Tuesday, June 26, 2007
U.S. Congress: saying "eliminated from the pages of history" is genocide
A few days ago, ever vigilant to show its obeisance to Israel, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to urge the United Nations to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with genocide because of his statement that Israel will be "eliminated from the pages of history," naturally claimed by Congress to have been a call "for the destruction of the State of Israel." This despite Ahmadinejad's very clear statement that the "wiping out" he was referring to is precisely the kind of "wiping out" that happened to the Soviet Union, and has nothing to do with "a fight between Judaism and other religions."
Only two members of the House voted against the resolution, Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Dennis Kucinich. A handful of others voted "present" or didn't vote. All the rest voted for this absurd resolution.
Update: Looking more closely, I find that the expression of fealty to Israel wasn't just implicit, it was explicit: "Reaffirms the strategic U.S.-Israel partnership and reasserts the U.S. commitment to defend Israel's right to exist as a free and democratic state."
Second update: Just learned a lot more from this blog (via Tom Tomorrow):
"There is reasonable doubt with regard to the accuracy of the translations of President Ahmadinejad's words in this resolution. President Ahmadinejad's speeches can also be translated as a call for regime change, much in the same manner the Bush Administration has called for regime change in Iraq and Iran, making this resolution very ironic," Kucinich said.
Kucinich attempted to insert into the Congressional Record two independent translations of the speech from The New York Times and Middle East Media Research Institute, which contain significant differences in the translations of the speech compared to the resolution before the House. However, Members objected formally and the attempt was blocked.
