Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Just a Myth

Iran's chief nutjob, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has repeated his assertion that the Holocaust never happened, a claim that has sparked international outrage and earned a rebuke from the U.N. Security Council.

In a televised speech from the Iranian city of Zahedan, Ahmadinejad described the Holocaust, as a "fabricated legend" that Jews hold higher than God himself." Ahmadinejad has also advocated the relocation of Israel from the Middle East to Europe, the continental U.S., or even Alaska.

Sadly, assertions that the Holocaust never happened are nothing new. They've been a staple among kook academics, neo-Nazis and some Muslim groups for years. And, predictably, they offer no evidence to support their theory; instead, they postulate that the numbers of Jews murdered by the Nazis has been exaggerated, as have the horrors of the concentration camps.

What is disappointing is that a major media organization--in this case, Reuters--simply repeats Ahmadinejad's claims, without citing the mountains of evidence that contradict him. By simply transcribing the Iranian President's remarks, Reuters actually lends weight to charges that have no basis in fact. With its sympathetic coverage of the Palestinian cause, Reuters proved long ago that it is no friend of Israel. Now, by refusing to challenge the ludicrous claims of the Iranian President, Reuters appears to be moving beyond its normal anti-Israel bias, and into the toxic realm of anti-Semitism.

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