Politics

Iran's President Did Not Say "Israel must be wiped off the map"

Iran’s President Did Not Say “Israel must be wiped off the map”
by Arash Norouzi

A introductory commentary by David Duke
As America gets closer and closer to a catastrophic war with Iran, the justification for proposing this insane war for Israel is that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that he will “wipe Israel off the map.” This colossal lie is combined with the lie that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. The implication is that unless Israel, the United States, or both attack Iran — that Iran will use nuclear weapons to create a “Holocaust” against the Jewish people of Israel.

First, as these excerpts from Arash Norouzi show clearly, the Iranian president said no such thing. He said he believed there would be regime change in Israel just as he specifically referred to the fact there was regime change in the Soviet Union. Obviously the people of Russia were not genocided by the regime change, they were liberated by it! Furthermore, he did not threaten that he would attack Israel or that he would make this regime change, he simply said he believed that a the Zionist regime would be ended. In a speech I heard in his presence in Tehran, the President was again quoted as saying he would “wipe Israel off the map.” That too was another big lie. In actual fact, he said once more that he believed the Zionist regime would fall as the Soviet Regime did in Russia. He specifically said that the civil and human rights of both Jews and Palestinians must be protected. In addition, on the matter of nuclear energy the Iranian President has repeatedly stated that his government will not pursue nuclear weapons. Iran has been a member of the UN covenants on nuclear energy and has allowed inspections of its facilities to show that it makes peaceful use of nuclear power generation. The head of the UN inspectors has also said he has seen no evidence of Iran having a nuclear weapons program.

The world is in the middle of a Jewish extremist media campaign of lies and hate against Iran and its President. The false translation of wiping Israel off the map has been repeated in literally thousands of articles and media statements and is used every day to justify an Israeli-induced American attack against Iran. The same Jewish extremists who got us involved in the catastrophic American war for Israel in Iraq now seek to get us involved in an even bigger disaster in Iran. If they will be succeed in starting this war it will lead to an American and a world economic depression. It will the fires of terrorism beyond anything that we have ever known. We must do everything we possibly can to prevent this coming apocalypse

Just as in the Iraq War they are using lies, lies and more lies to do it.

Iran’s President Did Not Say “Israel must be wiped off the map”

Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have catastrophic implications. According to legend, Iran’s President has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, “Israel must be wiped off the map”. Contrary to popular belief, this statement was never made, as this article will prove.

BACKGROUND:

On Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 at the Ministry of Interior conference hall in Tehran, newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at a program, reportedly attended by thousands, titled “The World Without Zionism”. Large posters surrounding him displayed this title prominently in English, obviously for the benefit of the international press. Below the poster’s title was a slick graphic depicting an hour glass containing planet Earth at its top. Two small round orbs representing the United States and Israel are shown falling through the hour glass’ narrow neck and crashing to the bottom.
Before we get to the infamous remark, it’s important to note that the “quote” in question was itself a quote— they are the words of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution. Although he quoted Khomeini to affirm his own position on Zionism, the actual words belong to Khomeini and not Ahmadinejad. Thus, Ahmadinejad has essentially been credited (or blamed) for a quote that is not only unoriginal, but represents a viewpoint already in place well before he ever took office.

THE ACTUAL QUOTE:

So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words in farsi: “Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad.”

That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring a bell: rezhim-e. It is the word “Regime”, pronounced just like the English word with an extra “eh” sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country or Israel the land mass, but the Israeli regime. This is a vastly significant distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map. Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead uses the specific phrase “rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods” (regime occupying Jerusalem).

So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want “wiped from the map”? The answer is: nothing. That’s because the word “map” was never used. The Persian word for map, “nagsheh”, is not contained anywhere in his original farsi quote, or, for that matter, anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase “wipe out” ever said. Yet we are led to believe that Iran’s President threatened to “wipe Israel off the map”, despite never having uttered the words “map”, “wipe out” or even “Israel”.

THE PROOF:

The full quote translated directly to English:

“The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time”.

Word by word translation:

Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime) ishghalgar-e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from).

Here is the full transcript of the speech in farsi, archived on Ahmadinejad’s web site
www.president.ir/farsi/ahmadinejad/speeches/1384/aban-84/840804sahyonizm.htm

THE SPEECH AND CONTEXT:

While the false “wiped off the map” extract has been repeated infinitely without verification, Ahmadinejad’s actual speech itself has been almost entirely ignored. Given the importance placed on the “map” comment, it would be sensible to present his words in their full context to get a fuller understanding of his position. In fact, by looking at the entire speech, there is a clear, logical trajectory leading up to his call for a “world without Zionism”. One may disagree with his reasoning, but critical appraisals are infeasible without first knowing what that reasoning is.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad declares that Zionism is the West’s apparatus of political oppression against Muslims. He says the “Zionist regime” was imposed on the Islamic world as a strategic bridgehead to ensure domination of the region and its assets. Palestine, he insists, is the frontline of the Islamic world’s struggle with American hegemony, and its fate will have repercussions for the entire Middle East.

Ahmadinejad acknowledges that the removal of America’s powerful grip on the region via the Zionists may seem unimaginable to some, but reminds the audience that, as Khomeini predicted, other seemingly invincible empires have disappeared and now only exist in history books. He then proceeds to list three such regimes that have collapsed, crumbled or vanished, all within the last 30 years:

(1) The Shah of Iran- the U.S. installed monarch
(2) The Soviet Union
(3) Iran’s former arch-enemy, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein

In the first and third examples, Ahmadinejad prefaces their mention with Khomeini’s own words foretelling that individual regime’s demise. He concludes by referring to Khomeini’s unfulfilled wish: “The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time. This statement is very wise”. This is the passage that has been isolated, twisted and distorted so famously. By measure of comparison, Ahmadinejad would seem to be calling for regime change, not war.

Global Research , January 20, 2007
Information Clearing House
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=NOR20070120&articleId=4527