..out of the dark

Here is the NYtimes' take on it, for instance:
"Deep Roots of Denial for Iran’s True Believer"

But there is another important point. Mr. Ahmadinejad actually seems to believe that the volumes of documentation, testimony and living memory of the Nazi genocide are at best exaggerated and part of a Zionist conspiracy to falsify history so as to create the case for Israel. As a former member of the Revolutionary Guards, he was indoctrinated with such thinking, a political analyst in Tehran said, and as a radical student leader, he championed such a view.

Now he has a platform to promote the theories — and to try to position himself regionally as the reasonable man who is asking hard questions.

The two-day meeting included no attempt to come to terms with the nature of the well-documented Nazi slaughter, offering only a platform to those pursuing the fantasy that it never happened. In addition, the organizers of the conference, a small circle around the president, have been building ties with neo-Nazi groups in Europe.

Across the Middle East, contempt for Jews and Zionism is widespread and utterly mainstream. Many say the Holocaust has been wildly exaggerated and used to justify the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 at the expense of Palestinians, a move viewed as yet another example of Western imperialism.

Etc. But first, what is a holocaust- denier? Is it one who denies a huge amount of jews (and others) died by systematic killings at the hands the nazi regime? Is it someone who simply says they don't believe in the evidence they're offered? Or is it someone who reacts to the assertions made by certain politicians that nothing can ever be said against Israel's current policies on the grounds that we should feel bad about the history of the jews?

Not, apparently, a very easy question to answer nowadays.

Here is an iranian cleric, quickly stepping over the line into outrageous claims, for instance:
"Cleric says Holocaust no more than a myth"

"The Western and Zionist media have always been aggrandizing the dimensions of the reality of Holocaust, mixing a bit of truth with a lot of lies."
He stressed, "Results of surveys and research work at hand today around the globe prove the fact to the world nations that much of what has been said in the West about the Holocaust is nothing but a big myth."
Mohtashamipur meanwhile reiterated, "Saying that Holocaust is a myth does not mean that the Nazis committed no crimes in the course of World War II."
The former Iranian Interior Minister said, "They committed horrendous crimes during WWII, but the Zionists' narration of the massacre of six million jews at Nazi death camps is far from reality."
He emphasized that a fact finding research committee needs to be established to shed light on real dimensions of Holocaust, adding, "The truth seekers would be glad to hear the results of that committee's unbiased studies."
Mohtashamipour added, "The establishment of such an international committee is not impossible despite strong opposition of the US and the Zionist regimes, although it might prove to be very difficult." Mohtashamipour that presided over the first session of the Holocaust Conference also said, "The Zionists need to present strong, authentic proof for their claims regarding Holocaust the way they have so far propagated about it."

And, that vast amount of evidence exists on both counts - a horrendous mass murder happened, and it's been degraded now to some four million jews officially, although the numbers aren't actually certain. Of course, they never will be beyond those who were meticulously categorized and counted before systematically murdered.

Of course, there is no particular admiration for the jewish miracle in Iran. But does it amount to holocaust- denial in an attempt to undermine the existence of Israel, as the NYtimes say?

I wondered a lot about that claim, because I was never under the impression that Israel was established because of the Holocaust. In fact, I was lead to believe it had something to do with the world powers, the Balfour- declaration, regular settling- activity, and the principles laid down in the UN charter. Such as no more aggressive wars, occupation and so on.

How wrong it seems I've been - and thank god for moron media telling me what to think, so I don't have to myself.