Iran tells West to be tolerant of Holocaust views

[savvy]

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust is a matter for academic discussion and the West should be more tolerant of his views, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday.

Ahmadinejad last week called the Holocaust a myth and suggested Israel be moved to Germany or Alaska, remarks that sparked international uproar and threaten diplomatic talks with Europe over Iran's nuclear programme.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi defended the president's remarks, which also drew a rebuke from the U.N. Security Council.

"What the president said is an academic issue. The West's reaction shows their continued support for Zionists," Asefi told a weekly news conference.

"Westerners are used to leading a monologue but they should learn to listen to different views," he added.

[The Negotiator]

Well its freedom of speech isnt it? Ive seen many Jews bad mouth the Islamic faith under the pretext of freedom of speech, no reason why others can not question the holocaust, Personally I dont but I can understand why some people with grievences with Jews might.

[Mediocrates]

Exterminate all the Iranians down to the last dog.


Please dicuss

[Womble]

Sure it is an academic issue. I mean, it was said in such an academic context that it just cannot be anything other than academic.

[ygalg1]

So, he was teasing to prove his point that leads to show that USA one sided.
Gee-wee, so bias of USA not to agree with him just to prove him wrong, well we don’t live in fairy tale world. Next time stick to facts!

[ygalg1]

Well its freedom of speech isnt it? Ive seen many Jews bad mouth the Islamic faith under the pretext of freedom of speech, no reason why others can not question the holocaust, Personally I dont but I can understand why some people with grievences with Jews might.

questioning? my impression he is standing holocaust never happen

[savvy]

Well its freedom of speech isnt it? Ive seen many Jews bad mouth the Islamic faith under the pretext of freedom of speech, no reason why others can not question the holocaust, Personally I dont but I can understand why some people with grievences with Jews might.

Since when does Iran have freedom of speech? In the Muslim world freedom of speech exists as long as it's not directed toward Islam.

[KettleWhistle]

Freedom of speach is not freedom from consequences. Nor is it limitless anywhere.

[Cato]

If I were to go Tehran and read one of Voltaire's many diatribes against Islam (He was anti-religious) would I be respected by Ahmadinejad?

[Mediocrates]

Remember he's careful not to criticize culture or relgion. He's particular about racism, history and revisionism. So it may be entirely acceptable for you to screech about Sunni Islam there. Assuming you were Shiia of course.

[The Negotiator]

Well when I talk of questioning the holocaust, I look at the holocaust in a more broad level, Not just Jews that were massacred but also 12 million Russians, Gypsies, Slavs and the like. This holocaust did not kill only Jews but millions of others aswell.

[Mira]

Iran President’s bodyguard dies in ambush Sat. 17 Dec 2005



Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Dec. 17 – One of the bodyguards of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was killed and another wounded when an attempt to ambush the presidential motorcade was thwarted in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, according to a semi-official newspaper and local residents.

“At 6:50 pm on Thursday, the lead car in the presidential motorcade confronted armed bandits and trouble-makers on the Zabol-Saravan highway”, the semi-official Jomhouri Islami reported on Saturday.

“In the ensuing armed clash, the driver of the vehicle, who was an indigenous member of the security services, and one of the president’s bodyguards died, while another bodyguard was wounded”, the newspaper, which was founded by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote.

Ahmadinejad traveled to the restive province, where ethnic Baluchis have been fighting for years for autonomy, on Wednesday and returned to Tehran on Friday afternoon. Tehran often refers to anti-government activists and political opponents of the Islamist regime as “bandits” and “trouble-makers”.

The newspaper report made no mention of Ahmadinejad’s whereabouts during the attack on his bodyguards’ vehicle, but Zabol residents reached by telephone said there were rumors in the town that the hard-line president himself was the target of the attack, which took place near Zabol.

“Many people have been rounded up for questioning after the attack and the authorities here were clearly shaken by the incident”, a Zabol resident told Iran Focus.

The Sunni Baluchis have faced years of religious and racial discrimination under Iran’s Shiite clergy-dominated government.

Ahmadinejad called the Holocaust a “myth” on Wednesday, on the first day of his trip to the province.

“They have fabricated a legend under the name 'Massacre of the Jews', and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves”, he told a crowd in Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan and Baluchestan.

The presidential office and other government officials have refrained from making any comment on the ambush.

Iran’s state-controlled media have given much prominence to Ahmadinejad’s visit to the impoverished province.


http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/new...p?storyid=4931

The guy is using holocaust denial and Islamic rhetoric to unify Iran.

[MGB8]

Clearly the Prophet Mohammed never existed and the Caliphat is just modern Muslims mastrubatory fantasy, designed to lay claims on lands they have never touched... right?

That's an academic view. Please respect it.

[The Negotiator]

I never understand the need of Jews and Arabs even Iranians to talk such rubbish; The Arabs and Iranians deny the holocaust and the read books like 'Protocols of the elders of Zion' whilst the Jews berate the Islamic religion and its prophet.

[MGB8]

It seems you don't understand sarcasm, either.


Meanwhile, if you call giving credence to the understandings of Islam that the Islamists and all their supporters use, "berating Islam"... well, you better take it up with them, first.