Holocaust denial is a modern form of antisemitism. Given the leaders of Iran are pursuing the world's most dangerous weapon, it matters who they intend to target. Antisemitism is a big clue.
Last week, in Tehran, Ann Curry of NBC News asked Iranian President Rouhani about whether he believed that the Holocaust was "a myth." He
responded : "I'm not a historian. I'm a politician." Not complicated or difficult to understand - and a repeat of the lie of his predecessor, Ahmadinejad, who frequently denied the Holocaust by calling for more study.
But just in case Rouhani didn't mean what he said, a gaggle of Western reporters repeated the question of the veracity of the Holocaust during his trip to the UN in New York. His answer, however, is now the subject of dispute.
CNN
claims he said this:
"I've said before that I am not a historian and then, when it comes to speaking of the dimensions of the Holocaust, it is the historians that should reflect on it. But in general I can tell you that any crime that happens in history against humanity, including the crime that Nazis committed towards the Jews as well as non-Jews is reprehensible and condemnable. Whatever criminality they committed against the Jews, we condemn, the taking of human life is contemptible, it makes no difference whether that life is Jewish life, Christian or Muslim, for us it is the same, but taking the human life is something our religion rejects but this doesn't mean that on the other hand you can say Nazis committed crime against a group now therefore, they must usurp the land of another group and occupy it. This too is an act that should be condemned. There should be an even-handed discussion".
Many western media outlets - desperate to tow the Obama storyline that Rouhani is a moderate - have been spinning this response as an exciting ground-breaking admission by the Iranian president that there was a Holocaust.
But the Iranian news agency is challenging their interpretation. Here is what the FARS news agency says Rouhani actually
said :
"I have said before that I am not a historian and historians should specify, state and explain the aspects of historical events, but generally we fully condemn any kind of crime committed against humanity throughout the history, including the crime committed by the Nazis both against the Jews and non-Jews, the same way that if today any crime is committed against any nation or any religion or any people or any belief, we condemn that crime and genocide. Therefore, what the Nazis did is condemned, but the aspects that you talk about, clarification of these aspects is a duty of the historians and researchers, I am not a history scholar."
Two things are clear. One, the Holocaust was a crime committed against the Jewish people and the most evil event in human history. And two, the cream of Western media cannot perceive or comprehend Holocaust denial, or recognize antisemitism when it stares them in the face.
UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal has
confirmed the FARS News Agency translation.