`Shift Israel to Alaska'
Tehran, Dec. 14: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on
Wednesday the
Holocaust is a "myth" that Europeans have used to create a Jewish state
in
the heart of the Islamic world.
Speaking to thousands of people in the southeastern city of Zahedan, Mr
Ahmadinejad said, "Today, they have created a myth in the name of
Holocaust
and consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets."
Mr Ahmadinejad provoked an international outcry in October when he
called
for Israel to be "wiped off the map." Previously he expressed doubt
about
the Nazi destruction of European Jewry during the World War II, but on
Wednesday was the first occasion when he said in public that it was a
myth.
The comments came after Mr Ahmadinejad said in a speech that "they have
invented a myth that Jews were massacred" and said the Jewish state
should
be moved as far away as Alaska. Touring southeast Iran, Mr Ahmadinejad
said
that if Europeans insist the Holocaust did happen, then it was they who
were
responsible and they should pay the price.
"If you committed this big crime, then why should the oppressed
Palestinian
nation pay the price?" Mr Ahmadinejad asked rhetorically.
"This is our proposal: If you committed the crime, then give a part of
your
own land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to them
(Jews) so that the Jews can establish their country," he said,
developing a
theme he raised in Saudi Arabia last week.
Mr Ahmadinejad said the West had harmed Muslims, invaded their
countries and
plundered their wealth. "If your civilisation consists of aggression,
making
oppressed people homeless, suffocating the voices of justice and
bringing
poverty to a majority of the world's people, we say loudly that we hate
your
hollow civilisation," he said.
The President's views sharply conflict with those of his predecessor
Mohammad Khatami, a moderate who used to call for dialogue among
civilisations and promoted a low-key understanding with the United
States
that stopped short of diplomatic relations.
Inside Iran, Mr Ahmadinejad's remarks have been criticised by some of
his
Conservative allies who fear he is hurting the country's image.
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