Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s words don’t hide intentions

Derrick O’Keefe is quick to come to the defence of the Iranian regime run by the virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Israel president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [“Derrick O’Keefe: Stephen Harper’s rhetoric on Iran should frighten us all”, web-only].

Contrary to O’Keefe’s assertions, Ahmadinejad’s own words and deeds show that this pariah country genuinely seeks Israel’s destruction. These “hostile attitudes” were on full display this past April, when Ahmadinejad addressed a large crowd in the Iranian city of Sanandaj, calling for the establishment of a “greater Middle East…without the existence of the Zionist regime” (Israel). At an October 2010 rally in Lebanon, he said: “The whole world should know that the Zionists will eventually disappear.”

In an April 2009 address, he claimed that Israel is on the “verge of death”, and on May 8, 2008, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying that Israel is “on its way to annihilation”.

That day, for your information, marked the birth of Israel and its Independence Day. Also, in 2007 the Fars news agency quoted him as saying: “By God’s will, we will witness the destruction of this regime [Israel] in the near future.”

I could list close to a dozen other examples, but I’ll conclude with perhaps the most recognized of Ahmadinejad’s tirades. In an October 2005 address to 4,000 students at a program titled “The World Without Zionism”, Ahmadinejad said that Israel is “a disgraceful blot” that should be “wiped off the map”.

Iran’s destructive pursuit of nuclear weapons, support for terrorist groups, deplorable human-rights record, repeated anti-Israel tirades, and Holocaust denials have made this country an outcast in the international community.

> Mike Fegelman / executive director, Honest Reporting Canada

Comments

7 Comments

Cosmo Rana-Iozzi

Feb 2, 2012 at 4:46am

This is nonsense, the longest established Jewish community in the Middle East are the Persian Jews of Iran, who live there now and are free to worship in Synagogues within Iran as a protected minority. They even have a Jewish Member of Parliament in Iran!! Ahmadinejad is no antisemite, reducing anti-Zionism to antisemitism is a lazy assertion that really oversimplifies the debate. He is talking about the end of Zionism, not the end of Judaism, the end of an illegal occupation. He hasn't advocated killing once. In the end this boils down to the difference between Zionism and Judaism, and that there are many Jews, not just the Iranian ones, who are against Zionism and the current state of Israel and the abusive treatment of the Palestinians.

North Guy

Feb 2, 2012 at 10:10am

Israel has about 5,000 Palestinians in jails whose only crime was walking across a highway without permission. Maybe if Israel put 50,000 Palestinians in jails for walking to the corner store, the Arab world would get the message and stop being angry at Israel.

woody johnson

Feb 4, 2012 at 11:33am

Please, save your breath - denying the holocaust and calling for the destruction of Israel isn't defensible - Ahmadinejad and Iran are admittedly anti-semites. Isreal is a postage stamp size countries mostly surrounded by large countries - if everyone cared so much for the "Palestinian" people, the why don't the arab brethren move their borders back by 5 miles each to ease tension rather than fuel the fire of occupation (which is a scape goat to unify and galvanize muslims and shift focus from the deplorable human rights and poverty in their own countries) and deny Israel's unassailable and historic ties to the land.

North Guy

Feb 5, 2012 at 11:29am

Yah, The Arab Nations that border Israel and the West Bank should move their borders back 5 miles or maybe even 50 miles. Then, uh, Israel could move another 500,000 Israelis into the West Bank. Yah, that aughtah do it.
Great solution!!!!

NotHonestReporting

Feb 5, 2012 at 3:54pm

Typical of supporters of Israel Fegelman changes the subject to avoid scrutiny of the real issues. Israel's government is building settlements and threatening a dangerous war against Iran. Shame that Canada under Harper is supporting these Israeli fanatics.

Rehmat

Feb 25, 2012 at 1:30pm

In 2006, American writer John Kaminski, wrote: “I don’t know how many times I’ve said to my friends – and they can verify it. I wish we had a president as decent as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the current and outspoken president of Iran. I mean, just compare the two men as human beings. Mr. Ahmadinejad seems like a decent guy from the neighborhood, trying to tell the truth while being trampled by the demonic Jewish spin machine. And here is George W. Bush (interchangeable with Barack Obama, as have been all American presidents since U.S. Grant), revealing himself to the world as a lying, pathological killer. Hey, which one would you choose?”