Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Israel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
 This article contains too many quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please help improve the article by removing excessive quotations or transferring them to Wikiquote. Help is available. (February 2009)

During his presidency, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speeches and statements, and reactions to them, have contributed to increased tensions between Iran and Israel, and between Iran and several Western nations.

Contents

[edit] 2005 "World Without Zionism" speech

On October 26, 2005, IRIB News, an English-language subsidiary of the state-controlled Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, filed a story on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent speech to the "World Without Zionism" conference in Asia. The story was entitled: Ahmadinejad: Israel must be wiped off the map.[1] The story was picked up by Western news agencies and quickly made headlines around the world. On October 30, The New York Times published a full transcript of the speech in which Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying:

Our dear Imam (referring to Ayatollah Khomeini) said that the occupying regime must be wiped off the map and this was a very wise statement. We cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine. Is it possible to create a new front in the heart of an old front. This would be a defeat and whoever accepts the legitimacy of this regime has in fact, signed the defeat of the Islamic world. Our dear Imam targeted the heart of the world oppressor in his struggle, meaning the occupying regime. I have no doubt that the new wave that has started in Palestine, and we witness it in the Islamic world too, will eliminate this disgraceful stain from the Islamic world.[2]

Ahmadinejad also claimed in the speech that the issue with Palestine would be over "the day that all refugees return to their homes [and] a democratic government elected by the people comes to power",[3] and denounced attempts to normalise relations with Israel, condemning all Muslim leaders who accept the existence of Israel as "acknowledging a surrender and defeat of the Islamic world."

The speech also indicated that the Iranian President considered Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip to be a trick, designed to gain acknowledgement from Islamic states. In a rally held two days later, Ahmadinejad declared that his words reflected the views of the Iranian people, adding that Westerners are free to comment, but their reactions are invalid.[4]

[edit] "Wiped off the map" or "Vanish from the pages of time" translation

Many news sources repeated the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) statement that Ahmadinejad had demanded that "Israel must be wiped off the map",[5][6] an English idiom which means to "cause a place to stop existing",[7] or to "obliterate totally",[8] or "destroy completely".[9]

Ahmadinejad's phrase was " بايد از صفحه روزگار محو شود " according to the text published on the President's Office's website, and was a quote of Ayatollah Khomeini.[10]

According to Juan Cole, a University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, Ahmadinejad's statement should be translated as:

The Imam said that this regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e eshghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad).[11]

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translates the phrase similarly, as "be eliminated from the pages of history."[12]

According to Cole, "Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to 'wipe Israel off the map' because no such idiom exists in Persian". Instead, "He did say he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse."[13]

On June 2, 2006 The Guardian columnist and foreign correspondent Jonathan Steele published an article based on this line of reasoning.[14]

Sources within the Iranian government have also denied that Ahmadinejad issued any sort of threat.[15][16][17] On 20 February 2006, Iran's foreign minister denied that Tehran wanted to see Israel "wiped off the map," saying Ahmadinejad had been misunderstood. "Nobody can remove a country from the map. This is a misunderstanding in Europe of what our president mentioned," Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference, speaking in English, after addressing the European Parliament. "How is it possible to remove a country from the map? He is talking about the regime. We do not recognize legally this regime," he said.[18][19][20]

Shiraz Dossa, a professor of Political Science at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada who presented a paper at the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust conference in Iran, believes the text is a mistranslation.[21]

Ahmadinejad was quoting the Ayatollah Khomeini in the specific speech under discussion: what he said was that "the occupation regime over Jerusalem should vanish from the page of time." No state action is envisaged in this lament; it denotes a spiritual wish, whereas the erroneous translation—"wipe Israel off the map"—suggests a military threat. There is a huge chasm between the correct and the incorrect translations. The notion that Iran can "wipe out" U.S.-backed, nuclear-armed Israel is ludicrous.[22][23][24]

In a June 11, 2006 analysis of the translation controversy, New York Times deputy foreign editor and Israeli resident Ethan Bronner argued that Ahmadinejad had called for Israel to be wiped off the map. After noting the objections of critics such as Cole and Steele, Bronner stated:

But translators in Tehran who work for the president's office and the foreign ministry disagree with them. All official translations of Mr. Ahmadinejad's statement, including a description of it on his website, refer to wiping Israel away. Sohrab Mahdavi, one of Iran’s most prominent translators, and Siamak Namazi, managing director of a Tehran consulting firm, who is bilingual, both say “wipe off” or “wipe away” is more accurate than "vanish" because the Persian verb is active and transitive.

Bronner continued: "..it is hard to argue that, from Israel's point of view, Mr. Ahmadinejad poses no threat. Still, it is true that he has never specifically threatened war against Israel. So did Iran's president call for Israel to be 'wiped off the map'? It certainly seems so. Did that amount to a call for war? That remains an open question."[13] This elicited a further response from Jonathan Steele, who took issue with the use of the word "map" instead of the phrase "wipe out" and criticized this Wikipedia entry (as it was on June 14, 2006) for misrepresenting Ethan Bronner.[25]

[edit] Clarifying comments by Ahmadinejad

President Ahmadinejad has been asked to explain his comments at subsequent press conferences. At a later news conference on January 14, 2006, Ahmadinejad stated his speech had been exaggerated and misinterpreted.[26] "There is no new policy, they created a lot of hue and cry over that. It is clear what we say: Let the Palestinians participate in free elections and they will say what they want."

Speaking at a D-8 summit meeting in July 2008, when asked to comment on whether he has called for the destruction of Israel he denied that his country would ever instigate military action, there being "no need for any measures by the Iranian people". Instead he claimed that "the Zionist regime" in Israel would eventually collapse on its own. "I assure you... there won't be any war in the future," both the BBC and AP quoted him as saying.[27][28]

And asked if he objected to the government of Israel or Jewish people, he said that "creating an objection against the Zionists doesn't mean that there are objections against the Jewish". He added that Jews lived in Iran and were represented in the country's parliament.[27]

In a September 2008 interview with Juan Gonzalez and Amy Goodman on the radio and television program Democracy Now!, Ahmadinejad was asked: "If the Palestinian leaders agree to a two-state solution, could Iran live with an Israeli state?" and replied

If they [the Palestinians] want to keep the Zionists, they can stay ... Whatever the people decide, we will respect it. I mean, it's very much in correspondence with our proposal to allow Palestinian people to decide through free referendums.[29]

Interviewer Juan Gonzalez called the reply "a tiny opening".[29] Another observer however dubbed it an "astonishing" admission "that Iran might agree to the existence of the state of Israel," and a "softening" of Ahmadinejad's "long-standing, point-blank anti-Israeli stance". Australian-born British human rights activist Peter Tatchell also asked whether the statement reflected opportunism on Ahmadinejad's part, or an openness by Iran "to options more moderate than his reported remarks about wiping the Israeli state off the map."[30]

[edit] Interpretation of speech as call for genocide

The speech was interpreted by some as a call for genocide. For example, Canada's then Prime Minister Paul Martin said, "this threat to Israel's existence, this call for genocide coupled with Iran's obvious nuclear ambitions is a matter that the world cannot ignore."[31]

In 2007, more than one hundred members of the United States House of Representatives co-sponsored a bill,[32] "Calling on the United Nations Security Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United Nations Charter because of his calls for the destruction of the State of Israel."[33]

Cole interprets the speech as a call for the end of Jewish rule of Israel, but not necessarily for the removal of Jewish people:

His statements were morally outrageous and historically ignorant, but he did not actually call for mass murder (Ariel Sharon made the "occupation regime" in Gaza "vanish" last summer [sic]) or for the expulsion of the Israeli Jews to Europe.[34]

However, the Iranian government IRIB News in English published a story reporting on the Ahmadinejad speech on 'Qods Day' on Oct 5 2007, stating that the president 'repeated an earlier suggestion to Europe on settlement of the Zionists in Europe or big lands such as Canada and Alaska so they would be able to own their own land.'[35]

Gawdat Bahgat, Director of Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, commenting on this saying of Ahmadinejad and Iran's nuclear program states: "The fiery calls to destroy Israel are meant to mobilize domestic and regional constituencies. Iran has no plan to attack Israel with its nuclear arsenal and powerful conventional military capabilities. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni summed up his country’s stand on the Arab-Israeli conflict by stressing, '[The] Palestine issue is not Iran’s jihad.'" In fact, Bahgat says that according to most analysts a military confrontation between Iran and Israel is unlikely.[36]

In the speech, Ahmadinejad gave the examples of Iran under the Shah, the Soviet Union and Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq as examples of apparently invincible regimes that ceased to exist. Ahmadinejad used these examples to justify his belief that the United States and the State of Israel can also be defeated claiming, "they say it is not possible to have a world without the United States and Zionism. But you know that this is a possible goal and slogan."[2]

In April 2006, Iran's ambassador was asked directly about Ahmadinejad's position towards Israel by CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer:

BLITZER: But should there be a state of Israel?

SOLTANIEH: I think I've already answered to you. If Israel is a synonym and will give the indication of Zionism mentality, no. But if you are going to conclude that we have said the people there have to be removed or they have to be massacred or so, this is fabricated, unfortunate selective approach to what the mentality and policy of Islamic Republic of Iran is. I have to correct, and I did so.[37]

[edit] Interpretation of speech as call for referendum

Iran's stated policy on Israel is to urge a one-state solution through a countrywide referendum. Juan Cole and others interpret Ahmadinejad's statements to be an endorsement of the one-state solution, in which a government would be elected that all Palestinians and all Israelis would jointly vote for; which would normally be an end to the "Zionist state".[38]

In November 2005 Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, rejecting any attack on Israel, called for a referendum in Palestine:

We hold a fair and logical stance on the issue of Palestine. Several decades ago, Egyptian statesman Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was the most popular Arab personality, stated in his slogans that the Egyptians would throw the Jewish usurpers of Palestine into the sea. Some years later, Saddam Hussein, the most hated Arab figure, said that he would put half of the Palestinian land on fire. But we would not approve of either of these two remarks. We believe, according to our Islamic principles, that neither throwing the Jews into the sea nor putting the Palestinian land on fire is logical and reasonable. Our position is that the Palestinian people should regain their rights. Palestine belongs to Palestinians, and the fate of Palestine should also be determined by the Palestinian people. The issue of Palestine is a criterion for judging how truthful those claiming to support democracy and human rights are in their claims. The Islamic Republic of Iran has presented a fair and logical solution to this issue. We have suggested that all native Palestinians, whether they are Muslims, Christians or Jews, should be allowed to take part in a general referendum before the eyes of the world and decide on a Palestinian government. Any government that is the result of this referendum will be a legitimate government.[39]

Ahmadinejad himself has also repeatedly called for such solution.[40][41][42][43] Most recently in an interview with Time magazine:[44]

TIME: You have been quoted as saying Israel should be wiped off the map. Was that merely rhetoric, or do you mean it?

Ahmadinejad: [...] Our suggestion is that the 5 million Palestinian refugees come back to their homes, and then the entire people on those lands hold a referendum and choose their own system of government. This is a democratic and popular way.

[edit] Israeli responses to the speech

The day immediately following Ahmadinejad's statements, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for Iran to be expelled from the United Nations and Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. In that meeting, all fifteen members condemned Ahmadinejad's remarks.

On May 8 2006, Israel's Second Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said in an interview with Reuters that "the president of Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map," Army Radio reported.[45] In 1981, Israeli fighter jets bombed Osirak, Iraq’s nuclear reactor, severely damaging that country's nuclear weapons program. Today, however, experts state that a similar attack on Iran's nuclear facilities is unlikely, given that Iran's nuclear program is spread out across numerous locations, including some sites that are buried deep enough underground that they are thought to be safe from aerial strikes.[46] According to ABC News, "Israel is within range of Iran's ballistic missiles but Israel is believed to possess the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East."[47][48] Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, drew unusually stiff criticism from an analyst on Israel's state television, Yoav Limor, for talking of destroying another country. "There is a broad consensus that it would have been better if Peres had not said this, especially now," Limor said. "I'm quite sure Israel does not want to find itself in the same insane asylum as (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad."[49]

Ahmadinejad's remark found support among Anti-Zionism Jewish groups. A spokesperson for one such organisation argued a distinction, saying Iran's leader had not called for the elimination of Jews but rather the illegal and illegitimate Zionist movement.[50]

[edit] Palestinian responses to the speech

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, stated: "Palestinians recognise the right of the state of Israel to exist and I reject his comments. What we need to be talking about is adding the state of Palestine to the map, and not wiping Israel from the map."[31][51]

Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based political leader of ruling Hamas party, has supported Ahmadinejad's stance towards Israel calling Ahmadinejad's remarks "courageous". He has said that "Just as Islamic Iran defends the rights of the Palestinians, we defend the rights of Islamic Iran. We are part of a united front against the enemies of Islam."[52]

[edit] International reaction to the speech

The White House stated that Ahmadinejad's rhetoric showed that it was correct in trying to halt Iran's nuclear program. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was dismayed by the comments, and reiterated Iran's obligations and Israel's right of existence under the UN Charter.

EU leaders issued a strong condemnation of the Iranian President's remarks, stating that "[c]alls for violence, and for the destruction of any state, are manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community." On November 17, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Ahmadinejad's remarks[4] and called on him to retract his bellicose comments in their entirety and to recognise the state of Israel and its right to live in peace and safety.[53] Then Prime Minister of Canada Paul Martin also condemned the comments on several occasions.

On June 20, 2007, the United States House of Representatives passed Resolution 21, a resolution that pressures the United Nations Security Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Convention on Genocide and the United Nations Charter because of his alleged call for Israel to be "wiped off the map". Congressman Dennis Kucinich attempted to include in the Congressional record independent translations of the speech from The New York Times and the Middle East Media Research Institute[54] that translated the phrase as "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time" saying "The resolution passed by the House today sets a dangerous precedent in foreign affairs. A mistranslation could become a cause of war. The United States House may unwittingly be setting the stage for a war with Iran".[55] Members of the House objected and inclusion of the independent translations were blocked.

In July 2008 the United Kingdom Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, repeated the controversial remarks to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. "To those who believe that threatening statements fall upon indifferent ears we say in one voice - it is totally abhorrent for the president of Iran to call for Israel to be wiped from the map of the world." [56]

[edit] Iranian responses to the speech controversy

The Iranian Ambassador to the European Union, Ali Ahani, called the tough political reactions in Europe against Ahmadinejad "unrealistic and premature," complaining about the discriminatory treatment of the international community, which Iran feels has continued to ignore the threats of Israel and its "organized campaign to provoke others into attacking Iran's facilities and infrastructure". Referring to Israel's support of an American attack on Iran.[57] Hassan Hanizadeh, an editorialist for the Tehran Times, claimed that the criticism of Ahmadinejad's statement by the United States and other Western countries is an attempt to divert attention from "the ever-increasing crimes the Zionists are committing against the innocent Palestinians."[58]

Former president Khatami stated "those words have created hundreds of political and economic problems for us in the world."[59] Khatami has also recently accused Ahmadinejad and his supporters of being an Iranian "Taliban" and giving the enemies of Iran "... the best excuse to attack Islam and Iran."[60] Others in Iran have said that there is nothing new about his statements and that the West has overreacted in order to try to smear Iran's international image.[61]

In 2005 Khamenei responded to President Ahmadinejad's alleged remark that Israel should be "wiped of the map" by saying that "the Islamic Republic has never threatened and will never threaten any country."[62] Moreover Khamenei's main advisor in foreign policy, Ali Akbar Velayati, refused to take part in the Holocaust conference. In contrast to Ahmadinejad's remarks, Velayati said that the Holocaust was a genocide and a historical reality.[63]

[edit] Statement during 2005 Muslim Summit

Sister project Wikinews has related news: Iranian president says move Israel to Europe

On December 8, 2005, Ahmadinejad gave an interview with Iran's Arabic channel 'Al-Alam' during a summit of Muslim nations in Islam's holy city of Mecca. The interview contained remarks that were widely condemned as Holocaust denial:

Some European countries insist on saying that during World War II, Hitler burned millions of Jews and put them in concentration camps... Any historian, commentator or scientist who doubts that is taken to prison or gets condemned. Although we don't accept this claim, if we suppose it is true, if the Europeans are honest they should give some of their provinces in Europe — like in Germany, Austria or other countries — to the Zionists and the Zionists can establish their state in Europe. You offer part of Europe and we will support it.

The remarks were condemned by Israeli, European and American politicians,[60][64][65] Kofi Annan "was shocked,"[66][67] and Saudi, Turkish, and Iranian officials sharply criticized his speech because it "marred a Mecca summit dedicated to showing Islam's moderate face."[68][69]

Shortly after these remarks were made, Iran's Interior Minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, claimed Ahmadinejad's remarks had been misunderstood:

Actually the case has been misunderstood. (Ahmadinejad) did not mean to raise this matter. [He] wanted to say that if others harmed the Jewish community and created problems for the Jewish community, they have to pay the price themselves. People like the Palestinian people or other nations should not pay the price (for it).[70]

[edit] Statements on Israel's 60th Birthday

On Israel's 60th birthday, Ahmadinejad gave a speech, in which, according to the official IRNA news agency, he stated

Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation."[71]

Ahmadinejad also stated that Israel "has reached the end like a dead rat after being slapped by the Lebanese", which is presumably a reference to the July-August 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

In a subsequent speech, Ahmadinejad stated "The Zionist regime is dying," and that "The criminals imagine that by holding celebrations (...) they can save the Zionist regime from death." Ahmadinejad also stated that "They should know that regional nations hate this fake and criminal regime and if the smallest and briefest chance is given to regional nations they will destroy (it)".[72]

[edit] Statement on Israel on the Anniversary of Death of Ayatollah Khomeini

While speaking at a gathering of foreign guests marking the 19th anniversary of the death of Iran's late revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as stating that

"You should know that the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime which has 60 years of plundering, aggression and crimes in its file has reached the end of its work and will soon disappear off the geographical scene."[73]

[edit] Statement on Israel during UN Summit on Global Food Security

While visiting Rome, Italy for the United Nations summit on global food security, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, in June 2008, Ahmadinejad stated, through a translator, that

"People like my comments, because people will save themselves from the imposition of the Zionists. European peoples have suffered the greatest damage from Zionists and today the costs of this false regime, be they political or economic costs, are on Europe's shoulders."[74]

Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, complained to the United Nations and the Italian government about Ahmadinejad's presence at the conference, stating that "It is deplorable that a leader like him, who is failing both his own people and the international community, is allowed to hijack the agenda of this important FAO conference."

[edit] Statement on Israel and Zionism during 2008 UN General Assembly

In an address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2008, Ahmadinejad stated that Zionists are criminals and murderers, are "acquisitive" and “deceitful,” and dominate global finance despite their “minuscule” number. He further stated that “It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential nominees have to visit these people [Zionists], take part in their gatherings and swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to win financial or media support. These nations are spending their dignity and resources on the crimes and threats of the Zionist network against their will.”Ahmadinejad stated the “Zionist regime” was on the path to collapse and that the "underhanded actions of the Zionists" as among the causes of the recent unrest in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. In a subsequent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Ahmadinejad stated that "The [Zionist] regime resembles an airplane that has lost its engine and is kind of going down. And no one can help it," he said. “This will benefit everyone.”[75][76]

[edit] Statement that "Smaller Israel" is dead

In a speech broadcast on IRINN, the Iranian News Channel, on September 18 and 23, 2008, Ahmadinejad stated, in regard to the acceptance by Israeli leaders that the idea of Greater Israel is dead, that:

I would like to declare that the idea of "smaller Israel" is also dead. The very notion of Israel is dead, but they are lagging behind the times. Just like the idea of Greater Israel died 30 years ago, and they did not realize this, and have continued to perpetrate crimes for 30 years... Today, I say to them: The idea of smaller Israel is dead.[77]

[edit] Other Statements on Israel

In a public address, which aired on the Iranian News Channel IRINN TV on June 2, 2008, Ahmadinejad stated:

The Zionist regime has lost its raison d'être. Today, the Palestinians identify with your name [Khomeini], your memory, and in your path. They are walking in your illuminated path and the Zionist regime has reached a total dead end. Thanks to God, your wish will soon be realized, and this germ of corruption will be wiped off.[78]

[edit] Statement that Zionsts have taken control of the Power centers of the world

In a speech broadcast on IRINN, the Iranian News Channel, on September 18 and 23, 2008, Ahmadinejad stated:

The Zionists are crooks. A small handful of Zionists, with a very intricate organization, have taken over the power centers of the world. According to our estimates, the main cadre of the Zionists consists of 2,000 individuals at most, and they have another 8,000 activists. In addition, they have several informants, who spy and provide them with intelligence information. But because of their control of power centers in the U.S. and Europe, and their control of the financial centers and the news and propaganda agencies, they spread propaganda as if they were the entire world, as if all the peoples supported them, and as if they were the majority ruling the world.[77]

At a Holocaust conference at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran on January 27, 2009, Ahmadinejad stated (according to a transcript was published by the official Iranian news agency IRNA and translated by MEMRI), that

"Today the Zionists dominate many of the world's centers of power, wealth, and media. Unfortunately, they have ensnared many politicians and parties, and they are plundering the wealth and assets of nations in this way, depriving peoples of their freedoms and destroying their cultures and human values by spreading their nexus of corruption."[79]

[edit] Statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day

At a Holocaust conference at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran on January 27, 2009, Ahmadinejad stated (according to a transcript was published by the official Iranian news agency IRNA and translated by MEMRI), that

"The illegitimate Zionist regime is an outcome of the Holocaust... a political and power-seeking network claimed to be the advocate for one group of the victims, and sought reparations for their blood. [This network] ruled that the survivors of this particular group of victims must receive compensation - and part of this compensation was to establish the Zionist regime in the land of Palestine. On this pretext, they attacked Palestine and, after massacring the [indigenous] people and driving them from their homes, they occupied their homeland and created the Zionist regime - in order to ensure that no regional power would emerge in the Islamic lands except for the West, [because] Islamic civilization and culture have the dynamic potential to threaten their interests, which were based on oppression and thirst for power. These principles and philosophy comprise the Zionist regime.[79]

[edit] Statement on the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the Holocaust: "They sealed it off"

In an interview with Iranian news channel IRINN on January 28, 2009, Ahmadinejad stated:

"An incident known as 9/11 occurred. It is not yet clear who carried it out, who collaborated with them, and who paved the way for them. The event took place, and - like in the case of the Holocaust - they sealed it off, refusing to allow objective research groups to find out the truth. They invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, using 9/11 as a pretext."[79]

[edit] Denying the Holocaust?

On 14 December 2005, in Zahedan in Iran, Ahmadinejad in a speech said he wanted to explain his recent remarks on a summit in Saudi Arabia – supposedly the 8 December meeting in Mecca. The 14 December speech then runs, in short outline, like this: ‘People in Palestine are getting killed every day by the new rulers of Palestine. As a consequence of the Holocaust, the Europeans took land from the Palestinians for a Jewish state. I don’t care whether the Holocaust took place or not, but it is illogical to give a piece of Palestine for compensation. Some people make an awful fuss about that Holocaust, make a myth of it. (…) Countries that themselves have nuclear, chemical and biological weapons should not raise an outcry when Iran wants access to peaceful nuclear technology.’[80][81][82]

Of this new speech, three reports exist, a long one from IRNA [80] and two small ones from BBC [81] and CNN.[82] IRNA is the Iranian state news agency. CNN declares to base its story on IRIB, another Iranian agency. The sentence in which ‘Holocaust’ and ‘myth’ are connected to each other is translated differently in these three versions. The translation given by the BBC has been labeled by the BBC itself as ‘Holocaust denial’. Israel, the U.S., the European Commission and several individual European countries have reacted shocked and indignant on some supposed statements from Ahmadinejad.[81][82] Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev said, the Iranian regime holds a “perverse vision of the world”. Germany’s foreign minister called Ahmadinejad’s remarks “shocking and unacceptable”. The White House spokesman said, the comments underline the need to “keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons”. A European Commission spokeswoman called the comments “completely unacceptable”.

The head of Iran's Jewish community, Haroun Yashayaei, sent a letter to Ahmadinejad in early 2006 that read, in part, "How is it possible to ignore all of the undeniable evidence existing for the exile and massacre of the Jews in Europe during World War Two? Challenging one of the most obvious and saddening events of 20th-century humanity has created astonishment among the people of the world and spread fear and anxiety among the small Jewish community of Iran."[83]

In February 2006, Former President Mohammad Khatami clearly rejected Ahmadinejad's remarks by calling the Holocaust a "historic fact".[84]

In August 2006, the ‘Deutsche Welle’ citing AFP citing the German news agency Mehr, and ‘Mail & Guardian Online’ citing Mehr reported that Ahmadinejad had written a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which he suggested, the victorious Allied powers in World War II may have invented the Holocaust to embarrass Germany.[85][86] "Is it not a reasonable possibility that some countries that had won the war made up this excuse to constantly embarrass the defeated people ... to bar their progress," Ahmadinejad reportedly wrote in the letter. Merkel indicated that she would not formally respond to the letter, saying it contained "totally unacceptable" criticism of Israel and "constantly put in question" the Jewish state's right to exist.

In a September 2006 with NBC Nightly News Anchor Brian Williams, Ahmadinejad clarified his remarks, saying that when he called the Holocaust a myth he was merely trying to communicate that it was not just Jews that died, but millions of people and he wants to know why it is the Palestinian people that have to pay for the Nazis' slaughter of the Jewish people.[87]

In the second World War, over 60 million people lost their lives. They were all human beings. Why is it that only a select group of those who were killed have become so prominent and important? Do you think that the 60 million who lost their lives were all at the result of warfare alone? There were two million that were part of the military at the time, perhaps altogether, 50 million civilians with no roles in the war — Christians, Muslims. They were all killed. The second and more important question that I raised was, if this event happened, and if it is a historical event, then we should allow everyone to research it and study it. The more research and studies are done, the clearer the issue gets. We still leave open to further studies absolute knowledge of science or math. Historical events are always subject to revisions, and reviews and studies. We're still revising our thoughts about what happened over thousands of years ago. Why is it that researchers are jailed? Why is researching this issue prohibitited? Where as we can openly question God, the prophet, concepts such as freedom and democracy? And the third question that I raised in this regard: assuming that this happened, where did it happen? Did the Palestinian people have anything to do with it? Why should the Palestinians pay for it now? Five million displaced Palestinian people is what I'm talking about. Over 60 years of living under terror. Losing the lives of thousands of dear ones. And homes that are destroyed on a daily basis over people's heads. You might argue that the Jews have the right to have a government. We're not against that. But where? At a place where their people were — several people will vote for them, and where they can govern.

On December 11, 2006 the "International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust" opened, to widespread condemnation.[88] The conference, called for by and held at the behest of Ahmadinejad,[89] was widely described as a "Holocaust denial conference" or a "meeting of Holocaust deniers",[90] though Iran insisted it was not a Holocaust denial conference.[91]

At a Holocaust conference at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran on January 27, 2009, Ahmadinejad stated (according to a transcript was published by the official Iranian news agency IRNA and translated by MEMRI), that

For 60 years they allowed no one to question and cast doubt on the logic of the Holocaust and its very essence - because if the truth were to be exposed, nothing would remain of their logic of liberal democracy. It is the very advocates of liberal democracy who defend the Holocaust, who have sanctified it to the point where none may enter. Breaking the padlock of the Holocaust and reexamining it will be tantamount to cutting the vital arteries of the Zionist regime. It will destroy the philosophical foundation and raison d'être of this regime...I invite the dear researchers, intellectuals, young people and students, who are the trailblazers, to reexamine not only the Holocaust, but also its consequences and aftermath and inform others of their studies and research. Let us not forget that more than ever before, the Zionist network, which came up with the issue of the Holocaust, must be exposed, and be presented to the peoples as it really is.[79]

Within Iran, Ahmadinejad's statements on the Holocaust have also been criticized by cleric and presidential hopeful Mahdi Karroubi.[92][93]

[edit] Accusations of anti-semitism

Criticism of Ahmadinejad's comments denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map" has come from the U.S. Senate, which passed a unanimous resolution condemning his "harmful, destructive, and anti-semitic statements." Identification of Ahmadinejad with anti-semitism has come from a variety of sources.[94][95][96]

The Iranian government has responded that "the Western media empire is trying to portray Iran as an anti-semitic country"[97] and alternate translations have been cited to contradict the accusations.[citation needed] Currently, 40,000 Jews live in Iran and have representation in the Iranian parliament in the form of a Jewish MP, Maurice Mohtamed. Their treatment is a matter of great debate, some stating that the Jews are treated better than other religious minorities in Iran.[98]

In addition Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that "Jews are respected by everyone, by all human beings ... some people think if they accuse me of being anti-Jew they can solve the problem. No, I am not anti-Jew ... I respect them very much ... We love everyone in the world — Jews, Christians, Muslims, non-Muslims, non-Jews, non-Christians".[99]

Ahmadinejad's September 2008 speech to the UN General Assembly, in which he dwelled on what he described as Zionist control of international finance, was denounced as "blatant anti-Semitism" by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.[100]

[edit] Defense of Ahmadinejad

Regarding Ahmadinejad's statements on Israel and the Holocaust, Shiraz Dossa, a tenured professor at St. Francis Xavier University, in Nova Scotia, Canada, wrote in June 2007 that "Ahmadinejad has not denied the Holocaust or proposed Israel’s liquidation; he has never done so in any of his speeches on the subject (all delivered in Farsi/Persian). As an Iran specialist, I can attest that both accusations are false... What Ahmadinejad has questioned is the mythologizing, the sacralization, of the Holocaust and the “Zionist regime’s” continued killing of Palestinians and Muslims. He has even raised doubts about the scale of the Holocaust. His rhetoric has been excessive and provocative. And he does not really care what we in the West think about Iran or Muslims; he does not kowtow to western or Israeli diktat."[22]

[edit] Reaction to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke

On January 4, 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive haemorrhagic stroke and was widely reported to be dead or near death. The next day President Ahmadinejad spoke to Shi'a clerics in the city of Qom. Speaking of Sharon he said:

Hopefully, the news that the criminal of Sabra and Shatila has joined his ancestors is final.[101]

The United States quickly condemned Ahmadinejad's comment as "hateful and disgusting" and U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called Ahmadinejad's remarks "part of a continuing stream of hateful invective that has come from this president."

[edit] Reaction to 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

On July 15 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad compared the actions of Israel in launching an offensive against Lebanon to that of Nazi Germany. "Hitler sought pretexts to attack other nations," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the ISNA students news agency at the inauguration of a Tehran road tunnel. "The Zionist regime is seeking baseless pretexts to invade Islamic countries and right now it is justifying its attacks with groundless excuses," he added.[102]

On Aug 3rd, 2006, in a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders, Ahmadinejad called for "the elimination of the Zionist regime". While some media outlets immediately interpreted his words as another threat to "destroy Israel",[103][104][105] such interpretations have again been challenged.[106] In the speech, Ahmadinejad said, "although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented". He stated that the Middle East would be better off "without the existence of the Zionist regime". He called Israel an "illegitimate regime" with "no legal basis for its existence" and accused the United States of using Israel as a proxy to control the region and its oil resources; "The Zionist regime is used to reach this objective. The sole existence of this regime is for invasion and attack."

[edit] July 2008 speech by Rahim Mashaei

Esfandyar Rahim Mashaei, Vice President and Head of Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran, proclaimed Iran a friend to the people in Israel in his speech at a tourism convention in Tehran. [107] This sentiment is similar to the "one state" solution [Israel should not be an state of only Jews and it should be for all the people whether Jewish, Muslim, or Christian who live in the area]. He also added that Iran "wants no war with any country," and insisted that Iran's actions during its war with Iraq were purely defensive.

Hard-liners close to the government pounced on Mashaei's remarks. But Ahmadinejad appeared to back up Mashaei, voicing sympathy for the Israeli people, even as he predicted Israel's demise." he said at a news conference

"The Iranian nation never recognized Israel and will never ever recognize it ... But we feel pity for those who have been deceived or smuggled into Israel to be oppressed citizens in Israel."

The issue prompted Iran's top political and military figure, Supreme Leader Khamenei, to "to spell an end to any debates" about Iran's position on the people of Israeli, during a Friday sermon in Tehran, saying

"It is incorrect, irrational, pointless and nonsense to say that we are friends of Israeli people ... Who are Israelis?" ... They are responsible for usurping houses, territory, farmlands and businesses. ... A Muslim nation cannot remain indifferent vis-a-vis such people who are stooges at the service of the arch-foes of the Muslim world."[108]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Ahmadinejad: Israel must be wiped off the map", IRIB News, October 26, 2005.
  2. ^ a b Fathi, Nazila (October 30, 2005). "Text of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Speech". Week in Review. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/weekinreview/30iran.html?ex=1161230400&en=26f07fc5b7543417&ei=5070. Retrieved on 2006-10-17. 
  3. ^ "Reuters UK article". Reuters. http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-10-28T124834Z_01_HOL724007_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAN-ISRAEL.xml. Retrieved on October 28 2005. 
  4. ^ a b "European Parliament rips Iran leader’s remarks". Iran Focus. http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4468. Retrieved on November 17 2005. 
  5. ^ "NYTimes Article". http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/world/middleeast/04iran.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=0af40a2d3d8b56c2&hp&ex=1149393600&partner=homepage. 
  6. ^ "Reuters Article". http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nN21308828&pageNumber=2&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=BizArt-C1-ArticlePage2. 
  7. ^ wipe off the map - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia
  8. ^ AskOxford: map
  9. ^ Cambridge Dictionaries Online - Cambridge University Press
  10. ^ Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud (2005-10-26). "(speech by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 26 October 2005)". The President's Office (Iran). http://www.president.ir/farsi/ahmadinejad/speeches/1384/aban-84/840804sahyonizm.htm. Retrieved on 2007-09-30. 
  11. ^ Cole, Juan (May 3, 2006). "Hitchens the Hacker; And, Hitchens the Orientalist And, "We don't Want Your Stinking War!". http://www.juancole.com/2006/05/hitchens-hacker-and-hitchens.html. Retrieved on 2006-05-04. 
  12. ^ "Special Dispatch Series — No. 1013". MEMBRI. October 28, 2005. http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP101305. Retrieved on 2006-05-03. 
  13. ^ a b Ethan Bronner (June 11, 2006). "Just How Far Did They Go, Those Words Against Israel?". Week in Review. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/weekinreview/11bronner.html?ex=1307678400&en=efa2bd266224e880&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Retrieved on 2007-02-06. 
  14. ^ Steele, Jonathan. If Iran is ready to talk, the US must do so unconditionally, The Guardian, June 2, 2006.
  15. ^
  16. ^
  17. ^
  18. ^ Iran denies wanting to 'wipe Israel off the map' [Archive] - Iran Defence Forum
  19. ^ Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
  20. ^ http://www.deepika.com/english/archives/ENG4_sub.asp?hcode=132746&ccode=ENG4&newsdate=02/22/2006
  21. ^ "Canadian prof's presence at Iran forum 'abhorrent': university". http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/12/13/professor-holocaust061213.html. 
  22. ^ a b Shiraz Dossa (June 2007). "Canadian The Explanation We Never Heard, Volume 15, Number 5". Literary Review of Canada. http://lrc.reviewcanada.ca/index.php?page=the-explanation-we-never-heard. 
  23. ^ "Prof defends participation at controversial Tehran conference". CBC News. May 28, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2007/05/28/dossa-essay.html?ref=rss. 
  24. ^ "Canadian prof's presence at Iran forum 'abhorrent'". http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/12/13/professor-holocaust061213.html. 
  25. ^ Steele, Jonathan. Lost in translation, The Guardian, June 14, 2006.
  26. ^ Fathi, Nazila (January 15, 2006). "U.N. Scrutiny Won't Make Iran Quit Nuclear Effort, President Says". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/international/middleeast/15tehran.html?ex=1294981200&en=aa775eeb6ae97fbd&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Retrieved on 2006-05-04. 
  27. ^ a b Iran leader plays down war talk bbc.co.uk 8 July 2008
  28. ^ Iranian president says no war with US, Israel AP July 8, 2008
  29. ^ a b Juan Gonzalez, "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: OK, we may have a few gays but we still hate Israel" Daily News, September 26th 2008
  30. ^ Ahmadinejad accepts Israel's right to exist
  31. ^ a b "European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood policy: Statement on recent declarations by the President of Iran". EUROPA. http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/05/696&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en. Retrieved on November 16 2005. 
  32. ^ Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
  33. ^ Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
  34. ^ Cole, Juan (December 30, 2005). "The Middle East and America in 2005: How the Region Has Changed". http://www.juancole.com/2005/12/middle-east-and-america-in-2005-how.html. Retrieved on 2006-05-04. 
  35. ^ IRIB (October 5, 2007). "West tries to impose Zionism on region". http://www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_id=245054&n=12. Retrieved on 2007-10-05. 
  36. ^ Nuclear proliferation: The Islamic Republic of Iran, Gawdat Bahgat, Iranian Studies, volume 39, number 3, September 2006
  37. ^ "Wolf Blitzer Interview With Vicente Fox; Interview With Hoshyar Zebari". CNN.com. April 2, 2006. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/02/le.01.html. Retrieved on 2006-05-04. 
  38. ^ "Ahmadinejad: We are Not a Threat to Any Country, Including Israel". juancole.com. August 27, 2006. http://www.juancole.com/2006/08/ahmadinejad-we-are-not-threat-to-any.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-27. 
  39. ^ "Leader's Speech to Government Officials on the Eid-al-Fitr". khamenei.ir. November 4, 2005. http://www.khamenei.ir/EN/Speech/detail.jsp?id=20051104A. Retrieved on 2005. 
  40. ^ News Headlines
  41. ^ News Headlines
  42. ^ News Headlines
  43. ^ News Headlines
  44. ^ "We Do Not Need Attacks" - TIME
  45. ^ Peres says that Iran 'can also be wiped off the map' - DominicanToday.com
  46. ^ Peres Shifts World Attention to Iran - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Arutz Sheva
  47. ^ Israel warns Iran against attack. 09/05/2006. ABC News Online
  48. ^ James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. "Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East". http://cns.miis.edu/research/wmdme/israel.htm#1. Retrieved on 2008-06-13. 
  49. ^ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3850070.html
  50. ^ Ahmadinejad targeted Zionists not Jews IRIB October 30, 2005
  51. ^ "Iran leader defends Israel remark". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4384264.stm. Retrieved on October 28 2005. 
  52. ^ "Hamas chief vows to support Iran". BBC News. 15 December 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4532570.stm. Retrieved on 2006-05-04. 
  53. ^ "Iran: EU Parliament Asks President to Retract Israel Remarks". ADNKI.com. http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.230104194&par=0. Retrieved on November 17 2005. 
  54. ^ Ahmadinejad Speech- No. 1013 MEMRI October 28, 2005
  55. ^ Congress Votes to Send Iran President Before U.N. Court News Release from the Office of Congressman Dennis Kucinich June 20, 2007
  56. ^ BBC NEWS | Politics | Brown issues Iran nuclear warning
  57. ^ "Iran's ambassador to EU blasts western reaction as unrealistic". Islamic Republic News Agency. http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-236/0510286427171646.htm. Retrieved on October 28 2005. 
  58. ^ "Iran’s Call for the Destruction of Israel". Worldpress.org. http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/2170.cfm. Retrieved on October 30 2005. 
  59. ^ "Targeted words". Al-Ahram. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/767/re1.htm. Retrieved on November 9 2005. 
  60. ^ a b BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iran's president says move Israel
  61. ^ "Israel urges UN to exclude Iran". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4382594.stm. Retrieved on October 27 2005. 
  62. ^ Edalat, Abbas (2007-04-05). "The US can learn from this example of mutual respect". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2050168,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-04-30. 
  63. ^ Ali Akbar Velayati, Advisor To The Leader: “Everything is negotiable” (Iran Press Service)
  64. ^ "Iran's Ahmadinejad casts doubt on Holocaust". Reuters. http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-12-08T142521Z_01_SPI849554_RTRUKOC_0_UK-MIDEAST-IRAN-AHMADINEJAD.xml. Retrieved on December 8 2005. 
  65. ^ "Update 2: Iranian President: Move Israel to Europe". Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/business/manufacturing/feeds/ap/2005/12/08/ap2379169.html. Retrieved on December 8 2005. 
  66. ^ "Reacting against Iranian leader’s reported Holocaust denial, Annan points to facts". UN.org. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=16869&Cr=iran&Cr1=. Retrieved on December 8 2005. 
  67. ^ "Iran: Ahmadinejad's Holocaust Denial Sparks International Criticism". ADNKI.com. http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.238099680&par=0. Retrieved on December 9 2005. 
  68. ^ "Ahmadinejad draws ire of Saudis, Iranians, West over Israel remarks". The Daily Star. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=20665. Retrieved on December 10 2005. 
  69. ^ "Annan shocked at Ahmadinajad casting doubt about the Holocaust". Kuwait News Agency. http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=795240. Retrieved on December 9 2005. 
  70. ^ "Iran: Holocaust remarks misunderstood". CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/16/iran.israel/. Retrieved on December 16 2005. 
  71. ^ "Ahmadinejad brands Israel a 'stinking corpse'". AFP. May 8, 2008. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ix-viVGAnfS1RHJGzZHSGjnzDIXg. 
  72. ^ "Iran's Ahmadinejad says Israel "dying"". Reuters. May 14, 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSHOS43245220080514?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews. 
  73. ^ "Iran's Ahmadinejad says Israel will "disappear"". REUTERS. June 2, 2008. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/080602/world/international_iran_israel_usa_dc_1. 
  74. ^ Phil Stewart (June 3, 2008). "Ahmadinejad calls Israel "false regime" of Zionists". Reuters. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/080603/world/international_food_summit_iran_dc_1. 
  75. ^ [http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/20080924achmadshort.html Ahmadinejad slams 'Zionists' in address to United Nations], Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA), September 24, 2008.
  76. ^ Ahmadinejad: 'American empire' nearing its end CNN, September 23, 2008.
  77. ^ a b Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: It Is Okay to Conduct Resistance against Innocent People Who Serve as "Human Shields", MEMRI, Clip No.1868, September 18-23, 2008.
  78. ^ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The Countdown for the Decline of America's Demonic Power Has Begun. Zionist Germ of Corruption Will Be Wiped off, MEMRI, Clip No. 1784, June 2, 2008
  79. ^ a b c d In Speeches This Week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Discusses Holocaust, Saying 'Reexamining (The Holocaust) is Tantamount To Cutting the Vital Arteries of the Zionist Regime'; Tells Obama Administration: Withdraw U.S. Forces, Reexamine 9/11 – Which is Sealed Like the Issue of the Holocaust – And Apologize To Iran, MEMRI Special Dispatch - No. 2221, January 30, 2009.
  80. ^ a b Polling only solution to Palestine problem, President, IRNA, 14 Dec. 2005.
  81. ^ a b c "Iranian leader denies Holocaust", BBC News, 14 Dec. 2005, 13:50 GMT, Accessed 23-10-2008.
  82. ^ a b c CNN, Iranian leader: Holocaust a 'myth' Article accessed 2007-3-30
  83. ^ Iran's Jews slam Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial remarks
  84. ^ [1]
  85. ^ "Ahmadinejad Claims Holocaust Invented to Embarrass Germany". Deutsche Welle. 2006-08-28. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2149241,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-23. 
  86. ^ EQBALI, ARESU (2006-08-28). "Ahmadinejad: Holocaust was made up". Mail and Guardian Online. http://www.mg.co.za/article/2006-08-28-ahmadinejad-holocaust-was-made-up. Retrieved on 2008-10-21. 
  87. ^ President Ahmadinejad: The transcript - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com
  88. ^ "Iran hosts Holocaust conference". CNN. December 11, 2006. http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/11/iran.holocaust/index.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-27. 
  89. ^ "Iran: Holocaust Conference Soon in Tehran". Adnkronos International (AKI). January 5, 2006. 
  90. ^ *"Holocaust denial outrages Europe", The Washington Times, December 13, 2006.
  91. ^ "Berlin Counters Holocaust Conference". Spiegel Online. December 11, 2006. http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,453691,00.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-27. 
  92. ^ "Karrubi declares presidential candidacy". Tehran Times. 2008-10-13. http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=179869. Retrieved on 2008-10-21. 
  93. ^ "Iran presidential candidate hits out at Holocaust denial". Trend News Agency. 2006-10-12. http://news.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1317719&lang=EN. Retrieved on 2008-10-21. 
  94. ^ Senate Democrats Soften Iran Resolution - December 23, 2005 - The New York Sun
  95. ^ Story not found - Cleveland.com
  96. ^ The Wall Street Journal Online - Best of the Web Today
  97. ^ Speaker Haddad Adel: West's tough attitude casts doubts over Holocaust, IRNA, 04 June, 2006
  98. ^ "Lost in the Fog: Iranian Jews", Question the Mark, 27 August, 2006
  99. ^ "Iranian leader 'not anti-Semite'". BBC News. September 21, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5368458.stm. Retrieved on 2006-11-18. 
  100. ^ "Germany: Ahmadinejad anti-Semitic". onenews (New Zealand). 2008-09-27. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/2110198. Retrieved on 2008-10-21. 
  101. ^ MacFarquhar, Neil (January 5, 2006). "Few Kind Words for Sharon in the Arab World". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/05/international/middleeast/05cnd-arab.html. Retrieved on 2006-05-04. 
  102. ^ Iran's Ahmadinejad compares Israel to Hitler
  103. ^ Yoong, Sean (2006-08-03). "Ahmadinejad: Destroy Israel, End Crisis". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080300629.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-12. 
  104. ^ "Iranian president: Destroy Israel". 2006-08-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20060813005931/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/03/iran.israel.ap/index.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-03. 
  105. ^ "Ahmadinejad's call to destroy Israel draws French condemnation". 2006-08-03. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=746081. Retrieved on 2007-08-05. 
  106. ^ "Nefarious agendas are evident in consistently translating "eliminating the occupation regime" as "destruction of Israel". "Regime" refers to governance, not populations or cities. "Zionist regime" is the government of Israel and its system of laws, which have annexed Palestinian land and hold millions of Palestinians under military occupation. Many mainstream human rights activists believe that Israel's "regime" must indeed be transformed, although they disagree how... [but] [n]one of [their] ideas about regime change signifies the expulsion of Jews into the sea or the ravaging of their towns and cities. All signify profound political change, necessary to creating a just peace." — Putting words into Ahmadinejad's mouth, Virginia Tilley, Counterpunch August 28 2006, accessed September 11 2007.
  107. ^ Iranian VP: We are friends of the nation in Israel Copyright © Yedioth Internet. All rights reserved.
  108. ^ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran, Israel on 'collision course'Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Sister project Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: 2006 International Qods Conference address
v • d • e
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_and_Israel"
Personal tools
Languages