Ahmadinejad: Jesus Is On Our Side
telegraph.co.uk
( Merry Christmas Dave! )
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Christmas C4 speech sparks row
Channel 4 will screen an alternative Christmas message from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, in a move that has provoked widespread condemnation.
By Matthew Moore
Last Updated: 8:12PM GMT 24 Dec 2008
Ahmadinejad's alternative Christmas message
President Ahmadinejad's speech is being promoted as an alternative to the Queen's Photo: REUTERS
President Ahmadinejad's address will focus on spiritual messages of seasonal goodwill, but also contains an attack on "bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers".
The speech is being promoted as an alternative to the Queen's traditional 3pm speech, but will be broadcast at 7.15pm.
President Ahmadinejad has previously called for Israel to be wiped off the map and described the Holocaust a "myth". He was at the centre of a diplomatic stand-off with Britain last year, when Iran held 15 sailors and Royal Marines captured in the Persian Gulf.
Channel 4's decision has been condemned by human rights groups, MPs and Holocaust memorial charities.
Stephen Smith, director of the Holocaust Centre, said the president's message of peace was "deceptive", describing him as a "wolf in sheep's clothing".
He criticised "the fact that somebody who openly denies the Holocaust is given legitimacy on prime-time television, someone who uses Holocaust denial to be divisive.
"This message of so-called peace needs to be treated very carefully."
The Israeli Embassy has branded President Ahmadinejad’s Christmas message a "sick and twisted irony".
Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor said: "In Iran, converts to Christianity face the death penalty. It is perverse that this despot is allowed to speculate on the views of Jesus, while his government leads Christ’s followers to the gallows."
He said Channel 4’s decision to broadcast the message was a "scandal and a national embarrassment" because the Iranian President "denies the Holocaust, advocates the destruction of the sovereign State of Israel, funds and encourages terrorism, executes children and hangs gay people."
Mr Prosor concluded: "In its search for ratings and shock factor, Channel 4 has lost its ethical way."
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell joined the attack, and called on the broadcaster to "pull the plug on this criminal despot, who ranks with Robert Mugabe, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and the Burmese military junta as one of the world’s most bloody tyrants".
Philip Davies MP, a Tory member of the culture select committee, said that the address was "completely unacceptable on every level".
"His previous comments don't strike me as being in tune with what most people feel at Christmas time. He is an offensive man and the last person you would want to use for a Christmas message.
"Channel 4 have lost sight of what a Christmas message should be. They are trying to be controversial for the sake of being controversial, and are treating their viewers with contempt by pretending this is not a publicity stunt."
The TaxPayers' Alliance also criticised Channel 4, which receives some state funding. "It is outrageous that British taxpayers' money has been used to give a platform to a regime that despises democracy, oppresses women and gay people and has made clear its dislike for everything Britain stands for," a spokesman said.
Dorothy Byrne, head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, said that the network had a responsibility to give a platform to "alternative voices", and said that the president's address will be preceded by a film mentioning his record on human rights, Israel, the Holocaust and the seizure of the Royal Navy sailors, to allow the public to make up their own mind.
"He is an important voice for us to hear, particularly when a new president is coming in to office," she said.
The address was not being shown at the same time as the Queen's speech because "many people would want to watch them both," she added.
The speech was recorded in Tehran on Tuesday by a Channel 4 crew, and has not been altered by producers.
President Ahmadinejad uses the speech to attack world leaders for ignoring the teachings of Jesus Christ, who is considered a prophet in Islam.
"All Prophets called for the worship of God, for love and brotherhood, for the establishment of justice and for love in human society. Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the standard-bearer of justice, of love for our fellow human beings, of the fight against tyranny, discrimination and injustice," he says, according to a transcript released by the channel.
"All the problems that have bedevilled humanity throughout the ages came about because humanity followed an evil path and disregarded the message of the Prophets.
"Now as human society faces a myriad of problems and a succession of complex crises, the root causes can be found in humanity's rejection of that message, in particular the indifference of some governments and powers towards the teachings of the divine Prophets, especially those of Jesus Christ."
He goes on: "If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would fight against the tyrannical policies of prevailing global economic and political systems, as He did in His lifetime."
This is not the first time the channel has courted controversy with its choice of speaker. In 2006 a fully-veiled British-born Muslim woman used the message to attack Jack Straw for his criticism of the niqab (face veil) earlier the same year.
It is the broadcaster's 16th alternative message since Quentin Crisp delivered the first in 1993. The Reverend Jesse Jackson, Doreen and Neville Lawrence, Genelle Guzman, a 9/11 survivor and The Simpsons have all addressed the nation. |
