Fidel tells Iranian president to stop slandering Jews and understand ‘anti-Semitism’
Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro has urged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stop slandering the Jews, according to an article published on the US 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.
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 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 publicly called the Holocaust ”a myth”, claiming Jews exaggerated the Nazi genocide to win sympathy from European governments.
Suggested Stories
-
Feb 10th 2012
Prince Harry named best co-pilot gunner of the Apache helicopter training course
-
Feb 10th 2012
Royal Navy patrol issues record fine to Dutch fishing vessel
-
Feb 10th 2012
Timerman on Friday formalizes at UN complaint against UK ‘militarization’ of Malvinas dispute
-
Feb 10th 2012
State Department ratifies Falklands’ dispute is a bilateral Argentina/UK issue
9 comments Feed
Note: Comments do not reflect MercoPress’ opinions. They are the personal view of our users. We wish to keep this as open and unregulated as possible. However, rude or foul language, discriminative comments (based on ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or the sort), spamming or any other offensive or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Please report any inadequate posts to the editor. Comments must be in English. Thank you.
1. Ahmadeinjad is not antisemitic or critical of Jews. More than most people he is very careful to distinghuish between the very deep rift between Judaism and Zionism - the latter being an athestic ultranationalistic political ideology which unfortunately reminds us of national-socialism.
2. If Mr Castro wanted to communicate with the leaders of Iran, all he needs to do is to pick up the phone. Tbe relations between Castro and Ahmadinejad is good - as is the relations between Cuba and Iran.
3. In the unlikely event that Castro really wanted to communicate this to Iran - why not use his “reflections” column at granma? Why would Castro suddenly trust the propaganda machinery of the greatest, nay only, enemy his country has?
Case closed.
And I think Fidel is absolutely right on this one. Ahmadeinjad should stop slandering the jews. Period.
Ahmadeinjad may be “friends” or have “good relations” with Castro, Lula, Chavez, Ortega and other leaders in Latin America, but it is a folly, nothing but hot air, Latin America does not approve of Iran's repressive culture, specially against women.
enito,
Please don't justify your anti-semitism by trying to diferentiate zionism from judaism, they are not opposed, and zionism will never equate to nazism or islam, it is not repressive of minority rights, it respects women, freedom of religious, free speech and civil rights.
Zionism is compatible with democracy and consensus. Ahmadeinjad and Islam are not.
Zionism is compatible with modernity, Ahmadeinjad and Islam are not.
Raul Castro´s unimaginative, obscure, dull and boring personality has turned Cuba´s foreign policy into a common place, a script already known by everyone in the world stage and Cuba is no longer news. And the Cuban revolution has begun to decay into oblivion.
Fidel Castro´s trying to position Cuba back on world stage but he is ridiculing his own legacy.
As for Cuba's foreign policy, you're correct: everyone knows where it comes down to: anti-imperialism. This has been Castro's motto for decades, yes, but what can one expect from him - from a socialist leader that has repeatedly fought interventionism from a superpower? His latest comments haven't run away from this theme, but at least they are sensible. Chávez could learn a thing or two from him.
Seemingly diverging points of view sometimes merge and run through the same end: everyone wants the best for Cuba.
And you are right: His latest comments make a lot of sense and I probably let myself get carried away by my anti-castrism.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!