Living in Britain over the last three years, I’ve been exposed to a relentless attack on Iran and Ahmadinejad by the Western media. These attacks are not always blunt and instantly apparent. In fact they are nearly always veiled as neutral reporting, but are always sneakingly snide in tone and implicitly insinuating. Only occasionally does the language flare up in intensity, like it has this preceding week. But in many ways, the revelation of a second nuclear facility by Iran has not changed the political narrative much. The fundamental arguments and accusations levelled against them remain the same. These are essentially two: That Iran denies the Holocaust and that it wants to wipe Israel off the map.
Of course when we academically consider these claims they hold little to no credibility. And when we compare this to Israel’s denial of the Nakbah and their military posturing over Iran’s nuclear programme, it becomes clear who the real nuclear bully in the Middle East is.
First of all, lets take a look at the Holocaust denial charge.
If we actually consider what Ahmadinejad says, rather than the disgraceful twisting and paraphrasing of the Farsi which goes on in British papers, Ahmadinejad stated in a speech at Columbia University, “I'm not saying that it didn't happen at all. This is not judgment that I'm passing here. The Holocaust should be left open to debate and research like any other historical event.” This argument finds traction with the likes of Professor Finkelstein, the author of the “Holocaust Industry”. He argues that the Holocaust has been abused by being used as propaganda, and being mythologized by the Zionist lobbyists for their own land-grabbing purposes rather than being considered as the solemn and sensitive historical event that it is. And Finkelstein is ideally placed to draw these conclusions - his own parents were in the Holocaust.
Ahmadinejad also argues that “the pretext for establishing the Zionist regime is a lie, a lie which relies on an unreliable claim, a mythical claim, (as) the occupation of Palestine has nothing to do with the Holocaust”. What he is saying here is NOT that the Holocaust is a myth as numerous Western media outlets crowed, but rather that the whole argument for the state of Israel is. This argument was of course that the Jews needed a place in Israel to survive after WWII. This is utterly baseless. Indeed, historically speaking, Ben Gurion and his crazed Zionist friends actually struggled to get the volumes of immigration to Israel, as most European Jews were going to the US instead. Even today, most Jews live in America, not in the “homeland”. The Jews might have needed a place to call home, but they overwhelmingly chose the USA, not Israel.
Ahmadinejad also referred to the Holocaust as a sealed “black box” and asked why Western powers refuse permission for the claim to be “examined and surveyed”. This entire argument is beautifully summed up by Professor Dossa, a Canadian expert on Iran, who says “Ahmadinejad has not denied the Holocaust or proposed Israel’s liquidation; he has never done so in any of his speeches on the subject (all delivered in Farsi/Persian). As an Iran specialist, I can attest that both accusations are false... What Ahmadinejad has questioned is the mythologizing, the sacralization, of the Holocaust and the “Zionist regime’s” continued killing of Palestinians and Muslims. He has even raised doubts about the scale of the Holocaust. His rhetoric has been excessive and provocative. And he does not really care what we in the West think about Iran or Muslims; he does not kowtow to western or Israeli diktat.”
Now lets compare that with Israel. Israel has never accepted the historical fact that the Nakbah took place.
For those of you who don’t know what that is (this ignorance is a testament to the powerful Israeli propaganda machine - you know what the Holocaust is right?) the Nakbah, or Catastrophe took place in 1948 when the Zionist forces, led by Ben Gurion, systematically planned and carried out the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in order to achieve their aim of a Jewish majority state. This was achieved by November 1948, by which time approximately 700,000 Palestinians had lost their property, wealth and land and were made into refugees overnight.
The Nakbah also contained several well-documented accounts of massacres carried out by Israeli troops. Some of these were led by future Prime Ministers of the country! If that’s their leaders, then what more can you say? Ayn Zaytun, Sasa, Jaffa, Haifa, Deyr Yasin and many more Palestinian village were all the sights of Israeli butchering, and are now the sights of prosperous Israeli towns.
All that is strenuously denied by the Israeli Government. To this day they absolve themselves of any responsibility in creating the refugee crisis. They have also banned the teaching of the Nakbah in all Israeli schools. Interesting that. The Nazis too banned teaching things which damaged their twisted philosophy.
Now lets consider the claims that Iran wants to “wipe Israel off the map”.
This statement was apparently made by Ahmadinejad at a conference in 2005. It has been (wrongly) translated as “Our dear Imam (Ayatollah Khomeini) said that the occupying regime must be wiped off the map and this was a very wise statement. We cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine.”
Firstly, linguistics aside, Ahmadinejad's phrase was a quote of Ayatollah Khomeini, just like the Pope quoted how the Qur’an was a load of nonsense. The Western media played the linguistics game then, but seems to avoid it in this case.
According to Juan Cole, a University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, Ahmadinejad's statement should be translated as “The Imam said that this regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e eshghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad),” - Clearly much less provocative.
Professor Dossa puts an end to the controversy by concluding that “Ahmadinejad was quoting the Ayatollah Khomeini in the specific speech under discussion: what he said was that “the occupation regime over Jerusalem should vanish from the page of time.” No state action is envisaged in this lament; it denotes a spiritual wish, whereas the erroneous translation—“wipe Israel off the map” —suggests a military threat. There is a huge chasm between the correct and the incorrect translations. The notion that Iran can “wipe out” U.S.-backed, nuclear-armed Israel is ludicrous.”
Never mind starting a war, Ahmadinejad is also on the record on a number of occasions as explicitly ruling out war or attacks on Israel. In 2008, when asked to comment on whether he has called for the destruction of Israel he denied that his country would ever instigate military action, there being “no need for any measures by the Iranian people”. Instead he claimed that “the Zionist regime” in Israel would eventually collapse on its own. “I assure you... there won't be any war in the future,” he said. This was reported by the BBC.
When asked if he had issues with Jews, he replied that “creating an objection against the Zionists doesn't mean that there are objections against the Jewish”. He added that Jews lived in Iran and were represented in the country's parliament.
Now lets compare that to Israel. Here are a list of quotes of what Israel’s leaders have to say of the Palestinians.
“We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population.” (Ben Gurion, first Israeli PM)
“[The Palestinians] are beasts walking on two legs.” (Begin, former PM)
“The killing by a Jew of a non-Jew, i.e. a Palestinian, is considered essentially a good deed, and Jews should therefore have no compunction about it.” (Rabbi Ginsburg)
“Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because geography books no longer exist. Not only do the books not exist, the Arab villages are not there either. Nahlal arose in the place of Mahlul; Kibbutz Gvat in the place of Jibta; Kibbutz Sarid in the place of Huneifis; and Kefar Yehushua in the place of Tal al-Shuman. There is not a single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population.” (Ben Gurion)
“There is no such thing as a Palestinian.” (Golda Meir former PM)
Combine all that hatred with the clear evidence that Israel is preparing for a unilateral strike on Iran, as seen by its very ostentatious movement of warships, practising of bombing drills, and leaked documents. They have a track record of unilaterally attacking other countries too. Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon all count themselves as victims of “pre-emptive” strikes. Naked, unbridled aggression in other words. Its clear who the real Nuclear bully in the Middle East is.
Over the last ten years Israel has instigated countless attacks, and a number of Wars. They have a long track record of violence. Compare that with Iran. How many wars has Iran been involved in, in the last ten years? How many international law statutes has Iran violated as compared to Israel?
The evidence is clear, and yet the Western media coverage continues to smear Iran is the aggressor, and portray Israel and the West as the victims. They still level the old character assassination arguments that Ahmadinejad is an anti-Semite and denies Israel’s right to exist, and that the US’s opinion is second only to God’s.
Well I’ve just enunciated the opposition view to all that, its up to you what you believe now.
Ibrahim Khan
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