Iran’s Ahmadinejad links cartoons to his denial of Holocaust

Iran Focus: London, Iran, Feb. 11 – Iran’s radical President declared on Saturday that the “real Holocaust” was occurring in Iraq and in “occupied Palestine”, as he once again characterised the Holocaust in Europe as a “myth”.
Iran Focus

London, Iran, Feb. 11 – Iran’s radical President declared on Saturday that the “real Holocaust” was occurring in Iraq and in “occupied Palestine”, as he once again characterised the Holocaust in Europe as a “myth”.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was speaking to demonstrators on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, said that European states were “being taken hostage” by Israel. He called on Muslims to “rise and not allow a handful of defeated Zionists in Palestine to insult the Prophet”.

“Holocaust is a myth that has been used for 60 years by Zionists to blackmail other countries and justify their crimes in the occupied territories”, Ahmadinejad said.

The Iranian president’s claim that Israel is responsible for recent insulting cartoons of Islam’s prophet Mohammad appearing in European dailies and the direct link he drew between the cartoons and his denial of Holocaust strengthened the views of Iran analysts who see a systematic attempt by Tehran to use the current Muslim fury to its political advantage.

“Everyone knows that the cartoons were done in Denmark, not by ‘a handful of Zionists in Palestine’, as Ahmadinejad claims”, said Michael Leavesley, a London-based political analyst on Middle Eastern affairs. “Iran is linking the cartoons to the Holocaust denial and even its nuclear program to scare the West away”.

Even by his own standards, Ahmadinejad’s Saturday speech was one of his most radical pronouncements against Israel, the Holocaust, and the West.

“If you are looking for the real Holocaust, go to Palestine and take a look at the crimes of Israel there, or you can also find the real Holocaust in Iraq”, he said.

Ahmadinejad called on European governments to free themselves from “the yoke of Zionism” and “believe that Zionism is on the verge of destruction”.

“The Iranian nation is today chanting the death of Israel”, he said.

Addressing Western leaders, the Iranian president said, “You are a bunch of proxy dictators and sergeant majors of Zionists”. He warned these leaders to “pack up the stuff that you unfurled 60 years ago and save yourselves from the wrath of nations”.

“If you don’t listen to this advice, then the Palestinian people and other nations will force you to submit to their wishes”, he said.

In several speeches since coming to power, Ahmadinejad has described the Holocaust as a “myth” and called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”.