Posted by
tohu.vavohu on Friday, October 12, 2007 2:14:16 AM
The following is from
FoxNews.com:
Hashemi Rafsanjani,
former Iranian president and current Chairman of the Assembly of
Experts, said Friday that Hitler’s treatment of Jewish people in Europe
was due in part to their being “a pain in the neck.”
and
Rafsanjani noted that Jews
caused problems for European governments because they “had a lot of
property” and “controlled an empire of propaganda.” He also said that
the Nazis were successful in saving Europe from the evil of Zionism.
That is the majority of the story, but they have a link to a video of the speech. I would like to go on record and say thanks to
Columbia University for getting a concrete answer from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about the Holocaust so we have is as a permanent record:
MR. COATSWORTH: A further set of questions challenge your view of
the Holocaust. Since the evidence that this occurred in Europe in the
1940s as a result of the actions of the German Nazi government, since
that -- those facts are well-documented, why are you calling for
additional research? There seems to be no purpose in doing so, other
than to question whether the Holocaust actually occurred as an
historical fact. Can you explain why you believe more research is
needed into the facts of what are -- what is incontrovertible?
PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD: Thank you very much for your question. I am
an academic, and you are as well. Can you argue that researching a
phenomenon is finished forever, done? Can we close the books for good
on a historical event? There are different perspectives that come to
light after every research is done. Why should we stop research at all?
Why should we stop the progress of science and knowledge? You shouldn't
ask me why I'm asking questions. You should ask yourselves why you
think that it's questionable.
Why do you want to stop the progress of science and research? Do
you ever take what's known as absolute in physics? We had principles in
mathematics that were granted to be absolute in mathematics for over
800 years, but new science has gotten rid of those absolutism, gotten
-- forward other different logics of looking at mathematics, and sort
of turned the way we look at it as a science altogether after 800
years. So we must allow researchers, scholars to investigate into
everything, every phenomenon -- God, universe, human beings, history,
and civilization. Why should we stop that?
I'm not saying that it didn't happen at all. This is not (the ?)
judgment that I'm passing here. I said in my second question, granted
this happened, what does it have to do with the Palestinian people?
This is a serious question. They're two dimension. In the first
question, I --
MR. COATSWORTH: Let me just -- let me pursue this a bit further.
It is difficult to have a scientific discussion if there isn't at least
some basis -- some empirical basis, some agreement about what the facts
are. So, calling for research into the facts when the facts are so
well-established represents for many a challenging of the facts
themselves and a denial that something terrible occurred in Europe in
those years. (Applause.)
Let me move on to -- (pause).
Mr. President, another student asks, Iranian women are now denied basic human rights...
Nevermind. Sorry, I forgot.
Are you getting this?