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Iranian Prez Dropped Holocaust Denial From UN Speech

Ahmadinejad had called it 'ambiguous and dubious'

By the Associated Press

Posted Apr 21, 2009 10:28 AM CDT
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(AP) – It didn't stop a mass walkout, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually toned down the speech he gave at a UN racism conference yesterday, the UN said today, dropping language denying the reality of the Holocaust. In the original text of his speech, he said of Western nations: "Following World War II, they resorted to military aggression to make an entire nation homeless on the pretext of Jewish sufferings and the ambiguous and dubious question of Holocaust.”


Why drop the second half of that? Could be because Ban Ki-moon met with Ahmadinejad before the speech. The UN secretary-general said he reminded the Iranian prez that the UN had adopted resolutions "to revoke the equation of Zionism with racism and to reaffirm the historical facts of the Holocaust." A stream of delegates still walked out, but many, including those from the Vatican, stayed.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during a press conference after the opening of the UN's Conference against Racism at the European headquarters of the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during a press conference after the opening of the UN's Conference against Racism at the European headquarters of the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday.   (AP Photo/Laurent Gillieron)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers his speech at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, April 20, 2009.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers his speech at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, April 20, 2009.   (AP Photo/Salvatore Di Nolfi)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures during his speech at the UN racism conference at the United Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, April 20, 2009.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures during his speech at the UN racism conference at the United Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, April 20, 2009.   (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 4 comments
Mad
Apr 22, 2009 3:48 AM CDT
A republican asking how one can deny reality, now THAT"S funny
paul123
Apr 21, 2009 10:03 AM CDT
How can one deny such an obvious event?
woodyTX
Apr 21, 2009 9:28 AM CDT
The response has in many cases been disproportionate to the insult. Case in point the recent Gaza "retribution". This was not an attempt to stop rocket fire. This was an attempt to punish the people of Gaza and scare them into submission. There was no need to be as generalized in the assault and for it to go on as long as it did killing as many as it did. Israel gains no sympathy in using excessive force and actually plays into the hands of the extremists on both sides. Brute force has done nothing but make the situation worse for decades. The simmering anger turns to seething rage. The ideology you mention will not be eliminated. The hammer will not kill the fly in this instance. That ideology will be marginalized and overcome by appealing to the reasonable core of people in the palestinian and arab world through open dialog, reasonable diplomacy and measured miltary response only where necessary.

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

 
Iran • United Nations • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Holocaust • Switzerland • racism • conference • speech • Ban Ki-moon • denial

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