Iran to host conference on 'exaggerated' Holocaust
AP
Tehran: Iran said on Sunday that it would go ahead and sponsor a conference to examine the scientific evidence supporting the Holocaust in the autumn, dismissing it as exaggerated.
The move to proceed with the controversial conference, likely to deepen Tehran's international isolation, came as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan raised concerns with Iran over an exhibition of Holocaust cartoons.
Hard-line President Ahmoud Ahmadinejad had already called the Nazis' World War II slaughter of 6 million Jews a myth and said the Jewish state should be wiped off the map or moved to Germany or US. The remarks prompted global condemnation.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said that because the Holocaust is a scientific issue, both opponents and proponents of the existence of the Holocaust could participate.
"God willing, a conference on the Holocaust will be held in the autumn. The Holocaust is not a sacred issue that one can't touch," he told reporters. "I have visited the Nazi camps in Eastern Europe. I think it is exaggerated,'' Asefi said.
Asefi did not disclose where the Holocaust conference would be held, nor who would attend.
• The Holocaust is not a sacred issue that one can't touch. I have visited Nazi camps in Europe. I think it is exaggerated
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Again I say is not Iran campaigning for the removal of Israel? They spit on the graves of the the jews, and the alies who died to end the Holocaust. I for one am proud of our heros who died to free the remaining jews in europe, and I am ashamed the west hesitated so long befor taking on Hitler... many more could have been saved, if we had not been so isolationist...
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Comments: 9
Ahmadinejad has often explained that the Holocaust was brought about by Germans, and Europeans and Jews, Christians and Muslims had a history of good relations for many centuries in the Middle East. Yet people in the West accuse Muslims of being anti-semitic, as though they had participated in the Holocaust. He said he loves people, Israelis included, but their government's Zionist policies is another matter. He was asked by the Jewish member of the Iranian Parliament to make a statement that he did not deny the Holocaust, because his remarks were offensive to all Jews,not least the Jewish communities in Iran. However, he evaded doing so, by saying he would make a "clear" statement that would be acceptable to everyone. The fact is he would lose politically by doing so, in Iran and many countries.
While Ahmadinejad presses buttons with his political rhetoric, playing populist and nationalist at home and seeking to enhance Iran's role as an important power in its region abroad, he also presents a cogent argument for negotiations with the United States that could lead to establishment of full relations between Iran and the United States.
The Western media has distorted his message, along with "advertizing" that Iran is a threat to the West and to Israel.
Both Iran and United States have exploited the issue of nuclear development for their own political ends. The right to develop nuclear energy is a nationalist issue for Iran, and making it controversial helps the government avoid domestic criticism for its handling of the economy and allows it to more readily suppress reformists (although Bush's calling Iran part of the "Axis of Evil already did that, Ahmadinejad's election being one consequence).
What about "wiped off the map"? Israel "should be wiped off the map.' This is a translation of an old quote from Ayatollah Khomeini (c.1980), which is well-known. It never implied Iran should attack Israel. A more literal translation would be " Israel should vanish from the pages of history." The meaning to hearers is that Israel was an artificial creation by the West in the land of Palestine, it indicates solidarity with the rights of Palestinians and moral disapproval of Israel's behavior as a colonialist, imperialistic nation in the region. In 2003 Iran offered to negotiate with the US, and included an understanding it was willing to recognize Israel. Iran's official policy is to attack no nation unless attacked. Supreme Leader Khamenei has the authority in Iran, not the President.
The rhetorical threats and accusations against Iran by the US and Israel have been offensive not only to Iran but to many others, and boosted Iran's image as a power in its region. The US influence, especially in the Middle East has already been severely degraded by its actions, and threatened the stability of its allies in the region and alienated the US allies worldwide. Israel's chances of survival has been been lessened. It may take generations to repair the damage done the status of the US.
These rhetorical games that politicians play can have dangerous consequences. For in the current chaotic conditions in the Middle East vents can happen can erupt in unanticipated and not-so-unanticipated ways. The media's role has been more disinformative than informative.
and he says it shoud be wiped off the planet.. or moved, he is offering t do the first I believe.
Matthew is Correct.
Are you sure enough of him to not worry?
Thanks Comic-Relief,
Are you sure enough of him to not worry? "
>>>>
That's not sensible, Matthew T. In your world, you don't like someone, and you are sure he has an evil plan. You don't need to understand the situation.?
As I commented earlier , it's good you aren't representing the US. How you conclude "I am sure of him" is difficult to understand.
I don't like his views, which fortunately do not represent those in charge of Iran. I have tried to place his role in perspective. What concerns me is the US' foreign policy toward Iran and in general. We have already foolishly got into an unwinnable war in Iraq.
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War