By Ryan Jones
Dec 15, 2005
Jordan's former ambassador to the United Nations, Hassan Abu Nimah, has criticized leaders of the Western world for their ?hysterical? reaction to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Nazi Holocaust and suggestions that Israel be replanted in Europe.
Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad told Iranian TV while on a visit to Mecca that Muslims ?don't accept this claim? that ?some European countries? make ?saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces.?
He went on to say that ?if the Europeans are honest, they should give some of their provinces in Europe - like in Germany, Austria or other countries - to the Zionists and the Zionists can establish their state in Europe.?
Ahmadinejad's latest remarks, coupled with his earlier statement that Israel should be ?wiped off the map,? have caused growing concern that Iran may use the nuclear weapons it is actively pursuing and close to obtaining to fulfill its long stated goal of eradicating the Zionist ?cancer.?
Most European leaders, Washington and the United Nations were quick to condemn the Iranian over his virulent comments.
But Nimah responded in a Jordan Times opinion piece by saying Ahmadinejad's ?statements bear no real value? in that they do not represent an existential threat to Israel, and instead described them as a mere ?irritation.?
Demagoguery such as Ahmadinejad's has in the past laid the groundwork for regional efforts to militarily annihilate the Jewish state.
Still, Nimah brushed aside the Iranian's belligerence as simply another example of a common Arab tactic of trying to offset what he called misuse of ?the Nazi Holocaust to justify Israel's existence and crimes against the Palestinians [sic].?
?Some Arab and Muslim intellectuals have been seduced into trying to counter this line of argument by casting doubt on the veracity of the persecution of Jews by Germany and other Europeans,? Nimah coolly explained.
Nimah rejected this tactic for the assistance it lends ?Israel's propaganda efforts,? but made no mention of the effect that altering history regarding this most heinous event would have on future generations in the Middle East.
And what of the Sharon government's claim that the Muslim world would have greater understanding for Israel following its Gaza ?disengagement,? which was purportedly evidenced by a handful of high-level meetings between Israelis and their Muslim counterparts in September?
If Nimah's words are at all representative of broader regional sentiment, Israel's neighbors have quickly reverted to their former view that Israel ?still continues to occupy and colonize Arab land without showing any evidence that its appetite has been sated.?
This despite Jerusalem's surrendering 100 percent of Gaza, the northern third of Samaria, and reports that Israel's two leading prime ministerial candidates intend relinquish up to 95 percent of all Judea and Samaria if elected.
Dr. Joseph Lerner of Independent Media Review and Analysis warned that Nimah's recent appointment as Director of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies ?indicates how acceptable his outlook is in Jordan.?
While Jordan's Hashemite regime has for the most part sought to maintain amicable ties with Jerusalem, its majority ?Palestinian? population is among the most hostile to Israel.