Ahmadinejad: “Israel is not a nation”

[oberliner]

From the CBS interview:

PELLEY: Mr. President, you say you love all nations. I have to assume that includes the Nation of Israel.

AHMADINEJAD: Israel is not a nation.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/21/60minutes/main3286690_page5.shtml

[Mythsaje]

1. Asshole...

No surprise.

[devilgrrl]

2. AHMADINEJAD represents all Iranians the same way Bush represents all Americans...

so what's your point? The guy's an asshole and????

[ShaneGR]

3. And he hates Jews and wants them dead

He denies the holocaust and he supports the destruction of Israel. Just because someone says something bad about Bush doesn't mean you need to jump over a bridge with him.

[devilgrrl]

5. Yes, I have acknowledged that he's an utter asshole - you're suggesting that all Iranians think the

same way as he and I'm calling bullshit. Are we clear?

[jaysunb]

4. Is Palestine a nation ??

And, if not...why not ?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. They Both Should Be

eom

[nolabels]

29. They both kind seem like cults that call themselves nations

Both of them also seem puppets of larger forces who want to remain in the shadows

Remember, just because the room you are in is full of horse-shit doesn't necessarily indicate there is pony nearby :shrug:

[cali]

31. Really? To me

both Iran and Israel are nations with vibrant cultures. Israel is oppressing Palestinians through Occupation. That doesn't totally define the culture. Iran oppresses women, gays and minority religions. That doesn't totally define the culture.

Please explain what characteristics of either nation enable you to call them cults.

What forces pull Iran's strings?

[Totally Committed]

7. Don't any of you see what this man is saying/doing when he says that?

That's exactly what Olmert and the Israeli leadership says about a Palestinian homeland, fercripessake.

He's trying to push that in our faces -- that we support Israel, which he refuses to see as a nation until the Palestinians are free and living in their own "nation".

This knee-jerk reaction we egotistical Americans have against anyone who challenges us in any way is absurd. Can we all not even TRY to see what he MIGHT be trying to say instead of seeing this little brown man (read: terrorist) having the audacity to call us on our own hypocricy in our own country, instead of trying to see the nuance of his statement.

I don't like this man's politics. I'm not apolgizing or anything for him. I don't like the way he persecutes people under the guise of "religion". But, he's got a good 50 points on Bush in the IQ department, and is thinking some of us MIGHT be open to hearing what he has to say without him spelling it out for us. He's giving us credit for open minds we obviously don't have in the face of this nationalistic ego thing.

TC

[malaise]

9. Well said

The best thing he did today was remind America that the US and Saddam used chemical weapons against Iran. That is an undeniable fact.

Further he's way braver than the war criminal Bush -at least he faced a hostile crowd led by a boorish rude host.

[Totally Committed]

16. We need to start listening to our "enemies" instead of condemning them outright without a hearing or

we are going to end up with nothing BUT enemies.

TC

[kineneb]

21. thanks, and time for our Nietzsche lesson:

146.
Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein.
-Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Jenseits von Gut und Böse
1886

"Who fights with demons, must watch out, that he thereby does not become a demon. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss is also looking back at you."

-my translation

[cigsandcoffee]

13. When I see gays hanging from cranes, I miss the "nuance."

Sorry, but his actions go way beyond politics, way beyond Israel, and well in to the realm of fucking savagery. Brown-skinned or otherwise. Fuck him.

[Totally Committed]

15. I said I don't like his politics. I absolutely agree with you about this.

I'm just saying we, as a people, have to find a way to listen to what even people who we consider to be our enemies have to say, or we will never make it as a country.

TC

[cigsandcoffee]

18. We've already made it as a country.

Do you want to hear what the savages who lynched Matthew Shepard have to say? Are you willing to seek some common ground with them?

I'm not, and the only difference between them and the Iranian President is that he does it in full accordance with that country's laws. Let Iran reform itself and dump their murderous leadership that would kill a person for making a natural sexual choice, and then they'll have earned the right to be heard.

You besmirch America's arrogance and our unwilligness to listen. Well, I'll say this for America - you can be gay here without the government killing you for it. That's a simple thing, but oh so fucking important.

And if Iran wants to be heard on their attitudes toward Israel, they might start by dumping the talk of genocide. What the hell did Israel ever do to Iran, anyway, other than exist?

[Totally Committed]

22. That's ridiculous. We're not about to bomb Matthew Shephard's killers.

That's not what I an saying at all. I'm saying we need to start talking to our enemies, regardless of our personal feelings if we are even going to be able to survive as a country.

Disagree with me about that, but NEVER assume that because I think we should talk to the Iranians that I think this guy is a posey. I don't.

TC

[cigsandcoffee]

23. This is not about bombing Iran.

This is such a problem.

Apparently, some progressives think they must go soft on Iran or we'll give fodder to Bush to start a bombing campaign. If Bush is stupid and crazy enough to do it, he sure won't be prevented from it by some morally relativist posts on a Democratic chat board. Get some perspective on our importance to the Bush Administration here, for God's sake. He doesn't give two shits what anyone in the entire country says, let alone the Internet.

I think Iran should be isolated, not bombed. And I think they should be condemned loudly, and openly ridiculed for their back-assward attitudes toward enlightenment, tolerance, and personal freedoms. If you think your "go-lightly" attitude will matter one whit in preventing a bombing campaign that is far out of our hands, then you have vastly overestimated the importance of your words on this chat board.

Instead of influencing the Bush Administration in any way, you'll instead be showing yourself as weak-kneed and mealy-mouthed in the face of real and genuine tyranny. That's not progressive - it's inhumane.

[bjorkfan]

25. Absolutely! Hold Muslims to the same standards...

that we would hold Jews, Christians, or anyone else to. Is homophobia/misogyny/censorship/religious fanaticism bad? Then it's bad when Muslims/Muslim governments do it. Imagine you are a woman forced to undergo female genital mutilation, or a gay teen about to be put to death. Think about this conversation:

"Please help me, please speak out against this"

"I'm sorry, but our culture has Fred Phelps and Pat Robertson so we in the free world don't have any moral standing to do anything to help ameliorate your suffering."

It's an easy way out for people to seem "progressive" without having to put their beliefs on the line when it's uncomfortable.

[LeftishBrit]

24. I don't think that America should bomb Iran...

and I think talking is better than war; but I don't think that Ahmadejinad should be 'listened to' in the sense of treating his views as reasonable. He is a right-wing theocrat; and there is no evidence that, as you seem to imply, he is simply postponing recognition of Israel until they end the occupation and the Palestinians get a state. He wants Israel not to exist as a country (or is pandering to others who don't). And he is a nasty dictator in his own country. Of course, the same is true of lots of other people who are not on Bush' current hate-list; but I don't think such people deserve respect.

[Orsino]

8. A lot of fake Christians will say they love their neighbor, too.

Selective definitions are at the core of hate.

[cigsandcoffee]

20. A lot of Christians don't hang gays from cranes...

...in full accordance with our country's laws. Do you see the significant difference there?

[Orsino]

27. That we have some great laws...

...which prevent our fully indulging our hate?

I don't see a significant difference between the hates; I'm just thankful that we still keep much of it in check over here.

[subsuelo]

10. Ardent defenders of Israel: "There is no such thing as Palestinians

[cali]

11. So?

He's a world leader, not merely some guy. Even Ohmert doesn't say there's no such thing as a Palestinian.

[subsuelo]

14. I don't support either view

Golda Meir is famous for that actual statement btw

[cali]

17. She was. And how long ago was that again?

40 years?

[subsuelo]

19. if she were invited to lay a wreath at the site of WTC

would there be objection such as what we see currently towards Ahmadinejad?

[bjorkfan]

26. Isn't the word "Palestine" Roman/Latin?

I don't think it is an Arabic-orginated word as the names of other Mideast countries. For example, Westerners say "Egypt" but Egyptians call themselves Misr/Mizraim (Mizraim was the grandson of Noah in the biblical book of Genesis).

[TwilightGardener]

12. I'm glad our country got to hear just how awful he can be for ourselves.

[Orsino]

28. Yeah. This is the best reason of all to support free speech. n/t

[MLFerrell]

30. Is Palestine a nation?

n/t