I’ve been reading this interview from Der Spiegel (in English at Salon- I don’t speak any German except hello and thank you) of Iranian President Ahmadinejad.
I was going to write more, take apart the interview piece by piece. But I find myself stunned by every new twist in it. I am not as pro-Israeli as most Americans. I think the Palestinians have a very serious claims to human rights abuses and that creating a Jewish State should not include the destruction of another people, even though the Jews were horribly abused themselves under the Nazis.
Throughout the interview there are bits where Ahmadinejad makes some pretty clear points. One about freedom of speech (when referring to several Europeans who have been jailed for being Holocaust deniers). Though Ahmadinejad seems to be a Holocaust denier himself. Another about the resettlement of the Palestinians versus the occupation by Isreal.
Ahmadinejad: Precisely that is our point. Why should you feel obliged to the Zionists? If there really had been a Holocaust, Israel ought to be located in Europe, not in Palestine.Spiegel: Do you want to resettle a whole people 60 years after the end of the war?
Ahmadinejad: Five million Palestinians have not had a home for 60 years. It is amazing really: You have been paying reparations for the Holocaust for 60 years and will have to keep paying up for another 100 years. Why then is the fate of the Palestinians no issue here?
It’s difficult. On one hand Ahmadinejad is right about the expansion of nuclear powers, the monopoly of powerful western countries, the right of return for Palestinians. On the other hand, he sounds like a twisted version of our own Holocaust deniers and wingnuts. The Islamic version of the private militia, white power people who hide out in Idaho stockpiling weapons. Only he has the legitimate governance of a large, oil rich country and access to nuclear material.
We are in 100% agreement on this one. The Palestinians get screwed because the west cannot handle Jews (who taught it everything there was to know about mercantilism–Dutch and Englsih trade might come through Jewish knowledge). Somehow the Zionists, who do not represent all Jews, got in their head that acting like Nazis is the way to foment the Jewish state.
Meanwhile, Islam, a shadow of its former glory, in the 20s begins to adopt the anti-semetic rantings of people like Henry Ford (Jew hater extradonaire) instead of embracing the tolerance it was known for in the past.
Ironically, Israel is the only place where Jewish population nw grows; all other regions are in decline by birthrate, etc. Soon most Jews could be decimated in one blow to Israel. Life is weird.
BTW, read as much Karen Armstrong as you can digest. She has incredible knowledge of the histories of religions and a knack for explaining all pretty simply.