Iran's President spoke at the U.N. yesterday. He has made a lot of news recently, largely because of his continual outlandish and condemnable remarks denying the Holocaust and his Israel bashing. These are bizarre, yet well calculated statements. While we have grown accustomed to such statements from the Iranian leader, we would be well served to remember that he is doing this for a reason. What we should not do is take the bait.
I remember visiting the Nazi concentration camp of Majdanek in Poland in the early 1990s. I'll never forget our tour guide telling us that thousands of Jews, Poles, Roma, political prisoners, homosexuals, and others were killed there by firing squads, their bodies then tossed into mass graves. I remember the bumpiness of the ground where those graves were located. And I remember praying at the mountain of human ash at the Majdanek mausoleum, unable to comprehend the enormity of the evil that was done there.
It is because of this that I will not allow Ahmadinejad to cheapen the memory of the Holocaust nor bash Israel for his own cynical, political purposes.
Ahmadinejad is a master of distraction. He knows that he has no credibility at home, having stolen an election in a coup d'état and then having proceeded to violate the human rights of his own citizens. As NIAC's Trita Parsi recently pointed out, Ahmadinejad is attempting to change the conversation about what's going wrong inside of Iran by using the Holocaust and Israel-bashing as bait. He doesn't want to be questioned about his government's behavior surrounding the June 12th elections, or about the show trials of political opponents underway in Tehran. And he certainly doesn't want to answer the hard questions being posed by the international community about his country's nuclear intentions.
Yet there is too much at stake right now for us to allow him to use the Holocaust and Israel bashing as a distraction. President Obama's consistent policy of engaging the Iranians is gaining momentum, as the P5+1 will meet with the Iranians on October 1st. This meeting should include discussions not only about Iran's nuclear program, but also about broader issues related to our relationship, including human rights and democracy. Ahmadinejad should not be allowed to avoid this scrutiny, and the Iranian people should know that we are on their side.
Ahmedinejad's rants about the Holocaust and Israel should be ignored, precisely because ignoring them will weaken his position. A continual focus on these comments by us only serves to strengthen his hand internally, helping him to make the case to Iranians that the international community is against Iran. We should instead move right past these comments and demand that he answer the tough questions that the P5+1 discussion will bring.
As one of the 99.99% of humanity that knows that the Holocaust occurred, I believe that we have a responsibility to both remember and speak out about this horrific event. As a lifelong supporter of Israel, I also believe that we must take the Iranian challenge both seriously and urgently. Yet it is also our responsibility to ensure that we are forcefully and directly resolving the problems of today. That is not what Ahmadinejad wants us to think about. It is our choice on what we want to focus on and how we want to react. We should not take the bait.
Melody Moezzi: Ahmadinejad Kicks Diversion Efforts into High Gear
In the lead-up to his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is up to his old tricks. And sadly, the global community seems to be falling for them.
You are 100% right. The clerical regime in Iran is at the brink of falling apart. Therefore they are working hard to divert attention. They would love a confrontation with the West. That would give them the excuse to hang to power. The Iranian people are NOT behind Ahmadinejad. You all saw the demonstrations.
PS,
I do not watch television news. Specially about Iran. I get the news straight from my family.
Iran,s independence is not for sale.forget about it.
We've been killing Iraqis and afghans EVERY DAY for 8 years, and we will kill more tommorrow. Talking about what happened 70+ years ago to one small group in one war is asinine compared to all the deaths since then all over the world.
P.S. When is isreal going to come clean about their nukes? Hypocrisy at it's finest.
However, we do hear, in this country almost everyday, about those of the so-called Greatest Generation who fought and died in WWII, roughly half a million.
My objection to Israeli policy, at least as is reported in the press, is that They, as a Country and as a recognized distinct People appear to have forgotten their past persecutions. Or perhaps They have internalized those persecutions to a self-destructive degree.
In that quarter of the world, there are many sand covered remains of cities that were sacked and burned, with all the inhabitants forgotten over eons. But, this is not Pax Romana.
The choices for the State of Israel are clear. Either act as the Roman Empire did (to the Tribes of Israel), or make Peace. The first option has unimagined consequenses. The second option has loss of face, accomodation, reparations, and RESPECT around the world.
Secondly, hard to imagine what a coup d'etat would look like if you're the sitting president. Stolen election - well that sounds like American Propaganda to me. Funny coming from a country having had elections stolen in 2000, and again in 2004, eh?
And then we should turn to his reelection and demand that he show--by the standard of proof he set forth, that he actually won it.
Ahmadinejad wants to depict his opposition as being the puppets of foreign powers. We should ask him, "Wouldn't meddling foreigners WANT an incompetent clown if they wanted to weaken Iran?"
Why can't responsible world leaders do both? Object and condemn these outrageous remarks while at the same time pressure Ahmadinejad to be accountable for his human rights record and his coup.
http://www.juancole.com/
“I have also reiterated the need for a drastic change in type of viewing and dealing with the human beings and the world developments and to establish new justice seeking and humane systems aimed at constructing a bright future . . .”
"The Iranian nation has left behind a very glorious, totally free election, and marked a new chapter of national blossoming and broad global interactions with their landslide votes, putting the heavy weigh of responsibility on my shoulders."
http://www.juancole.com/2007/06/ahmadinejad-i-am-not-anti-semitic.htm
"I renew my call to readers to write protest letters to newspapers and other media every time they hear it alleged that Ahmadinejad (or "Iran"!) has threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." There is no such idiom in Persian and it is not what he said, and the mistranslation gives entirely the wrong impression. Wars can start over bad translations."
However, once again, he denies holocaust
http://www.juancole.com/2009/09/ahmadinejad-spews-raving-lunatic-anti.html
The US press coverage of the speech has focused on Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust, which seems more complete than before ... "Four or five years after the Second World War, all of a sudden they claimed that during this war, the Holocaust had occurred. They claimed that a few million Jews had been burned in the crematorium furnaces. They institutionalized two slogans. One was the innocence of the Jews. They used lies and very sophisticated propaganda and psychological ploys and created the illusion that they (the Jews) are innocent. The second goal was that they created the illusion that the Jews needed an independent state and government. They were so persuasive and convincing that many of the world's politicians and intellectuals were deceived and persuaded." Elsewhere he called this 'pretext' a "lie" and a "myth" (afsaneh).
Have you ever focused on the Palestinian's ongoing Nakba/Disaster- meaning when Israel became a state 750,000 indigenous people became refugees, and they have been denied human rights and USA policy has supported Israel's 42 years of military occupation.
The Declaration of the Establishment of Israel states:
"On the day of the termination of the British mandate and on the strength of the United Nations General Assembly declare The State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel: it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion it will guarantee freedom of religion [and] conscience and will be faithful to the Charter of the United Nations." - May 14, 1948.
How about we all focus on that?
With that theory, why doesn't all countries give back the land they took from the peoples that were settled their before? How many Arab countries would have to give land back that they took? How about the USA and all the Americas?
By the way, WWII and the Holocaust probably delayed the UN charter rather than precipitating it. If not for WWII, Israel would have been ratified earlier per the Balfour declaration.