Iran to Host Autumn Conference on Holocaust

Fox News ^ | Sept. 3, 2006 | AP

[Imnotalib]

TEHRAN, Iran — U.N. chief Kofi Annan said Sunday that the Holocaust was "an undeniable historical fact" after Iran said it would sponsor a conference to question what it said was Holocaust exaggerations, in a provocative move timed during his visit.

The decision came as Annan raised concerns with Iranian officials over an exhibition of cartoons about the Holocaust in Iran's capital, Tehran.

Hard-line President Ahmoud Ahmadinejad has called the Nazis' slaughter of 6 million Jews a myth...

"God willing, a conference on the Holocaust will be held in the autumn. The Holocaust is not a sacred issue that one can't touch," he told reporters. "I have visited the Nazi camps in Eastern Europe. I think it is exaggerated."

Annan brought up the exhibit, which opened in response to Muslim outrage over the Prophet Muhammad caricatures, in talks Saturday with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, said Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi.

The Holocaust cartoon exhibit opened last month at Tehran's Caricature House, with 204 entries from Iran and abroad.

The cartoons were submitted after the exhibit's co-sponsor, the Hamshahri newspaper, said it wanted to test the West's tolerance for drawings about the Nazis' mass murder of European Jews during World War II. The entries on display came from nations including United States, Indonesia and Turkey.

Annan on Sunday reiterated his displeasure over the exhibition and implicitly criticized Iran for its attitude to the Holocaust.

"I think the tragedy of the Holocaust is an undeniable historical fact and we should... ensure it is never repeated," he told reporters after meeting Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad has waged a campaign against Israel since he took office in August last year, with his inflammatory rhetoric deepening Tehran's international isolation.

[Imnotalib]

Surely Annan will cancel his visit... oh, no, wait a minute, we're talking about Kofi Annan. He will go and give a speech on why it's OK, and why Ahmadinejad is simply provoking a discussion....

[Perdogg]

Maybe the conference will canceled due to adverse conditions.

[mosquewatch.com]

Hopefully due to extreme heat........

[goldstategop]

There is nothing to debate. As Burt Prelutsky has often written, you might as well debate a roomful of flat-earthers. Its a complete waste of time to argue with the inmates of the asylum.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )

[LC HOGHEAD]

This is a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Nuke Tehran and eliminate the iranian threat and a bunch of anti semites at the same time.!!!!!

[My2Cents]

This fruitcake denies the Holocaust because he's jealous of Hitler, and because he wants to be the one to carry out the Holocaust.

[My2Cents]

Maybe the conference will canceled due to adverse conditions.

The sand around Tehran turned to glass?

[BigFinn]

[goldstategop]

I thinks that as succinct a characterization as I've heard of A Mad Dog. Don't make the mistake of thinking this just a theoretical exercise in historical falsification. The Iranians are in deadly earnest in their hatred of Jews and the father of the deed is the word.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )

[AliVeritas]

What the hay... I could use some more stemware... made of Persian glass.

[FreeRep]

It's hard to believe that people on the left and most new democrats want to befriend Ahmadinejad. They care nothing about people and next to nothing about themselves.

[SpaceBar]

Your comparison between Neville Chamberlain and Kofi Annan is inaccurate insofar that Chamberlain was unaware of the evil he was dealing with.

[Vision]

This is getting surreal.

[Accygirl]

Chamberlain most definitely was aware of the Nazi evil; he just chose not to listen to Churchill and others.

[SpaceBar]

They are not comparable. After the outbreak of war Chamberlain conceded that he was deluded. Annan is an antisemite and actively agrees with Iran's policies.

[johniegrad]

This is getting surreal.

Yes, it is. The entire situation seems almost impossible.

[Imnotalib]

You may think Kofi Anna is aware, but I think you're giving him too much credit. This man is so busy thinking highly of himself and his agency that he is oblivious to everything else. Bill Clinton has NOTHING on this man, ego-wise.

[My2Cents]

he just chose not to listen to Churchill and others

Why is that, I wonder. Was Chamberlain's appeasement less a gross misunderstanding of Hitler's intent, but, rather, a position taken simply in opposition to Churchill? If this is the case, the Democrats are guilty of the same thing -- diminishing the danger of Islamic terror, not because there is no danger, but solely for the purpose of opposing Pres. Bush. In this case, the Democrats are appeasers in the same vein as Chamberlain.

[Ole Okie]

I'd just as soon the Persians went back to making rugs, not war.

[Ole Okie]

Was Chamberlain's appeasement less a gross misunderstanding of Hitler's intent

Evidently both Chamberlain and Deladier failed to realize they were dealing with a madman.

Even Benito Mussolini, somewhat nuts himself and Hitler's lackey, may not have realized the true depth of Hitler's evil intentions. He was the fourth signatory to the Munich agreeements.