Tehran Gives World Leaders A History Lesson
By Greg Felton
Columnist - Canadian Arab News
2-1-6
Over the past two months or so, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the newly elected president of Iran, has
made his mark on the world stage to overwhelmingly bad reviews.
Observations like: Israel should be wiped off the map; Israel should be moved to Europe; Europe
supported the founding of Israel because of Holocaust guilt; and the Holocaust is a myth - have
been vehemently condemned.
However, let's
subject his "outrageous" statements to historical scrutiny:
1. "Israel should be wiped off the map"
First of all, we should ask: "Should Israel be on the map in the first place?" Loyal readers of
this space know the answer, but for the rest of you, here's the Reader's Digest version.
First, the Nov. 29, 1947, "Partition Plan (UN General Assembly Resolution 181) was never ratified
by the Security Council, and thus any division of Palestine into Jewish and non-Jewish areas was
never legal. Moreover, a UNGA Resolution is only binding if all parties to it agree to be bound
by its terms, which in this case did not happen.
Second, the General Assembly had no right under the UN Charter to take land from one people
(Arabs) and give it to another people (European Jews).
Three, David ben Gurion declared Israeli statehood on May 15, 1948, even though the term of UNGA
Res. 181 had not expired. Therefore, the creation of Israel was a land grab contrary to the UN
and international law.
Four, Israel was admitted to the UN on May 11, 1949, only after it agreed to sign UNGA Res. 273,
by which it recognized the right of all Palestinians to return to their homes and receive
compensation.
Israel is a criminal entity that has never had a moral, legal or political right to exist. Score
one for Ahmadinejad.
2. "Israel should be moved to Europe."
He's got a point. In fact, ben Gurion said much the same thing to Nahum Goldmann, future head of
the World Jewish Congress:
"If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have
taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God
is not theirs. There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their
fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they
accept that?"
Why indeed? Since the EuroJews who created "Israel" were mostly Slavs, it does seem logical to
move the "Jewish State" to Ukraine, Poland, Russia or Byelorus. After all, Slavs are not a Middle
Eastern people.
That's two for the plucky president!
3. In Mecca, Ahmadinejad implied that European countries had backed the founding of Israel in the
Middle East in 1948 out of guilt over the Nazi genocide. (AP reporting)
In fact, Western European governments were largely against the creation of Israel, but pro-Israel
U.S. senators threatened to withhold Marshall Plan reconstruction aid if they didn't support UNGA
Res. 181. Guilt was doubtless rife throughout Europe, but blackmail was a bigger reason.
The Holocaust had nothing whatever to do with "Israel" which had been in the works since the
1870s. As professor Ilan Pappé of Haifa University wrote in 1997:
"Generally speaking, the Zionists succeeded in persuading large segments of world public opinion
to link the Zionist cause with the Holocaust. Against such a claim, even able Palestinian
diplomats-and there were not many in those days-could hardly win the diplomatic game."
Since guilt did play some role, I'll give Ahmadinejad credit for this one.
4. "If someone were to deny the existence of God ... and deny the existence of prophets and
religion, they would not bother him. However, if someone were to deny the myth of the Jews'
massacre, all the Zionist mouthpieces and the governments subservient to the Zionists tear their
larynxes and scream against the person as much as they can."
The Holocaust has been so polluted by propaganda that it's virtually impossible to separate fact
from disinformation, so I cannot say for certain if Ahmadinejad is right. For its part the
International Committee of the Red Cross published a three-volume report in 1948 in which it
found no evidence of systematic genocide. On the other hand, estimates of Jewish deaths range
from 470,000 to 9 million!
I believe Ahmadinejad is wrong to deny the Holocaust outright, but he is right to call into
question the dogmatic acceptance of Zionist verities, such as Auschwitz's Crematorium I, which
exists today. As reporter Eric Conan wrote in a lengthy 1995 exposé for France's L'Express:
"In 1948, when the Museum was created, Crematorium I was reconstructed in a supposed original
state. Everything about it is false (Tout y est faux): the dimensions of the gas chamber, the
locations of the doors, the openings for pouring in Zyklon B, the ovens (rebuilt according to the
recollections of some survivors), the height of the chimney."
Also, the new plaque at the entrance to Auschwitz reflects the Polish government's revision of
the number of dead from 4 million to 1.5 million. The 4 million figure came from Capt. Rudolph
Höss, the camp commandant, whose testimony has been discredited.
Despite the reduction of 2.5 million dead, the Zionist figure of 6 million is still maintained.
Clearly, this number is pure myth, and Ahmadinejad is at least partly right.
Final score: 3.5 out of 4. Excellent!
It seems honesty and courage are Iranian values. Too bad they aren't Canadian, eh Mr. Martin?
Send comments to: gregf@gregfelton.com
Greg Felton is an award-winning investigative reporter and columnist on Middle East affairs from
British Columbia, Canada.
He writes a political column for the bi-weekly Arabic/English newspaper Canadian Arab News,
contributes to mediamonitors.net, and is the author of an upcoming book on U.S. Middle East
policy. Mr. Felton holds a Bachelor's degree in Russian Studies and a Master's in Political
Science from the University of British Columbia.
He is married with one child. |
