Daily Alert Archives

Ahmadinejad Calls for Israel's Elimination and Declares War on the West: A Case Study of Incitement to Genocide

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Manfred Gerstenfeld - Iranian President Ahmadinejad's call for the elimination of Israel led to many condemnations, including from the UN Security Council and the EU. This censure - though only verbal - differed from the usual Western silence concerning genocidal statements of Iranian leaders in previous years. Possible explanations for the West's reaction include opposition to Iran's nuclear program and Iran's support for terrorism in Iraq. Moreover, Ahmadinejad directly threatened the West in his address: "We are in the process of an historical war between the World of Arrogance [i.e., the West] and the Islamic world." He also stated that "a world without America and Zionism" is "attainable." The official Iranian News Agency headlined the speech: "World Without U.S. Achievable," indicating one of the Iranian president's main messages. In that spirit, a top Iranian military commander, Maj.-Gen. Ataollah Saleh, stated that a clash between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. has become inevitable. A few days later, the Iranian Ministry of Education announced that 20 million students in primary schools would chant "Death to America" to mark the anniversary of the occupation of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran in 1979.
2005-11-10 00:00:00
Full Article