Iran to Host Holocaust Deniers Conference

Cybercast News Service ^ | January 12, 2006 | By Julie Stahl

[Salem]

Iran to Host Holocaust Deniers Conference
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
January 12, 2006

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Iran reportedly plans to host a conference of Holocaust deniers in the coming weeks, much to the concern of some Israelis.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked international anger when he said late last year that the Holocaust was a myth and suggested that if Europe were so upset about it, Europe should provide land for a Jewish State. Ahmadinejad's comments came just weeks after he said that Israel should be "wiped off the map."

The Association of Islamic Journalists in Iran has been tasked with putting together an international conference to offer a platform "to examine in-depth this myth" of the Holocaust, according to the Italian News Agency AKI.

Iranian affairs expert Menashe Amir said that he expected prominent Holocaust deniers, representatives from terrorist groups and Muslim extremists from around the world to attend the conference in Iran.

Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Remembrance Authority, said it was concerned that Iran was attempting to "paint its radical agenda with a scholarly brush."

Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev warned against international complacency in light of Iran's "genocidal declarations."

"Recent trends in Iran represent a clear feature of current anti-Semitism -- the ties between Islamic radicals and Holocaust deniers," Shalev said in a statement. "Iran has embraced such charlatans as David Irving."

Revisionist historian Irving lost a libel suit in a British court against writer Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin books. Lipstadt called Irving one of the world's most dangerous "Holocaust deniers" in her 1994 book, "Denying the Holocaust."

"Sham historians" such as Irving have been totally discredited by the West but have found a "responsive audience" in Iran, "where senior officials have called the factual events of the Holocaust 'a matter of opinion,'" said Shalev.

Shalev noted that the United Nations recently recognized the importance of remembering the Holocaust "as a safeguard against the breakdown of the basic human values that underpin our civilization."

The U.N. passed a resolution three months ago establishing January 27 as an international day for Holocaust remembrance.

"The dismissal of the veracity of the Holocaust and its legacy represents a clear rejection of those values. The international community must act to prevent genocidal intentions from becoming genocidal capabilities," he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that the world should be very concerned about the combination of Iran's radical ideology and the possibility of the regime obtaining nuclear weapons.

"The Holocaust denial by the regime in Iran is not only offensive and racist but it also demonstrates the mindset of the extremist regime in Tehran," said Regev.

"The combination of an extremist ideology, a distorted view of reality together with nuclear weapons is a combination that should concern every thinking individual."

Iran announced earlier this week that it would continue its research in uranium enrichment, a necessary ingredient for making an atomic bomb, raising concerns in the West that Iran is drawing closer to obtaining nuclear weapons.

According to the Jerusalem Post on Thursday, Israel will push for international condemnation of the conference.

But Regev would only say that Israel has raised the issue of Iran -- both its Holocaust denial and its nuclearization -- in its discussions with friendly governments.

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, said the "real question" about the conference is how the world will respond.

"If this is merely a gathering to support the outrageous comments of President Ahmadinejad about the Holocaust obviously it will...serve no worthy purpose," Zuroff said.

If on the other hand experts were invited to "explain, teach and present the overwhelming evidence about the Holocaust then it would be a step in the right direction," he said. "It's the most documented genocide...ever committed in history."

"The real question that should be considered now is not the ridiculous statements [that will come out of the conference] but what the informed Western world will do in response," Zuroff added.

Amir said this would be the first time that such a conference is being held in Iran.

Such conferences have been held previously, but in 2001 Lebanon cancelled a conference of Holocaust revisionists under international pressure.

Holocaust deniers or revisionists maintain either that the Holocaust never occurred or that there was no organized plot to get rid of the Jewish people. They say the Holocaust has been used as a Jewish or Zionist propaganda tool in order to gain sympathy in the world.

"Most Iranians don't have knowledge about the Holocaust," said Amir. And the religious and extremist leaders say that even if it did happen, they don't care, he added.

Some Iranians, including politicians and journalists, oppose the statements of Ahmadinejad, Amir said.

According to Amir, the Persian-language website Baztab wrote that denying the crimes of German dictator Adolf Hitler would clear him of guilt but there is no doubt that Hitler committed many crimes, including the extermination of the Jews.

Amir said he did not believe the threat of referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council would stop the country from pursuing its nuclear goals. Iran is sure that China and Russia (permanent members on the Security Council) would veto any threat of sanctions, he said.

Copyright 1998-2006 Cybercast News Service

[Salem]

There has been a few other accounts of this posted at Free Republic, but I wanted to take this opportunity to publicize this particular website I came across through an interesting set of circumstances.

My daughter and I has stopped in to one of the local national chain bookstores looking for magazines pertaining to one of her school assignments. I inadvertently found "The Holocaust Chronicle". The cost for such a sizable book was pretty cheap (twenty bucks) compared to what I pay for most hardback research books, so I grabbed it.

Turns out there is a reason for that, as explained by the publisher. They want to keep it cheap so distribution is as wide as possible. It is an excellent resource, in depth and presentation, and had many, many pictures I had not seen before.

Likewise, they have a fully interactive website, with the whole book posted online, with a full search engine for every chapter of the book. I have not heard of any of this up till now. The Lord has His timing, I suppose. If you maintain a personal website, please link to it.

I would highly recommend this as an addition to any library and personal collection, it's that extensive. In light of current news, events, and a homicidal Iran with Israel and the Jews square in its sites, "The Holocaust Chronicle" is more important than ever.

And may we continue to stand solidly with the Nation of Israel, in the face of these reprehensible liars and tyrants, who continually diminish the horrors of the Shoah.

[CFC__VRWC]

Howard Dean has already gotten his invitation.

[DoNotDivide]

Just think, someday, some whackos will deny that Iran was turned into a glass parking lot in '06.

[Salem]

•The Holocaust Chronicle Online•

---

If you'd like to be on or off this
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please FR mail me ~
    
MikeFromFR ~
There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had
spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:45)
Letter To The President In Support Of Israel ~
'Final Solution,' Phase 2 ~
Warnings ~

"Palestine is the wrong name for their State. It should be called Anarchy."—FReeper sgtbono2002
"Then let's wait and see what the Arabs do after they take Gaza. There's nothing like Arab reality to break up a Jewish fantasy."—FReeper Noachian
A student told his professor he was going to "Palestine" to "fight for freedom, peace and justice,"—Orwellian leftist code words that mean "murder Jews."
The Nature Of Bruce ~

[Army Air Corps]

I wonder if they invited any of the Neo-Nazi and Skinhead groups from Europe and the Americas.

Holocaust deniers are half-witted bottom-feeders. They are lower than the parasites in Kennedy's bowels.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

What are the chances that an Air Strike from the IDF and this conference coincide?

Just wondering out loud...

[GodfearingTexan]

We seriously need to just skip the worthless sanctions and go straight into carpet bombing. watch the europeans get some backbone on this issue. if they do, bush might be able to do something. theres no doubt that they must be planning air strikes from iraq and afghanistan right now.

[Slings and Arrows]

What are the chances that an Air Strike from the IDF and this conference coincide?

We can hope...

[konahawk]

I am brand new to Free Republic today!
Just a test here.

[Reaganesque]

So, when is this Conference and, more importantly, will it be a moonless night?

[JRios1968]

Easy place to bomb and rid the world of those maniacs.

[Daaave]

Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

[injin]

Welcome to Free Republic !

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

My high school JROTC instructor ( God rest his soul ) fought in Patton's 3rd Army and was at one of the camps in WW II. To look at the pain in that man's eyes when he told us what he saw ( the part he could ), I knew that it was as bad or worse than reported. He said he didn't doubt the six million Jews killed number. If I have to choose between someone I respected ( him ) or some denier just being a Clymer, I'll go with his description every time.

Often reported was that the allied forces made the local Germans go to the camps and see what went on on there. Many pretend not to know. What isn't often reported was that General Patton also ordered the entire 3rd Army to go to the camps and see it firsthand. Patton said he wanted plenty of witnesses as someday people would try to say it never happened. Wherever did he get that idea?

[308MBR]

It will certainly be a target rich scenario. I hope Farrakhan gets to attend the conference.

[traviskicks]

welcome and enjoy! :)

[Cobra64]

Welcome to Free Republic! If you love America and respect our Constitution, you will be welcomed with open arms from fellow FReepers.

[M. Espinola]

You are most welcome aboard.

[M. Espinola]

Your welcome too :)

Have you seen the book "The Holocaust Chronicle"? I consider this book to be one of the most informative and also very alarming in its historical photo documentation of the Shoah.

[injin]

no sir , I have not seen that book .
But I have spoken many times with my Dad about what he saw when he passed thru a few of those places in the summer of '45. There is NO WAY that the Holocaust was a lie or a set up
because my Dad saw some of the results for himself and he is an honest man and never would lie about that .