Israel Matzav

Parts of Ahmadinejad's Geneva speech were censored before being published

Writing in Friday's New York Post, Amir Taheri reports that parts of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's anti-Semitic diatribe at the Durban II conference in Geneva on Monday had to be censored when they were published for the media that was present to avoid violating Switzerland's strict anti-hate speech laws.

A Swiss legal adviser to the Islamic Republic's UN delegation told the diplomats there that some passages of Ahmadinejad's speech would violate Switzerland's strict laws on anti-Semitism and incitement to racial hatred. Ahmadinejad could make those remarks at the conference because the venue was part of the UN, where Swiss law doesn't apply, but publishing and distributing his speech on Swiss territory could be a criminal act. After hours of deliberations, the Khomeinists decided to publish a censored version of the speech, taking out passages that Swiss lawyers had flagged as "unacceptable."

There was also a message for President Obama in Ahmadinejad's speech:

The Khomeinist leader is not content with President Obama's partial surrender -- his acceptance of unconditional talks with the mullahs. He wants it to be total. Some in the Khomeinist establishment understand, however, that even Obama might not be able to retreat as far as Ahmadinejad wants. They think that it's in the regime's interest to accept Obama's partial retreat to consolidate the nuclear project and expand Khomeinist influence in the Middle East.

Read the whole thing.

Taheri's argument is that Ahmadinejad's speech was a campaign ploy aimed at Iranians back home and that it failed because it highlighted Iran's isolation in the world and may have helped Ahmadinejad's electoral opponent. But that may not really matter. The true power in Iran is Ayatollah Khameni, and he is every bit as anti-Semitic and pro-nuclear weapons as is Ahmadinejad.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:48 PM