Ahmadinejad's Questions

This evening, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the public via a press conference covering a range of topics, from the price of fruit to Iran's nuclear developments. Both foreign and domestic reporters were given the opportunity to ask him questions on anything that tickled their fancies. The President answered each inquiry directly, patiently, and completely--truthfully, it was much different than the political speak I've become accustomed to back in the U.S.

One journalist brought up the topic of Ahmadinejad's comments on the Holocaust. Now, as a side note, I hadn't posted about this event because it was difficult to distinguish fact from fiction amidst the media frenzy in the west. I also thought it irrational that a man who holds a PhD in civil engineering, and whose wife is a doctor of sociology, would actually claim the Holocaust was a hoax. From my vantage point, the myth was in the accusations made by some western media sources.

Anyway, below is a paraphrased version of how the President responded:

What has become overblown and inaccurately reported in the international media is mere rhetoric. I had posed two questions to the international arena. The first one wondered where the history of these migrants, or Israelis, can be found? Where did their forefathers come from, and what gives these migrants the authority to make decisions regarding the nation of Palestine? Why don't Palestinians, who have thousands of years of history on their land, and who are comprised of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, have any decision-making power at all?

The second question addresses the Holocaust. If those who perpetrated the murder of Jews are European, then why are Palestinians paying the consequences? Why are they now being killed, their houses mowed down, their public spaces burned to a crisp; why are Palestinians being denied the right to make decisions regarding their land? And if those perpetrators believe they did not murder the Jews, then why have they forced them all out of their countries, and into the small region of Palestine? Why do they not allow these Jews, whose roots are not in Palestine, but in various European countries, to go back to their homes? And why would they continue to propagate the Holocaust if they do not believe they are guilty of this atrocious event? Why would they silent their own scholars that hold any views contrary to those propagated?

I have posed these two questions to the Europeans, to the West, and have still received no response. Instead, my words have been twisted and made complex, in order to disseminate their own message, the same repetitive rhetoric that is being used for political gain. If there is discussion to be made on why Palestinians must carry the burden of Europeans' actions, then it should be initiated. It should not be silenced, it should not be full of rhetoric, it should not involve shutting down the different voices and opinions of a country's scholars....

President Ahmadinejad's entire speech was full of insight, and reiterated the need to debate and discuss the issue of Palestine and Israel. Hopefully, his next public address, which is scheduled within the next few days, will be just as informative, eloquent, and straightforward.