Posted on 12/13/2005 6:25:59 AM PST by areafiftyone
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reiterated his doubt about the Holocaust and called on Muslim nations to take a proactive stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, state media reported Tuesday. Israel should be "wiped off the map."
"If the killing of Jews in Europe is true," the Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a speech at an Islamic conference in Tehran, "and the Zionists are being supported because of this excuse, why should the Palestinian nation pay the price?"
In Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev criticized the remarks.
"The real problem with the repeated statements of the Iranian president is that they correctly represent the mind-set of the Iranian leadership, and they accurately articulate the policies of that extremist regime," he said.
Ahmadinejad also called on the Muslim world to "give up its policy of passivity" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the West could not play a neutral role in the issue.
"The West's policy has always been in favor of the Zionist regime and to the detriment of the Islamic world. It can't be a judge or mediator now," Ahmadinejad said, according to the Web site.
Ahmadinejad provoked an angry reaction from the United States, Europe and even Russia, an ally of
The comment also infuriated the Saudis as it was made on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference that was dedicated to showing the moderate face of Islam.
Ahmadinejad has been unapologetic about taking Iran on a more openly defiant course, insisting on Iran's right to develop its nuclear program and often using rhetoric reminiscent of the 1980s heyday of the Islamic Revolution.
But he has alienated even some conservative allies in Iran, who fear he is hurting the country's image. Moderate Iranians have called on the ruling Islamic establishment to rein in the president.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate say on all matters, has backed Ahmadinejad's calls for Israel's elimination.
The controversy comes at a sensitive time for Iran, which is under heavy international pressure over its nuclear program. The United States is pressing the
The controversy comes at a sensitive time for Iran, which is under heavy international pressure over its nuclear program. The United States is pressing the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
Washington accuses Tehran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying its program is strictly for generating electricity.
A Palestinian nation has no historical basis. It never existed.
Where is "Vlad the Impaler" when you need him?
Moderate Iranians calling on the ruling Islamic establishment for action? lol....just a guess, but that probably won't work. It's long past time the moderates over there started doing more than just complaining.
Are his "nuclear" toys the source of his confidence or could somebody else on the global scene be trying to encourage a US fight against this loon?
What he's actually thinking is:
"If the killing of Jews in Europe is true... then why are they still here?"
What Palestinian nation? The Palestinians had from the fall of the Ottoman empire in the region during WWI until today to organize and create a nation, and have failed to do so.
This guy gives off a very bad vibe. He clearly seems crazy enough to light the fuse on a nuke.
EXACTLY! And they will continue to do so. They like playing the victims.
The exclusion of moderate, capable candidates from the last parliamentary election there -- by his hard-line supporters -- suggests that in free elections, Iran would achieve a competent government, given the chance.
The other thing that is self-evident is that no one in the Bush Administration dares to say in public that this must occur. Nonetheless, I am certain that deep in the bowels of the military, the CIA, and even the State Department, alternative plans to accomplish this are being considered.
Congressman Billybob
Oh yea! I am more frightened of him having a nuke than I am of Kim Jong Il.
I shall leave it at that.
The former occupants of Israel - if they are still alive - are paying the price because they lost the war. That's how it works. Next question.
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