More About Ahmadinejad's Visit to Istanbul
I noted that Ahmadinejad had, apparently, again opined on the Holocaust during his recent visit to Istanbul. Although the video is on YouTube, I could not find a translation of his comments:
I asked on Facebook whether anyone I knew had seen a translation. "Why bother?" someone replied. "Broken record."
Why bother? Because every single time he says something like this, a sane world would not only notice, but react with outrage. When he says these things and the world ignores it, it is almost an endorsement. It normalizes it.
What did he say? According to one Farsi-speaking friend, this was the gist of it:
To paraphrase he says: as an excuse for events of 2nd World War Jews took over foreign land and subjugated people. They stifle any criticism including that of September 11. World should be governed by democratic and people loving govt. Etc etc.
No surprise.
And according to another, this is the more detailed translation:
They claimed that this process of the Holocaust happened during World War II, occupied others' lands with a raping, criminal, expansionist government and over 65 years through this government have influenced this region with the support of international capital. And it's interesting that they haven't allowed independent groups to make research about the Holocaust and make their results available to humanity. They claimed that they had made their own researches and that the rest of humanity was obliged to accept it. Every form of new inquiries or research they crushed. Today too on the issue of 11 September and despite the quick recommendation in the UN to conduct independent research, they got ahead of this too so that it wouldn't become obvious who was the instigator, what was the purpose and what its results will be. My friends, if you want to break poverty in the world, you must impose a just, democratic and popular management of the planet and the main centers of economic and political decisionmaking to be groups that think in human terms and act justly.
It is grotesque that he was given a platform to say this in Istanbul. It is grotesque that the world just shrugs when he says these things.
Ignoring him and his ideas won't make either disappear.
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Comments :
Re: More About Ahmadinejad's Visit to Istanbul
Claire, it appears you're having more than zero problems with your neighbors. I understand that's not the done thing.
Edited on May 13, 2011 at 1:23amMay '10
Re: More About Ahmadinejad's Visit to Istanbul
We are whistling past the graveyard by not confronting Iran. The longer we wait, the more traumatic it will be.
Re: More About Ahmadinejad's Visit to Istanbul
The odd thing is that we don't even seem eager to confront this stuff on the most minimal level--by saying something about it. A rational debate could be held about the wisdom of military intervention or sanctions, but could there be any debate about wisdom of saying loudly and clearly, "These statements are outrageous?"
May '10
Re: More About Ahmadinejad's Visit to Istanbul
Stuxnet only buys time. A reckoning is coming. As I recall, Dubya was pretty vocal about Iran. Obama is an historical aberration, soon to be gone, but meanwhile we can't really hope for anything from him.
I suppose Turkey sees an alignment of interests in propping up Assad? As you've noted many times, conspiracy theories are conventional wisdom in the Muslim world, so I guess this sounds well within the bounds of sane discourse.
May '10
Re: More About Ahmadinejad's Visit to Istanbul
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
The odd thing is that we don't even seem eager to confront this stuff on the most minimal level--by saying something about it. A rational debate could be held about the wisdom of military intervention or sanctions, but could there be any debate about wisdom of saying loudly and clearly, "These statements are outrageous?" · May 13 at 4:27am
It's appalling, and not worthy of us as a nation. Our silence during the 2009 Iranian uprising was shameful, and it looks as if history is repeating itself in Syria. We no longer seem to stand for what we stand for.
Re: More About Ahmadinejad's Visit to Istanbul
Kennedy Smith:
I suppose Turkey sees an alignment of interests in propping up Assad?
Everyone does, apparently. Except the people he's slaughtering.
Mar '11
Re: More About Ahmadinejad's Visit to Istanbul
Claire Berlinski, Ed.:
Why bother? Because every single time he says something like this, a sane world would not only notice, but react with outrage.
Problem is, we are not living in a sane world.
I hope Kennedy is right, in that Mr Obama will soon be seen as an aberration, but I'm not so sure. If John Bolton somehow ends up in the next administration, and they listen to Michael Ledeen, then I will be much more hopeful. But it may still be a case of America Alone.
Edited on May 13, 2011 at 9:16amApr '11
Re: More About Ahmadinejad's Visit to Istanbul
It is interesting and troubling that all of these tyrants invoke democracy and the injustice of the distribution of wealth. I don't know whether the tyrants don't actually know where wealth comes from, or wether they are pandering to what they think their audience thinks. Wealth comes from people producing stuff of value to others. The tyrants either believe, or believe that others believe, that wealth is static and fixed. They also believe that people will still produce things of value to others whether or not the producer is paid. How does that make any sense, either to the tyrant, or to the people he is trying to fool?