The anti-Zionism fig leaf falls from Iran

When even EU diplomats and the New York Times call it anti-Semitism, there’s no hiding behind the false label of anti-Zionism.

Iran’s Vice President Makes Anti-Semitic Speech at Forum
Iran’s vice president delivered a baldly anti-Semitic speech on Tuesday at an international antidrug conference here, saying that the Talmud, a central text of Judaism, was responsible for the spread of illegal drugs around the world.

European diplomats in attendance expressed shock. Even Iranian participants in the conference, co-sponsored by Iran and the United Nations, privately wondered at their government’s motive for allowing such a speech, even given its longstanding antagonism toward Israel.

They allow it because to date, the world has done effectively nothing to convince Iran that they’re doing anything wrong by slamming Jews using the fig leaf of “Zionists”. Ergo:

Mr. Rahimi, second in line to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the Talmud teaches to “destroy everyone who opposes the Jews.”

The “Zionists” are in firm control of the illegal drug trade, Mr. Rahimi said, asking foreign dignitaries to research his claims. “Zionists” is Iran’s ideological term for Jews who support the state of Israel.

Note the New York Times’ explanation of Iran’s use of the word “Zionist”. That’s why he felt so comfortable saying this:

Mr. Rahimi, who spoke after Mr. De Leo, told stories of gynecologists’ killing black babies on the orders of the Zionists and claimed that the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 was started by Jews, adding that mysteriously no Jews died in that uprising.

He also said the Talmud teaches Jews to think they are a superior race. “They think God has created the world so that all other nations can serve them,” he said. Halfway through his speech, Mr. Rahimi said there was a difference between Jews who “honestly follow the prophet Moses” and the Zionists who are “the main elements of the international drugs trade.”

Did anyone walk out on the speech?

Nope. But they were shocked, shocked to hear the Iranians, who have sponsored conferences denying the Holocaust and extolling a world without Israel, slam Jews. Without the “Zionist” cover. So this excuse, pathetic as it is, is the norm.

A European diplomat said afterward: “This was definitely one of the worst speeches I have heard in my life. My gut reaction was: why are we supporting any cooperation with these people?”

But the diplomat, who declined to be identified by name or country, defended his presence at the conference. “If we do not support the United Nations on helping Iran fight drugs, voices like the one of Mr. Rahimi will be the only ones out there,” he said.

Right. Because walking out on a viciously anti-Semitic speech would be a sign that you’re not supporting the Iranian drug war. The twisted logic of the EU diplomat and the UN always seems to equal: Screw Israel.

Go figure.