You may all remember that Ahmadinejad delivered a speech to the anti-racism conference in Durban. Traditionally, the pro-Israeli crowd are annoyed at this event because the members tend to equate Zionism with racism -- which it is -- and they turn it into a circus with charges of "anti-Semitism" flying all over the place in order to silence criticism of Israel. Anyway it turned into more of a circus when Ahmadinejad addressed the conference, in a speech that as usual was widely criticized by the western media. However at least one Jewish attendant was not so quick to dismiss what Ahmadinejad had to say:
As a delegate from Independent Jewish Voices, I had watched the drama unfold on April 20, as I sat in the UN gallery. I knew that both Ahmadinejad and the Durban Review were getting a bum rap which was now drawing progressive Jews into a fatal alliance with right-wing supporters of racism and injustice.
In the polarized context of opposing narratives, it is risky to appear to defend the “bad guy.” Everyone “knows” Ahmadinejad equals bad, anti-Semitic, Holocaust denier. So why defend his speech? I don’t endorse his values and I regret that, in his speech, he did not acknowledge injustice, anti-Semitism, and racism in Iran. However, it is NOT true that this particular speech was an anti-Semitic diatribe that denied the Holocaust.
You can hear his actual speech by going to http://www.un.org/webcast/durbanreview/archive.asp?go=090420 and scrolling down to 15:00. …
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