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Holocaust Deniers Gather In Iran
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's conference on the truth of the Holocaust opens today in Tehran. Infamous Holocaust sceptics from around the globe have answered the president's call to investigate whether or not 6 million Jews were killed under Nazi rule in Germany - though one Palestinian academic, known for his struggle against Holocaust deniers among his own people - has already been barred from the event.
Ahmadinejad called for the conference in January after provoking international outrage by describing the Holocaust as a "myth". Newspapers reported over the weekend that Iran's foreign office dragged its feet over arranging the get-together, dismayed that the president seemed so dedicated to having yet more international scorn heaped upon the country. However, the fundamentalist leader, who has called for Israel to be wiped from the map and its inhabitants deported to Alaska or Europe, was not to be deterred.
It follows an exhibition dedicated to anti-Semitic and Holocaust cartoons, also opened at Ahmadinejad's request. The president claimed to be testing the limits of European tolerance with the show, following the Muslim outcry over the Danish cartoons of Mohammed.
Iran says 67 "intellectuals and researchers" from 30 countries will attend the conference. An invitation was planned for British Holocaust denier David Irving, but he was unable to attend, as he is currently stirring his porridge in Austria following his conviction for denying the existence of gas chambers in Auschwitz.
While Iranian spokesmen claim that the debate will be open and free from anti-Semitic and Nazi influence, one dissenting voice - a Palestinian who has made it his mission to educate Arabs on the horrors of the Nazi genocide - has had his visa refused. Khaled Kasab Mahameed founded the Arab Institute for Holocaust Research and Education and the Arab world’s first Holocaust museum, in Nazareth. The Iranians knocked back his request for a visa, perhaps because Mahameed is on record as saying,
"It’s not enough to curse these Holocaust deniers as foolish. We have to convince them the Holocaust did happen."
