So a party that advocates the lifting of restrictions of Nazi symbols has won a significant victory in Austrian elections.
(h/t LGF)
No doubt Austria will now be shunned internationally – and rightly so – just as it was a decade ago when the Austrian government sought to bring in Jorg Haider.
But contrast that to the mad Mahmoud’s recent successful American tour as Jeff Jacoby recounts:
At the United Nations, the Iranian president delivered a speech laced with undiluted anti-Semitism, denouncing “people called Zionists” who dominate the world’s “financial and monetary centers” and control “the political decision-making centers” in the West through “deceitful, complex, and furtive” means. His remarks were greeted not with jeers or stony silence, but with lusty applause from the delegates and a hug from the president of the General Assembly.
Then CNN provided the hatemongering head of state with another soapbox – an interview with Larry King, who warmly shook the Iranian president’s hand and tossed him a series of fatuous softballs: “Where in the US would you like to travel? Would you like to meet Sarah Palin, since you’re both former mayors? You don’t wish the Jewish people any harm, do you?”
On Thursday, Ahmadinejad was the guest of honor at a dinner and “dialogue” hosted by several left-wing Christian organizations, including the American Friends Service Committee, the Mennonite Central Committee, and the World Council of Churches. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom had urged the organizers not to honor someone who “has manipulated such dialogues repeatedly into a platform for spreading hatred,” and warned to no avail that lionizing Ahmadinejad would only “burnish the Iranian leader’s legitimacy.” The dinner went ahead as scheduled, amid pious invocations of “engagement” and “discussion.” Intoned Mark Graham of the American Friends Service Committee: “You can’t just engage with people with whom you agree on all issues. That leads to a very myopic view of the world.”
You see antisemitism is unacceptable when it’s expressed by Europreans. But when it’s expressed by Muslims who want to bring back the actual policies of the Nazis not just their symbols, why, it’s perfectly acceptable.
The excuses are all predictable.
We can’t judge them, they’re different than us.
They’re showing solidarity with their Palestinian brothers.
They don’t really mean it.
Those are loads of BS.
There’s been a case made that Ahmadinejad’s statements constitute “incitement to genocide.”
The statements emanating from the Iranian President are not only alarming and destabilizing. They also constitute direct and public incitement to commit genocide — a gross violation of international law. Such incitement is reminiscent of historical incidents of genocide, like that which occurred in Rwanda. The critical difference is that while the Hutus in Rwanda were equipped with the most basic of weapons, such as machetes, Iran, should the international community do nothing to prevent it, will soon acquire nuclear weapons. This would increase the risk of instant genocide, allowing no time or possibility for defensive efforts.
It is essential to distinguish between freedom to oppose a government and incitement to genocide. Various political leaders outspokenly condemn rival governments using epithets like “the evil/Cuban/corrupt/North Korean/ruthless regime.” These verbal barrages, however, pose no existential threat to ordinary people in the street. Ahmadinejad’s reckless anti-Semitic tirades that “the Jews are very filthypeople,””[theJewshave]inflictedthemost damage on the human race,” “[the Jews are] a bunch of bloodthirsty barbarians,” “they should know that they are nearing the last days of their lives,” and “as the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map” should have aroused trepidation. Thus far, however, Ahmadinejad’s threats have been met with acquiescence, indifference, and inaction. Yet, his apocalyptic utterances are not mere rhetoric. Ahmadinejad’s declaration that the Holocaust was a “fairy tale,” and his enabling of Hamas and Hizbullah, demonstrate that there is simply no way for his ambitions to be realized without perpetrating a new genocide.
Again this is a lot more serious than reviving “Nazi imagery.” Ahmadinejad’s actions and statements could be considered actionable, in a legal sense, and grounds for expelling Iran from the UN. (The General Assembly did this to South Africa, when apartheid was the law of its land.)
And yet I suspect we’ll have to wait really long time before the UN chooses to act responsibly regarding Iran and its threat to Israel. Heck, even Mohammed el-Baradei concedes that his Nobel prize winning agency hasn’t been successful in stemming Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Of course this isn’t an admission of incompetence, but a request for more money to continue being ineffective.
The events in Austria are certainly troubling, but Iran remains a bigger threat to Israel and the world.
Meryl has more.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
