Iran: Israel should be wiped off the map

[buttmunch]

Israel should be ‘wiped off the map’ says Iran
>By Gareth Smyth in Tehran
>Published: October 26 2005 21:26 | Last updated: October 27 2005 00:00
>>
Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran’s fundamentalist president, on Wednesday declared that Israel should be “wiped off the map” and warned Arab countries against developing economic ties with Israel in response to its withdrawal from Gaza.

His remarks, delivered at a conference in Tehran entitled “A World without Zionism”, led to diplomatic protests by the UK, France and Spain, while Shimon Peres, Israel’s deputy prime minister, said Iran should be expelled from the United Nations.

In Washington, spokesmen for the Bush administration said the statement underscored US concern over Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s comments came as Islamic Jihad, a militant Palestinian group allied to Iran, killed at least five Israelis with a bombing in the Israeli town of Hedera. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, saying it was avenging Israel’s killing of a West Bank commander on Monday.

US analysts noted that the president’s remarks were not a departure from hardline Iranian rhetoric and did not represent new policy.

But they said the rhetoric was aggressive and badly timed, and would serve to confirm western suspicions of Iran’s more confrontational approach that were raised by the new president’s speeches at the United Nations last month.

However, European diplomats suggested the comments would not derail efforts by France, Germany and the UK to get Iran to return to the negotiating table and halt work at its Isfahan uranium conversion facility. One diplomat said the EU3 had made a point of keeping the nuclear issue separate from Iranian support for militant Palestinian groups during two years of talks.

“As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map,” Mr Ahmadi-Nejad said, citing Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran’s Islamic revolution.

The president told an audience of students there was “no doubt the new wave [of attacks] in Palestine will soon wipe off this disgraceful blot from the face of the Islamic world”.

“Anybody who recognises Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation’s fury,” he said, in remarks aimed at Arab states.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, who took office in August, was departing from the moderate line of his reformist predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, who argued Iran should be no more radical about Israel than the Palestinians themselves. Reformist figures in Iran have recently warned that Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s stern rhetoric endangers Iran’s national interest and could encourage the referral of Tehran’s nuclear programme to the UN Security Council. Iran denies its development of the nuclear fuel cycle is for military use.

[AliceInWonderland]

Well I personally side with those poor Palestinians, they're always portrayed as the evildoers in the US media, since our govt. only seems to care bout Isreal, and its not fair cause Isreal does just as much shit to them as they do to Isreal and yes its disgusting and unfortunate that these two populations can't get along and have to live in such close proximity to eachother; childish really. I can't believe people are killed over there everday in bombings; could you imagine living in constant anxiety/fear about being blown up everytime you leave the house to go to the market!?!

[buttmunch]

At this point, both sides are out of control. The right wing in Israel refuses to accept that the Palestinians have any right to any land, pretty much, while the Palestinians refuse to accept that alot of time has passed and they haven't a chance in hell of full reparation. What the Palestinians need to do is stop blowing people up. The Israelis need to stop sending missiles in every time a bomb goes off. And at the end of the day, both sides need to dump the extremist elements and get back to talking. Arafat served his purpose, he is dead and it's time to get realistic about the situation. A good book to read about this, that helped me get my head around the complexities of the situation (although other books are needed to fill in the blanks) is 'From Beruit to Jeruselam' by Thomas Freidman. And yes, the American media isn't terribly impartial in thier reporting on the situation. Although Thomas Freidman is one of the most impartial and he's Jewish. I guess because he lived in the middle east for a long time, it gave him alot of insight that armchair critics don't have.

[UndercoverGator]

'Rut Ro!' Sounds like nearly enough for Dubya to want to march into Iran and take over. Wonder what justification he'll try to sell us on? WMD? Political and religious freedoms??

[Hazeleyed_Honey]

Originally Posted by buttmunch

At this point, both sides are out of control. The right wing in Israel refuses to accept that the Palestinians have any right to any land, pretty much, while the Palestinians refuse to accept that alot of time has passed and they haven't a chance in hell of full reparation. What the Palestinians need to do is stop blowing people up. The Israelis need to stop sending missiles in every time a bomb goes off. And at the end of the day, both sides need to dump the extremist elements and get back to talking. Arafat served his purpose, he is dead and it's time to get realistic about the situation. A good book to read about this, that helped me get my head around the complexities of the situation (although other books are needed to fill in the blanks) is 'From Beruit to Jeruselam' by Thomas Freidman. And yes, the American media isn't terribly impartial in thier reporting on the situation. Although Thomas Freidman is one of the most impartial and he's Jewish. I guess because he lived in the middle east for a long time, it gave him alot of insight that armchair critics don't have.

There is extremists going wacko on both sides.

But,I believe that peace cannot be achieved unless the occupation ends.

I like readig Edward Said's work on this conflict. He is impartial also,but he has a Palestinian perspective as he is a Palestinian Orthodox Christian. He is also a firm advocate of a one-state solution where both Palestinians and Jews can live side by side as before this conflict happened.

I kind of speak about him as if he is still present, but unfortunately he has passed away to cancer 2 years ago.

[sputnik]

Originally Posted by buttmunch

At this point, both sides are out of control. The right wing in Israel refuses to accept that the Palestinians have any right to any land, pretty much, while the Palestinians refuse to accept that alot of time has passed and they haven't a chance in hell of full reparation. What the Palestinians need to do is stop blowing people up. The Israelis need to stop sending missiles in every time a bomb goes off. And at the end of the day, both sides need to dump the extremist elements and get back to talking. Arafat served his purpose, he is dead and it's time to get realistic about the situation. A good book to read about this, that helped me get my head around the complexities of the situation (although other books are needed to fill in the blanks) is 'From Beruit to Jeruselam' by Thomas Freidman. And yes, the American media isn't terribly impartial in thier reporting on the situation. Although Thomas Freidman is one of the most impartial and he's Jewish. I guess because he lived in the middle east for a long time, it gave him alot of insight that armchair critics don't have.

excellent points. and the problem is only made even worse by the fact that the international community is also split over this.

Originally Posted by Hazeleyed_Honey

There is extremists going wacko on both sides.

But,I believe that peace cannot be achieved unless the occupation ends.

I like readig Edward Said's work on this conflict. He is impartial also,but he has a Palestinian perspective as he is a Palestinian Orthodox Christian. He is also a firm advocate of a one-state solution where both Palestinians and Jews can live side by side as before this conflict happened.

I kind of speak about him as if he is still present, but unfortunately he has passed away to cancer 2 years ago.

i love said's work. i discovered him at uni and i've been reading him since.

[UndercoverGator]

So sorry to hear about Edward Said's passing. I've seen him speak in the past on the Palestinian question and he was a brilliant and compassionate man.

Peace in the middle east? Not in our lifetime I fear.

[Grimmlok]

Give them all nukes and let them turn each other into ashes and glass, I say. I'm tired of the whole region. They should get it over with.

[AliceInWonderland]

o Grimm, always the voice of reason

[Grimmlok]

They've been fighting for 2000 years. Some problems can't be solved, so let both retarded parties wipe each other from the earth and spare the rest of us.

[piperdiva]

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

They've been fighting for 2000 years. Some problems can't be solved, so let both retarded parties wipe each other from the earth and spare the rest of us.

Hey, why do you care so much about what happens there?

[Grimmlok]

...... because it's the world politics board and that's the point.

Why discuss anything?

[SVZ]

this is never going to end.

both sides may have been equally right, one side may have been more right than the other. but the fact that they both resorted to violence, the killing of innocents...you can't pick sides anymore. they've both done terrible things.

[piperdiva]

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

...... because it's the world politics board and that's the point.

Why discuss anything?

It's not the discussion part I was questioning-it's your anger and frustration about what is going on there. You seem emotional about it.

[Grimmlok]

No, I think both sides are acting like retarded children and frankly I'm bored of their antics being all over the news.