Fidel Castro tells Ahmadinejad: Stop denying the holocaust

ogre1213

So I am officially a Fidel Castro fan!

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/fid ... t-1.312815


Fidel Castro tells Ahmadinejad: Stop denying the holocaust
'The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust,' former Cuban leader tells U.S. journal The Atlantic.

By Natasha Mozgovaya and Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel news Jewish World anti-Semitism Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro has urged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stop slandering the Jews, according to an article published on the U.S. website The Atlantic on Tuesday.

The ageing revolutionary devoted much of a five-hour conversation to the issue of anti-Semitism, wrote Jeffrey Goldberg, who interviewed Castro in the Cuban capital Havana.


Fidel Castro

Photo by: AP

Castro told The Atlantic that the Iranian government should understand the consequences anti-Semitism.

"This went on for maybe two thousand years," he said. "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they are blamed and slandered for everything. No one blames the Muslims for anything."

He added: "The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust."

Asked by Goldberg if he would repeat his comments to Ahmadinejad, Castro said. "I am saying this so you can communicate it."

Following the interview, Goldberg spoke with Haaretz about his impression of the thinking behind Castro's comments.

"I think he [Castro] realizes he's gone too far in certain criticisms of Israel," Goldberg said.

"I think he wants to be a player in this issue; and I think he's genuinely offended by Holocaust denial."
Ahmadinejad has publicy called the Holocaust "a myth", claiming Jews exaggerated the Nazi genocide to win sympathy from European governemnts.

fuck

ogre1213 wrote:

There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust."

:roll:

Newch91

Let's hope that idiot Ahmadinejad will shut up now. I wonder if he's seen any the photos of the holocaust?

Hugh Freaking Dillon

_outlaw wrote:

ogre1213 wrote:

There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust."

:roll:

care to elaborate?

John Van Nord

"No one blames the muslims for anything"!! Seriously, i dont know excactly how things are on cuba, but over here the muslims are blamed for everything between terrorism, killing our culture, raping our women, taking our jobs and fillin up our jails. if guilty or not, they have to deal with a lots of prejudice.

this is facts and does not by any means reflect my opinion.

ogre1213

_outlaw wrote:

ogre1213 wrote:

There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust."

:roll:

you are disgusting

cincybearcat

Paul David wrote:

_outlaw wrote:

ogre1213 wrote:

There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust."

:roll:

care to elaborate?

Yes, please do so. I'm interested to know what you mean here.

cajunkiwi

When even Castro thinks you're nuts, you've got problems.

blackredyellow

cajunkiwi wrote:

When even Castro thinks you're nuts, you've got problems.

lol

and count me in on looking for a clarification from outlaw... I wasn't a history major, but I can't recall anything on the scale of the Holocaust ever happening.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

easy tiger! maybe we should wait for clarification before burning him at the stake!

ogre1213 wrote:

_outlaw wrote:

ogre1213 wrote:

There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust."

:roll:

you are disgusting

Drowned Out

Allow me to play devil's advocate and ask for clarification of the statement 'there is nothing that compares to the holocaust'.....? Out of that entire article, I found that an odd statement to highlight. Kinda sensational.

The holocaust is not history's only example of genocide. Does modern history start in 1939? What are we comparing here? Death tolls? Methods?

MotoDC

cajunkiwi wrote:

When even Castro thinks you're nuts, you've got problems.

Ha! That was my first reaction as well. Not that I disagree with Castro's sentiment (this one time), but this seems a bit non-sequitor, unless I'm just missing something about Castro's past. To me it's like John Madden suddenly coming out with an opinion on cricket. I'd be like, well thanks Johnny, I know you're crazy and all, but wtf do you know about cricket?

As for Outlaw's :roll: ...I'll just say, well, here we go...

nuffingman

John Van Nord wrote:

"No one blames the muslims for anything"!! Seriously, i dont know excactly how things are on cuba, but over here the muslims are blamed for everything between terrorism, killing our culture, raping our women, taking our jobs and fillin up our jails. if guilty or not, they have to deal with a lots of prejudice.

this is facts and does not by any means reflect my opinion.

I'm not trying to be funny but where is "over here"? There are people from all over the world on this board. In England we don't blame Muslims for everything. The Prime Minister gets that accolade.

Newch91

nuffingman wrote:

John Van Nord wrote:

"No one blames the muslims for anything"!! Seriously, i dont know excactly how things are on cuba, but over here the muslims are blamed for everything between terrorism, killing our culture, raping our women, taking our jobs and fillin up our jails. if guilty or not, they have to deal with a lots of prejudice.

this is facts and does not by any means reflect my opinion.

I'm not trying to be funny but where is "over here"? There are people from all over the world on this board. In England we don't blame Muslims for everything. The Prime Minister gets that accolade.

He could be from America but that's my best guess.

nuffingman

Newch91 wrote:

nuffingman wrote:

John Van Nord wrote:

"No one blames the muslims for anything"!! Seriously, i dont know excactly how things are on cuba, but over here the muslims are blamed for everything between terrorism, killing our culture, raping our women, taking our jobs and fillin up our jails. if guilty or not, they have to deal with a lots of prejudice.

this is facts and does not by any means reflect my opinion.

I'm not trying to be funny but where is "over here"? There are people from all over the world on this board. In England we don't blame Muslims for everything. The Prime Minister gets that accolade.

He could be from America but that's my best guess.

Possibly but possibly from The Netherlands. Who knows.

I still find it unbelievable that there are idiots on this planet that believe the holocaust is a hoax. If it was, it was the most elaborate and costly hoax ever put together. I think it's more likely that they do believe it happened but just use their denial for political reasons. Visit Aushwitz Ahmadinejad and explain that.

michelleelise

Drowned Out wrote:

Allow me to play devil's advocate and ask for clarification of the statement 'there is nothing that compares to the holocaust'.....? Out of that entire article, I found that an odd statement to highlight. Kinda sensational.

The holocaust is not history's only example of genocide. Does modern history start in 1939? What are we comparing here? Death tolls? Methods?

Do you know of another war or genocide that killed 11 million people?

Whatever anyone's legitimate problems with the current situation between Israelis and Palestinians, there's really no need to stoop to rolling your eyes at how horrible the Holocaust was - for humanity, not just for Jews.

fife

Does anyone believe that we won't hear from outlaw again on this tread or what he meant with the eye rolling? its a shame, would be interested in learning what he meant by that.

Drowned Out

michelle822 wrote:

Drowned Out wrote:

Allow me to play devil's advocate and ask for clarification of the statement 'there is nothing that compares to the holocaust'.....? Out of that entire article, I found that an odd statement to highlight. Kinda sensational.

The holocaust is not history's only example of genocide. Does modern history start in 1939? What are we comparing here? Death tolls? Methods?

Do you know of another war or genocide that killed 11 million people?

Whatever anyone's legitimate problems with the current situation between Israelis and Palestinians, there's really no need to stoop to rolling your eyes at how horrible the Holocaust was - for humanity, not just for Jews.

I guess if it's death tolls we're comparing, then yes, by definition, it was probably the most horrific genocide in recorded history.... Although some would argue that more people were wiped out in the Western hemisphere when it was 'settled'. But I digress...my intent wasn't to downplay the significance of the holocaust. everyone is ready to pounce on outlaw, when I dont think he rolled his eyes at the holocaust at all...I don't want to speak for him, but I'm guessing he rolled his eyes because ogre chose to highlight that particular line...and I'm betting that line irks him because it is often a fallback position for Pro-Israeli's who begin to lose ground in the Israel/Palestine debate, and has been used (I don't believe by ogre?) as partial justification for what many deem another genocide.

michelleelise

Drowned Out wrote:

...and I'm betting that line irks him because it is often a fallback position for Pro-Israeli's who begin to lose ground in the Israel/Palestine debate, and has been used (I don't believe by ogre?) as partial justification for what many deem another genocide.

Oh, I know exactly where this sentiment comes from. But that wasn't even mentioned here in this thread so if that's the reason he did it I submit that it was completely pre-emptive and unjustified.

And I find it hypocritical that people who bristle at the idea of the Holocaust being inserted into the debate about the current situation in Israel don't hesitate to insert their feelings about the current situation in Israel into a discussion of the Holocaust.

Drowned Out

michelle822 wrote:

Drowned Out wrote:

...and I'm betting that line irks him because it is often a fallback position for Pro-Israeli's who begin to lose ground in the Israel/Palestine debate, and has been used (I don't believe by ogre?) as partial justification for what many deem another genocide.

Oh, I know exactly where this sentiment comes from. But that wasn't even mentioned here in this thread so if that's the reason he did it I submit that it was completely pre-emptive and unjustified.

And I find it hypocritical that people who bristle at the idea of the Holocaust being inserted into the debate about the current situation in Israel don't hesitate to insert their feelings about the current situation in Israel into a discussion of the Holocaust.

Well...the large bold font, used by ogre, would imply insertion of the holocaust debate into the current situation, IMO (based on his posting history). So I guess I'm as guilty of jumping to conclusions as those I'm questioning for doing the same to outlaw.
Maybe the eye-roll was a reaction to the debate being led down that path? I don't know...
I think I'll bow out of this one; I'm merely speculating...it's outlaw's emoticon to defend.
Good to see you posting here again, anyway

Cosmo

Drowned Out wrote:

Allow me to play devil's advocate and ask for clarification of the statement 'there is nothing that compares to the holocaust'.....? Out of that entire article, I found that an odd statement to highlight. Kinda sensational.

The holocaust is not history's only example of genocide. Does modern history start in 1939? What are we comparing here? Death tolls? Methods?

...
I understand that you are playing the part of the Devil's Advocate... and I looked at that side of the ledger, too. The Turkish slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians comes to mind.
But the Holocaust perpetrated by the Germans in the 1940s was so systematic... with efficiency of an auto manufacturing or a meat processing plant, it was horrifying. It brought genocide into the industrial age.
So, while there certainly are comparisons to be drawn... the holocaust stands in the forefront of Man's capability of inhumanity.