December 9, 2005.
MECCA, Saudi Arabia – Iran’s hard-line president, who once called for Israel to
be “wiped off the map,” again sparked a barrage of international criticism
Thursday, saying the Jewish state should be moved to Europe and questioning
whether the Holocaust took place. President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad implied that European countries backed the founding of Israel in
the Middle East in 1948 out of guilt over the Nazi genocide.
“Some European countries insist on saying that during World War II,
Hitler burned millions of Jews and put them in concentration camps,”
Ahmadinejad said. “Any historian, commentator or scientist who doubts that is
taken to prison or gets condemned.”
“Let’s assume what the Europeans say is true … Let’s give some land to
the Zionists in Europe or in Germany or Austria,” he said. “They faced injustice
in Europe, so why do the repercussions fall on the Palestinians?”
Israel condemned Ahmadinejad’s remarks as “outrageous and even racist.” The
United States denounced them as “appalling and reprehensible.”
Both Israel and Washington cited Iran’s hostility toward Israel as a
reason why the Iranian theocracy must be prevented from developing nuclear
weapons.
Ahmadinejad has been unapologetic about taking Iran on a more openly defiant
course, insisting on Iran’s right to develop its nuclear program – which it insists
is peaceful – and often using rhetoric reminiscent of the 1980s heyday of the
Islamic Revolution.
But he has alienated even some conservative allies in Iran, who feel he is taking
a go-it-alone stance in domestic politics and hurting Iran abroad with his
comments. In an unusual slap to the Iranian leader, his allies in parliament have
rejected his proposed candidates for oil minister three times, saying he has
failed to consult with them.
His remarks Thursday were even more striking for their venue: a summit of
Muslim nations in Islam’s holiest city, Mecca, convened to condemn terrorism
and extremism and stressing the themes of moderation and tolerance. Speaking
at a news conference on the summit sidelines, he said most Jews in Israel
“have no roots in Palestine, but they are holding the destiny of Palestine in their
hands and allow themselves to kill the Palestinian people.”
Ahmadinejad raised a similar storm in October when he called Israel a
“disgraceful blot” that should be “wiped off the map.” Still, Ahmadinejad, who
was elected in June with the backing of Iran’s hard-line clerical rulers, stuck by
the comments, and his government organized a series of large anti-Israel
demonstrations.
In Washington, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the comment
“further underscores our concerns about the regime in Iran. It’s all the more
reason why it’s so important that the regime not have the ability to develop
nuclear weapons.”
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged nations “to educate their populations
about the well-established historical facts of the Holocaust, in which one third
of the Jewish people were murdered, along with countless members of other
minorities,” said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. American Jewish groups
joined the condemnations. Rabbi David Saperstein, head of the Religious Action
Center of Reform Judaism, called the comments a “repugnant distortion of
history.”
Kenneth Bandler, communications director for the American Jewish Committee,
denounced Ahmadinejad as “a fanatic who heads a country developing nuclear
weapons. The international community must mobilize to ensure that (his)
threats are denied.”
Josh Block, spokesman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in
Washington, said the comments were “further evidence of the critical threat
Iran poses to America, our allies and our national security interests.”