Exploiting the Holocaust
By Siddique Malik
Louisville, KY


Recently, bigots of all stripes from various parts of the world gathered in Tehran, under the comforting aegis of none other than the world's "bigot-in-chief", the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahamedinejad. Speaker after speaker said that the Holocaust did not take place, or if it took place, it caused the death of a lower number of people than recorded in history, as if killing a "lower" number of innocent human beings was acceptable. Deniers of truth have no shame.
While venting their diatribes against the followers of Judaism, not only did these individuals reveal their intellectual dishonesty and hatred of humanity, but they also highlighted some European governments' hypocrisy. While Europe claims to be a citadel of freedom of expression, some European countries have made it illegal to even say that there was no Holocaust. So much, for Europe’s commitment to freedom of expression!
Why should it be a crime to be an ignorant of history? Why not also make it a crime to be bad at geometry and all other bodies of knowledge? Today, would one be arrested, if one was in Europe and said that the earth was square-shaped? Why should only the subject of history be treated as an endangered species?
When some European speakers stated in Tehran that they did not enjoy freedom of speech at home, and thanked Ahamdedinejad for giving them a chance to express themselves, they had a point. Because of the freedom-deficit caused by some European governments' constricted vision, the racist, fascist and bigoted government of Iran thought it could claim to be the custodian of freedom of expression, which it, most certainly, is not.
What are these European governments trying to protect through their stone-age anti-freedom laws? Are they afraid that the people might start to believe that no Holocaust occurred? People are not stupid; they know that the bigots' lies can simply be countered with irrefutable truths? Why should a bigot have to travel to Iran to prove that he is a bigot? Why make it easy for governments like that of Iran to hold a puppet show against truth?
One may argue that America allows freedom of expression but still David Duke, an American, went to the Tehran meeting. True, but how many Americans besides him, took this trip? If Europe mimicked the American level of freedom of speech, hardly any European would have gone to this meeting, and Ahamedinejad would have been rebuffed.
I would like to quote from what Duke said in Tehran: "In Europe, you can freely question, ridicule and deny Jesus Christ. The same is true for the Prophet Muhammad, and nothing will happen to you. But offer a single question of the smallest part of the Holocaust and you face prison". Unfortunately, the bigot is right.
For the Tehran hatred meeting, I do not blame Iran; one cannot expect fairness from a bigoted regime. However, I blame those European governments that feel no remorse in politically exploiting the tragedy of Holocaust.

 

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