The statement was published on the website of the "New York Review of Books." It blasts the Iranian government for the "distortion of historical facts," while paying homage to Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Nazi regime.
The statement says denial of Nazi crimes against Jews has become a propaganda tool that the Islamic establishment of Iran is using to further its own agendas.
Iranian Anti-Zionism
President Ahmadinejad visiting the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in October (Fars)
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Each year in Iran, the last Friday of Ramadan is celebrated as Qods (Jerusalem) Day, officially a day for expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people."I have been notifying the Muslims of the danger posed by the usurper Israel," Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of Iran's Islamic Revolution, said in an August 1979 announcement. "I ask all the Muslims of the world and the Muslim governments to join together to sever the hand of this usurper and its supporters...and, through a ceremony demonstrating the solidarity of Muslims worldwide, announce their support for the legitimate rights of the Muslim people..." (more)
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INTERVIEW: On December 22, 2005, RFE/RL's Radio Farda spoke with FRED ZEIDMAN, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Zeidman commented on Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's anti-Israeli comments.
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Hear the complete interview (about nine minutes):
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