On Tuesday, CNN aired an interview with Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, by Christiane Amanpour during which Amanpour asked Rouhani about his view of the Holocaust.
Here is CNN’s original translation of Rouhani’s comments:
I have said before that I am not a historian. And that when it comes to speaking of the dimensions of the holocaust it is the historians that should reflect on it. But in general I can tell you that any crime that happens in history against humanity including the crime the Nazis created towards the Jews is reprehensible and condemnable. Whatever criminality they committed against the Jews, we condemn. The taking of human life is contemptible. It makes no difference whether that life is Jewish life, Christian, or Muslim. For us it is the same. The taking of human life is something our religion rejects. But this does not mean that on the other hand you can say Nazis committed crimes against a group now therefore they must usurp the land.
Rouhani’s words appear to be in stark contrast to what the government of Iran and Rouhani’s predecessor have steadfastly claimed. A position about which the New York Times said on Wednesday:
Mr. Ahmadinejad’s refusal to recognize the Holocaust became a symbol of Tehran’s implacable hostility. For Israel, it is evidence that Iran is bent on its elimination, and this is why Israel is so determined to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Commenting on the CNN translation, the Times writes:
Mr. Rouhani, in an interview on Tuesday with CNN, described the Holocaust as a “crime that the Nazis committed towards the Jews” and called it “reprehensible and condemnable.” It was a groundbreaking statement, given that his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denied the systematic extermination of Jews during World War II. Mr. Rouhani largely repeated his comments in a meeting with news media executives on Wednesday.
“Groundbreaking,” but not for long.
The Iranian news agency Fars, indignantly claiming that CNN had “fabricated,” added to or changed parts of Rouhani’s remarks, posted the “exact transcript of the Farsi text according to the CNN broadcast” and also “the exact English translation of President Rouhani’s remarks.” The latter, according to Fars:
I have said before that I am not a historian and historians should specify, state and explain the aspects of historical events, but generally we fully condemn any kind of crime committed against humanity throughout the history, including the crime committed by the Nazis both against the Jews and non-Jews, the same way that if today any crime is committed against any nation or any religion or any people or any belief, we condemn that crime and genocide. Therefore, what the Nazis did is condemned, (but) the aspects that you talk about, clarification of these aspects is a duty of the historians and researchers, I am not a history scholar.
No mention of the Holocaust, no mention of how “reprehensive” it was, but rather the convenient and pusillanimous buck-passing to historians and researches of an “universally acknowledged truth,” of a monstrous crime that occurred not way back in history, not to be discovered by “researchers,” but one that occurred a mere 70 years ago before the wide-open eyes of the world and of many still alive.
Fars concludes its commentary on Rouhani’s remarks and on CNN’s “fabrications” as follows:
After the CNN released the interview, hundreds of news agencies, TV and news channels, websites and weblogs broadcast this title: “Iran’s President Rouhani Calls Holocaust ‘Reprehensible’ Crime Against Jews”, a title quoted from the CNN; Or “Rouhani Recognizes the Holocaust as Crime against Jews”.
Yes, CNN may have screwed up in the translation by implying that Rouhani called the Holocaust a “‘Reprehensible’ Crime Against Jews” — Wow, what an insult against the Iranian government!
But what I find truly insulting, foreboding, is the walking-back by the regime of Iran of remarks that were construed by many in the West as perhaps a return to the truth, a gesture of goodwill towards all — including Israel and the Jews.
Apparently it was not. Apparently such acknowledgment of the truth and gesture of goodwill was lost in translation.
In the words of “one Iran expert“, “if Rouhani’s not even free to acknowledge a historical fact, how can he possibly change Iran’s nuclear policy?”
CODA:
Christiane Amanpour’s web site has videos of her interview with Rouhani and the following text:
Iran’s new president has acknowledged that Nazis killed Jews, furthering the stark contrast between himself and his predecessor, who called the Holocaust a “myth.”
In a wide-ranging interview with CNN, he also discussed Israel and Syria.
“Any crime that happens in history against humanity, including the crime the Nazis committed towards the Jews as well as non-Jews, was reprehensible and condemnable,” President Hassan Rouhani said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
“Whatever criminality they committed against the Jews, we condemn, because genocide, the taking of the human life, is condemnable and it makes no difference whether that life is a Jewish life, a Christian or a Muslim or what. For us it’s the same.”
Image:Courtesy Isurvived.org
