rejected because it appeared too “cheap.” The two leaders will now reportedly settle for a face-to-face chat next Tuesday.

The food fracas comes as Rouhani is staging his first official trip to Europe as president, one meant to herald Iran’s economic coming out after a long period of international sanctions. Rouhani will meet with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Pope Francis and Italian companies in Rome on Saturday before moving on to France, where he is set to deliver a speech at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and meet with French officials and companies.

<snip>

[wordpix]

25. can't the French live w/out wine for one meal for diplomacy's sake?

would it kill them to have a meal a slightly different way?

Have a toke before you go on your diplomatic dinner. It's not that frickin difficult

[Warpy]

27. Can't the Iranians cope with the fact that they don't make the rules for anyone else?

Halal meat should have been provided for the Iranians. The French should have been able to drink their wine, the Iranians to refuse it.

Problem solved and international hard feelings avoided.

Wine free table, my flabby old ass. Zealotry is always unattractive.

[wordpix]

30. OK, your solution is fine but maybe they don't like what goes with the wine drinking

drunkenness, for example

[Warpy]

32. *I* don't like that, either

especially since I can't join in the fun for a variety of reasons. However, I did supply beer and wine for guests who did enjoy it. It's called being polite. If any Muslim guests had asked, I'd have supplied Halal meat but they knew me well enough to know pork wouldn't be on the menu and other than that, they didn't care.

The Iranians are coming off as petulant children who want to force the world to act their way.

[snooper2]

40. Would you go to dinner with some fundies without having something to take the edge off?

You know what, watch this all the way to the END and tell me after that if you don't need a beer, shot, or probably both

[christx30]

2. If the meeting were to take place in Tehran,

would the Iranian grant the request for pork chops? Would they agree to wine on the table?

When in Rome...

[PatSeg]

17. Exactly

It is so rude to go to someone else's "house" and dictate the menu. It is perfectly acceptable to refuse certain food or drink, but not to tell other people what they can eat or drink. Pretty arrogant.

[oberliner]

3. Why is the Daily Mail right-wing tabloid considered a legit site on here?

I don't get it.

[bvf]

6. For the same reason

that applies to The Washington Times.

[philosslayer]

7. Did you not see Post #1?

Source: Washington Post

[Mass]

8. French media report the same story. However, the meeting is not cancelled

as of earlier today, there will not be a meal, but they will meet. (Not the first time this happens. In 1999, Chirac and his Iranian counterpart had a goûter (tea is probably the closest meal) to solve the problem).

[oberliner]

11. I get that it's a legit story

I just was making a broader point about the crappy nature of the source. People seem not to be aware of it because it see it posted a lot.

[Mass]

12. I know. I had to check to be sure it was true.

[Nye Bevan]

24. But some of the very best DUers have a history of citing the Daily Mail as a source.

For example:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026116227

[Scootaloo]

31. Bffftwahahaha

[bananas]

37. Nice catch - oberliner has posted Daily Mail articles to LBN himself.

The internet didn't create self-righteous assholes - but it lets us know they are!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026116227

Wed Jan 21, 2015, 06:19 AM
oberliner (32,956 posts)

ISIS execute 13 football fans by firing squad for watching Iraq play Jordan on TV

<snip>

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2917071/ISIS-execute-13-football-fans-firing-squad-watching-Iraq-play-Jordan-TV-Islamist-controlled-Mosul.html#ixzz3PSvou4rP

[Warpy]

28. Because sometimes The Daily Fail and even the Torygraph can get something right

and occasionally run photojournalist pieces no one else does.

[valerief]

4. I remember there were some people I couldn't stand being with unless I

had cocktails in me.

[DFW]

5. "Too cheap?"

I wonder if that is an accurate translation. Anyway, if Hollande had been in Tehran, I'm sure he would have been happy to conform to the local dietary norms for the evening. The French didn't even ask the Iranians to eat or drink anything they didn't want to--just to respect the hosts' traditions as they followed their own. Much as I think Hollande is a jerk, I think the French were right not to back down on this. No one would demand the Iranians serve wine in their own country. They have no right to forbid the French from drinking it in their own home, however.

This reminds me of a flight I took a few years ago. A very obnoxious arrogant asshole came up and started yelling to a flight attendant that he was seated next to a woman, and that he demanded to be re-seated so he did not have to sit next to a woman. I hope for the rest of his life, no woman ever want to lie in the same bed with him either. If the asshole was so adamant about never being assigned a seat next to a woman, he should charter his own goddam plane.

[onenote]

10. So if the French had invited Gandhi, a well known vegetarian, to dine with them in Paris

would you think the French would be right to insist that the meal be steak or nothing?

When I invite someone to dine at my house and I know they observe dietary restrictions, I try to honor those restrictions. It's called being a good host.

[DFW]

13. That is rewriting what happened, and just being streitsüchtig

The French never said they would insist the Iranians had to eat or drink what they did, nor did they say they wouldn't serve the Iranians what they wanted. They only said the Iranians had no right to forbid the French to eat what they wanted in their own home. The French never said they would insist the Iranians had to drink alcohol or eat non-Halal meat.

[onenote]

14. Did the French offer to provide an alternative that the Iranians could eat?

[LanternWaste]

21. In an attempt at compromise, the Elysee suggested a breakfast meeting instead

"In an attempt at compromise, the Elysee suggested a breakfast meeting instead, but this was reportedly rejected by the Iranians as being 'too cheap'."

Try again...

[onenote]

22. Wasn't "trying" anything. Was just curious whether there had been an offer

to provide a different menu option for those unwilling to eat non-Halal meat.

Breakfast presumably should have been fine from that standpoint.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. It's not exactly being a gracious host, though, is it?

If they had a meal with President Obama, and served themselves horse, but said "oh, we know how fussy you Americans are - we'll get something else for you", I reckon Americans wouldn't take it too well.

[christx30]

23. My sister is a vegan.

My wife and I want to invite the whole family over to our house for Thanksgiving. Should we just not let anyone have turkey that day? Or just not invite her?
There are a lot of other things on the planned menu that don't include animal products.
But then again, she's a reasonable person that does her thing, and doesn't get upset if people don't behave exactly like her. The Iranians seem to be going in a different direction.

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. Thanksgiving is a special meal, with its own tradition; this is an invitation to the Iranians

When there's someone whose the special guest, you'd expect a host to be making it about them, not doing their own thing. If I invite vegetarians as my only guests, I serve something vegetarian.

[christx30]

35. Would they make the same

accommodation to the French? "Welcome to terahn. Here is a selection of non-Halel meats. And here are a few bottles of the finest French wine, which we had shipped here for this event."
No. The dinner would have exactly what the Iranians are demanding here. And you'd call it a chance for the French officials to broaden their culinary horizons by eating local fare.
To the Iranians, this kind of thing is only supposed to go one way. The French are refusing to capitulate. It's a clash of cultures. I side with the French.

[muriel_volestrangler]

38. I am amazed at the ignorance of basic hospitality some DUers have

There are some foods and drinks that various cultures don't like. The civilised thing to do, as a host, is to find the food and drink that you both find acceptable, and serve that.

Jeez, it's as if you don't understand the meaning of 'diplomacy'. It's a meal, not a confrontation.

[wordpix]

26. I agree with this - I am on an organic diet which most people aren't

and it does restrict what I eat out. If I'm invited out, usually people ask if there's anything special I like and I tell them anything organic. I don't see why the French can't do the same.

[christx30]

16. But if you invite someone over to your house,

and they observe dietary restrictions, and expect you to abide by them while they are there, would you be as cool with it?

Personally, I'd rescind the invitation.

[Mz Pip]

20. Rouhani is no Ghandi.

I'm with the French on this. It's time these reactionary zealots enter the 21st century.

[Scootaloo]

33. Dietary restrictions aren't exactly reactionary zealotry

[JI7]

9. why not compromise and serve halal meat and wine

[HeiressofBickworth]

18. Because that isn't compromise -- it's capitulation.

[imthevicar]

19. When In Rome...

They don't have to drink anything and can eat what is permitted as per their faith.

[wordpix]

29. it's not a great time being straight if your dinner companions are getting sloshed

Having been on both sides (previously a wine drinker and now no booze at all), it sounds like the French are addicted. They can't go ONE dinner without wine? Really? Not even for world peace?

[smirkymonkey]

39. A few glasses of wine with a meal is hardly "getting sloshed".

many Europeans drink wine with their evening meals. It's part of their culture, it's not about boozing it up.

[tabasco]

36. Good on the French for not kissing their asses. n/t

[Dawson Leery]

41. Can the French get wine and non-Halal meat in Iran?