Ignore Him at Your Own Peril

"Iran leader: Holocaust a 'myth'

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has described the Holocaust as "a myth" and suggested that Israel be moved to Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska.

Germany, the European Commission and Israel condemned the remark, with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier calling it "shocking and unacceptable."

The Israeli government said Ahmadinejad's regime had "a distorted sense of reality."

Ahmadinejad sparked widespread international condemnation in October when he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Last week he also expressed doubt about the killing by the Nazis of six million Jews during World War II, but Wednesday was the first occasion when he said in public that the Holocaust was a myth.

"They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to thousands of people in the Iranian city of Zahedan, according to a report on Wednesday from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

"If somebody in their country questions God, nobody says anything, but if somebody denies the myth of the massacre of Jews, the Zionist loudspeakers and the governments in the pay of Zionism will start to scream," he said."
I am very curious to see where this leads. This is not the type of rhetoric that should be ignored. In fact some could argue that he is testing the water to see what type of reaction he will receive. It is very troubling.

If you follow Daniel Pipes column then you are probably familiar with his remarks about Kofi Annan. Here is a brief excerpt.

"There is a right way and a wrong way, strangely, to call for the elimination of Israel.

The secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, provided an example of both ways in recent weeks. When the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stated on October 26 that "the regime occupying Jerusalem must be eliminated from the pages of history," Mr. Annan replied by expressing "dismay." Again on December 8, when Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be moved to Europe, Annan responded with "shock."

But dismay and shock at Ahmadinejad's statements did not prevent Annan from participating on November 29, just between the Iranian's outbursts, in a U.N.-sponsored "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People." Anne Bayefsky of "Eye on the UN," reports that Annan sat on the dais with an Arabic-language "Map of Palestine" nearby that showed a Palestine replacing Israel. It cartographically achieved exactly what Ahmadinejad called for: the elimination of the Jewish state.

Annan's contradictory actions result from the fact that, since 1993, explicit calls for the destruction of Israel have become offensive, but implicit ones have become more acceptable. The latter include:

The lessons of the past mustn't be ignored. When world leaders make such nefarious and crazy claims they must be taken seriously and responded to because too many lives are at stake to ignore them. Humanity is not yet so civilized to have set aside violence and murder as political tools to be used for gain.

6 comments:

Bill said...

Jack is right to ignore Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be foolish.

I am all for leaving a country to its own misguided ways, however this is a sign that things are getting a bit unstable in Iran.

The first sign that a ruling elite is becoming unsustainable seems to be disinformation.

Creating a scapegoat out of the state of Israel by denying the holocaust and demonizing the state, must have a political purpose.

Either they wish to use the hate of Israel to bolster their regime or they are building aggression towards Israel for another reason.

So there are two possibilities one is that the ruling elite in Tehran are having problems sustaining their control, and the other option is something we don’t want to think about..

Jewish Atheist said...

Has anybody ever been under the impression that Ahmadinejad was not a dangerous guy? Who are you trying to convince here? Are you surprised that he's anti-semitic?

Jack Steiner said...

JA,

I think that there are a lot of people in the world who have very simplistic views of people and life.

There are too many examples of the world ignoring madmen. Too many examples of genocidal activities that go unnoticed. I'd rather be proactive in calling out the alarm then be late to the party.

Bill is right with his analysis. Along those lines I should add that I have heard people say that they think that Ahmadinejad is just posturing for political gain within Iran.

I don't think that it is wise to take chances here.

Unknown said...

And if anyone ever gave the Palestinians their own land, it would be gone within 100 years and I am being kind because I really believe they'd be swindled out of it or would outright give it away to OTHER Arabs who would take it from them within a generation.

Jack Steiner said...

Z,

You may be right.

MC Aryeh said...

As frightening as Ahmedinejad is, I am almost more frightened by Annan. At least Ahmedinajad is clear on where he stands.

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