Thursday, September 24, 2009

A quick comment about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad



I'll just say that a lot of what you think he says, he didn't actually say. He's very aggressively mistranslated on a routine basis now.

I'd suspect that if you read the full texts of his statements you'd find him basically reasonable all the time.

He is an anti-Zionist. He does believe the creation of Israel was an injustice that should be corrected by the people there now and also the refugees who were forced out having a referendum where they'd be free to vote to end Israel's status as a Jewish state.

The problem is that his real point of view is very offensive to people who have emotional ties to Israel, but it isn't that offensive to people who aren't already attached to Zionism. The distortions and exaggerations are meant so you'll be as offended by what you think he says as Zionists already are by what he actually says.

Original "Wiped off the map" speech

Yesterday's UN speech

Interview with the Associated Press

Interview with Ann Curry from MSNBC