On Jun 22, 2009, at 10:50 AM, ravi wrote:
> Re: Holocaust denial: there is an interview with Khatami that
> someone posted (here? on PEN-L?) or I came across a while ago, where
> he answers this "Do you deny the Holocaust?" accusation by answering
> that "Holocaust denial is a Western idea". I think roughly speaking,
> that's probably the case for the majority of the rest of the world.
> They are probably sad that a large number of Roma, Jews, Russians
> and others died as a result of Hitler's actions, but if anything,
> are more concerned with what goes on in the world today under the
> excuse of the Holocaust, than about this or that politician's
> opinion on whether a particular set of historical events is accurate
> or not.
Holocaust denial is a particular kind of lunacy - it's a way of embracing an outlandish fiction that identifies you with the most disreputable anti-Semites around. It's not like just reading your horoscope or knocking on wood. It's a malignant position-taking.
Dabashi identifies the Holocaust denial as a symptom of the decay of pro-Palestinian sentiment among some Iranians. Unable to voice some positive vision, they embrace instead a degenerate form of anti- Zionism. That anyone on the foreign left would take even a half second to excuse it is disturbing.
Doug