Iran shows Holocaust drama

[I, Brian]

Very interesting - despite Ahmadinejad's previous questioning of the validity of the Holocaust as Western history portrays it, state-controlled Iranian TV has been showing a high end production drama about an Iranian diplomat trying to rescue Jews from Nazi Germany.

By all accounts, it's getting good rating figures and seems yet another slap in the face for Ahmadinejad.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iran Holocaust drama is a big hit

Very interesting quote down here, though:

"Let's be absolutely clear about this. We sympathise just as much with those innocent Jewish victims of the Nazis, as much as we do with the Palestinian victims of Zionism," Mr Fathi insists. "And this is not just the view of a minority, it's the position of most Iranians."

Most Iranians, even those taking part in the most ardent anti-Zionist demonstrations, would be quite shocked at any accusation that they are anti-Semitic.

[bananabrain]

what typical mealy-mouthed equivocation on the part of the bbc.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[wil]

Originally Posted by bananabrain

what typical mealy-mouthed equivocation on the part of the bbc.

Namaste BB,

Guess it is a good thing the BBC is not a member here, that might just be deemed a personal attack. Makes me wonder with many of the discussions if we shouldn't try to stick to discussion rather than personal attacks of any entities inside or outside CR.

[Tao_Equus]

Lol... after reading BB's flippant dismissal I could not disagree more Wil.

Tao

[bananabrain]

wil, the question of bias at the bbc is hotly debated in this country. everyone thinks they're biased in favour of the other side. personally, i think there's an institutionalised lefty liberal thing going on, which these days is equivalent to seeing the israelis as a bunch of imperialist bullyboys (and, frankly, the israelis don't do themselves a lot of favours in this department) but there are plenty of bbc reports that are evenhanded and even come down on the side of the israelis. however, this particular comment, playing down the anti-semitism of the iranian regime, is fairly typical of the orientalist love affair most lefties seem to be having with those romantic wild-eyed zealots in the forlorn hope that they turn out to not want to hang gay people and shoot jews after all. hah.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[bob x]

"they turn out to not want to hang gay people and shoot jews after all."
Of course not, what slanders! They want to drop brick walls on gay people, and blow the Jews up.

[I, Brian]

I was kind of hoping the discussion would remain on Iran, and not Israel.

The point as I read is that Ahmadinejad is losing support from among the clerics - if Ahmadinejad is pushing the idea that the holocaust can be denied, but then the clerics push to have a top-end drama detailing that the holocaust existed, then we have an indirect expression of a power struggle.

That was my reading of it, anyway.

[Muslimwoman]

Hi Brian

The people I speak to in Iran seem very tetchy at the moment, they seem mentally ready for change (well heading in that direction anyway). We can only hope that as and when it comes it heads in the right direction.

I have been watching the verbal dance between Amadinijad and the clerics for a couple of years now and he seems to have been on the left foot for almost a couple of years. Will be interesting to see how things develop.

Salaam
MW

[bananabrain]

well, brian, you did mention the holocaust, yet iran has been at the foremost of the movement to try and redefine it in order to isolate and demonise israel, so i don't think the one can be mentioned without the other. the bbc article you linked to raises yet another very obvious and unpleasant trend, which is the "liberal leftie" tendency to make excuses for a theocracy like iran whilst taking every opportunity to decry a democracy like israel; this is something that seems very bizarre given that in iran, the bbc would have a very short shelf life, whereas in israel, the bbc is not prevented from exposing the most unpleasant aspects of government policy. it is an unfortunate truism that repressive autocracies are not forced to face up to their actions the way that open societies are by virtue of the free press.

mw, one of the more interesting iranian blogs is:

Editor: Myself | Hossein Derakhshan's weblog (English)

which bears out your point, which i too have observed.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[Muslimwoman]

Thanks for that link BB, that is a very interesting blog. Salam