Thursday, June 07, 2007

What Ahmadenijad did not wish for Israel

Arash Norouzi has written the most serious and insightful statement I have seen on Ahmadinejad’s now notorious comment – actually only rumored comment – about wiping Israel off the map. It turns out that that was not in fact what was said. As we know, he was quoting from Imam Khomeini, so in fact whatever he said was not actually his statement, but even then the statement doesn’t say what was widely reported. One more case of miscommunication between peoples who speak different languages. Sometimes the reasons we misunderstand is because, as in the case of Ahmadenijad, we expect him to say outrageous things, so are quick to jump to conclusions. As Norouzi explains, it was the regime – not the country – that Khomeni hoped would vanish (not be wiped off the map).

Click the title above to get the whole article.

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