Posted on 07/20/2006 1:22:30 PM PDT by freedom44
BERLIN, July 20 (Reuters) - A letter written by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to German Chancellor Angela Merkel asks her to help solve the Palestinian problem and deal with Zionism, a German government official said on Thursday.
"There's nothing about the nuclear issue (in the letter)," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the extreme sensitivity of the issue for the German government.
"It's all related to Germany and how we have to find a solution to the Palestinian problems and Zionism and so on. It's rather weird," the official, who has seen the letter, said.
Iranian students news agency said on Wednesday that Ahmadinejad had written to Merkel, but until Thursday officials had not spoken about the contents.
Zionism is a political movement that supports a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, now the state of Israel. The fate of Palestinian Arab refugees is one of the world's largest and most long-lasting refugee problems.
Berlin's relations with Ahmadinejad have been complicated by his denial of the Holocaust, in which Germany's Nazi regime killed six million Jews, and his call for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany punishable with up to five years in prison.
"It's extremely touchy (for the German government)," said the official, adding that the government did not yet know if or how it would respond. "There are a lot of propaganda phrases about Israel and the Jews inside."
In May Ahmadinejad wrote U.S. President George W. Bush an 18-page letter discussing religious values, history and international relations.
In it, he took swipes at Israel and at the United States.
He sharply criticized Bush on many fronts, implying that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, abuses of detainees in U.S. prisons in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib -- and his staunch support for Israel -- were somehow inconsistent with Bush's Christian beliefs.
But the letter to Merkel was different and was not confrontational in tone, the official said.
"It's not negative like Ahmadinejad's letter to Bush. He is not criticising Germany," he said. "It's basically about how we have to work together and solve the problems of the world together."
In February, Merkel compared Ahmadinejad's statements and stance to Adolf Hitler's rise to power when he and his Nazi party began threatening to exterminate European Jewry.
"Remember that in 1933 many people said it was just rhetoric," Merkel said.
The German official said it was interesting that the letter did not discuss Iran's nuclear standoff with the United States, European Union and other countries.
Iran is facing possible action at the U.N. Security Council over suspicions that it is developing nuclear arms. Tehran denies the charge, saying it is working on nuclear fuel only to run power stations.
Asking Germany for help on how to solve the 'Jewish problem'...
Wha...? OH!
I thought it said "Urkel".
Nevermind...
What does he think? That Germany still hates Jews? Perhaps he believes Merckel is a closet Nazi.
I wonder if the Germans will sell the letter on E-bay?
He probably thinks that Merkel says one thing for public consumption, but is secretly a "right thinker" because of Germany's shameful past.
And that maybe they kept the gas chambers going. Seriously, this guy is twisted on so many levels.
LOL...
Dear Angela,
Please do help me. Take back the Joooos.
I promise you I'll give up my human right to own nukes.
Allah Akbar,
Ahmadinejihad
Kind of like the Southpark Scientology episode. Under whatever Muttley says put the caption "They really believe this stuff".
Achmedalalalbalajalabad=Muttley from the Wacky Races.
Sehr geehrter Herr President Ahmadinejad,
Having received your letter, I'd like to clarify something. You wrote that you would like our help in solving the Palestinian problem. You do understand, don't you, that when my predecessor and his ministers spoke of a final solution to the Jewish problem, they were talking about eradicating the Jews?
Tschüss,
Angela Merkel
If the Holocaust NEVER happened, why would GERMANY want to help him eliminate Jews now?
"The fate of Palestinian Arab refugees is one of the world's largest and most long-lasting refugee problems."
Well let's see, with 22 Muslim states in the neighborhood controlling 600 times the land mass of Israel just exactly who should take the lead in receiving these poor, neglected Palestinians
Well, he's said that if the Euros really care about the jews and about a solution to "The Jewish Question" in Palestine, they need to take them back. Maybe this is what he's talking about.
Germany has to realize that a 7th century man is asking about a 20th century solution.
Haven't seen it, heard it's hilarious.
Someone should really explain to Ahmadinejad that simply dating a letter "July, 1936" instead of "July, 2006" doesn't actually take it, its sender, receiver, and political climate back in time...
Asking her for a "Final Solution" no doubt. I guess the Nutjob figures that they did it once, they can do it again.
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