Iran: Today's Nazi State?
By: Tova Schreiber, The South End (Wayne State U.)
December 14, 2006 5:16 PM

(U-WIRE) DETROIT - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Hamas Authority leader Ismail Haniyeh on Dec. 1, according to the Israeli news source Arutz Sheva. The topics the men discussed included the "illegitimacy" of the "Zionist regime" that is the state of Israel, and the Palestinian people's determination to continue vicious acts against Israeli civilians if their hopes for a "liberated" Jerusalem were ever to be realized.

Ahmadinejad and those he met with agreed that Israel was an "arrogant state" designed to "penetrate the heart of Muslim land." He also mentioned that "the Palestinian nation and Muslims as a whole will emerge victorious" -- supposedly referring to the current conflict in the Middle East. However, his remarks might also be interpreted as a reference to worldwide domination.

Perhaps you have heard of Ahmadinejad before. After all, this man has been in the news quite a bit lately. He has recently boasted of Iran's newly launched nuclear program, has denied the occurrence of the Holocaust, and has made public his wishes to destroy Israel by "wiping it off the map."

This man's desire to annihilate a Jewish nation, his encouragement of violent behavior, and his hints at expanding the Iranian regime into more and more territory leaves me asking an important question: doesn't this man remind you of Adolf Hitler?

The similarities between Ahmadinejad and the Fuehrer are striking. Ahmadinejad loathes the Jews, just as Hitler did. Ahmadinejad is trying to gain more and more land, just as Hitler did. Ahmadinejad is preparing a dangerous, threatening military arsenal, just as Hitler did. When comparing the two men side by side, it is quite easy to see how both Hitler and Ahmadinejad are evil incarnate.

Most frightening, however, is that while Ahmadinejad is doing all these things, the citizens of the world sit by and watch, without uttering a single word of protest. It is an eerie reminder of what happened in the 1930s, when people said to themselves, "Oh, Hitler? What can he do that will even affect us?" The most striking example of this attitude was when then Prime Minister of England Neville Chamberlain chose to appease Adolf Hitler by allowing him to enter Czechoslovakia.

We all know that this was a crucial step in Hitler's plan to crush the opposition. Once he had the approval of other nations, he could conquer lands that were not his. In order to accomplish this, he trained soldiers to be cruel and ruthless. Most notably, he systematically murdered over 10 million people -- 6 million of which were Jewish.

Sixty years later, Ahmadinejad wants to recreate this nightmare -- on a nuclear scale. Let me ask a few key questions.

Why is it that the only state Ahmadinejad wants destroyed is the state of Israel? Do people really think it is just a coincidence that the same man who denies the Holocaust wants an end to the only Jewish state in existence?

Why is it that Iran has refused to back down with regard to its threatening nuclear programs? Do people really think it is just a coincidence that the same man who supports Palestinian violence supports a potentially catastrophic nuclear weapons program?

Finally, why is it that most Americans ignore Iran? Do people really think it is just a coincidence that the same man who has been consistently aggressive is promising worldwide Islamofascist domination?

The answer to these questions, I believe, is that we would like to act like Neville Chamberlain. Oftentimes, we feel that the way to avoid catastrophe is to let "the bad guys" have what they want -- just once. This sort of appeasement can be highly tempting, as I am sure it was to Chamberlain.

Look where his actions led, though. Think about the millions of deaths. Think about the soldiers marching. Think about the buildings aflame. Is this what we want to happen -- again?

We cannot be like Chamberlain. We must crush evil wherever it rears its ugly head, and that includes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We must not give him an inch. If we do, our own kind will suffer the horrible consequences.
One might think that facism is dead today, but we have been proven wrong time and again by Ahmadinejad and those student groups who support his viewpoints.

Now I am asking you to do something about it. Write to your elected representatives. Hold rallies. Do something -- anything -- to help stop this evil man and his supporters from perpetrating yet another Holocaust, yet another World War, yet another tragedy.

Comments

Charles Beard once described thinking by analogy as primitive. Ahmadinejad needs to be dealt with in his own historical context. That context includes viewpoints from BOTH sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict. I don't find the analogy to Hitler useful. Demonising the man does not help us deal rationally with the ISSUES in the Middle East.
Posted by: David Healy | December 15, 2006 11:44 PM

Read my Op-Ed one more time. Look at what Ahmadinejad is doing, and then tell me you can't compare him to Hitler. Don't forget, too, that he recently hosted a Holocaust Denial conference.
Posted by: Tova Schreiber | December 20, 2006 3:55 PM

Actually, the U.S. Senate and House voted overwhelminly for a resolution criticizing Iran's holding of the "Holocaust Conference". Many foreign leaders from Russia, Germany, England, France, the Vatican, and other countries have criticized the Holocaust denial conference. I am more concerned about ahmadinenijad aquiring a nuke and using it to blackmail the West and Israel. Since Iran has thumbed its nose at the recent U.N. resolutions that were passed by overwhelmingly by the Security Council (including China and Russia, I say that someone should take out the above ground and un derground Nuclear research and producing facilities with bunkerbusting, low yield, earth penetraing Cluster bombs. Will the world community complain, yes (But secretly they will blow a sigh of relief!). Will innocent civilians be killed and injured due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time Yes (Probably less than if Iran nukes all of the tiny state of Israel, Portions of the U.S., and Western Europe deliberately. Will Iran try to increase terorist attacks aginst us in Iraq and jack up Oil Prices Yes (but we can survive that through conserving energy and digging our own oil in the U.S. from the Artic wildlife refuge and remaining resolute in Iraq). Overall, we should do something now before WW III erupts all because of western appeasement.
Posted by: Justin Waldman | January 6, 2007 3:42 AM

Justin - You have some interesting opinions. I wrote this Op-Ed, however, before Iran held the Holocaust denial conference, so it was not mentioned in my article. Please contact me further so we can discuss the issue of Iran.
Posted by: Tova Schreiber | January 10, 2007 4:15 PM

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