Interesting indeed, Schlack. I found very few other sources covering this huge event (David Horowitz in the
Jerusalem Post informs us that it is the most expensive drama ever produced by Iranian TV), and they weave an intriguing tale. Horowitz, of course, stands in the forefront of the perplexed finger-pointers:
. . . the lavish series, which was researched with input from Iran's Jewish Association, stands strikingly at odds with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's position on the Holocaust . . . . Monday night after Monday night across Iran, Fatthi is broadcasting an unmistakable challenge to his own president's efforts at historical revisionism. State TV is essentially telling Ahmadinejad to shut up.
Horowitz doesn't ignore this juicy opportunity to tell some more whoppers about his favorite embodiment of evil:
Week in, week out, the Holocaust-denying president of Iran stridently denounces Israel, predicts its destruction, and urges accelerated progress toward the nuclear capability with which he would hope to achieve this ambition.
It's remarkable to me that a man who is so woefully misinformed about someone would consider himself qualified to predict that person's motives and aspirations.
Or, maybe he just has a vendetta.
The AP story reports that
"The series differentiates between Jews and Zionism. The ground for forming Israel is prepared when Hitler's army puts pressure on activist Jews. In this sense, it considers Nazism parallel to Zionism," the hard-line newspaper Keyhan said.
But, the AP insists
if the series does aim to make that point, it has not done so - overtly - so far.
Interestingly, the point was not lost on the
Wall Street Journal, which is responsible for starting this smattering of interest.
"Iranians have always differentiated between ordinary Jews and a minority of Zionists," says Hassan Fatthi, the show's writer and director. "The murder of innocent Jews during World War II is just as despicable, sad and shocking as the killing of innocent Palestinian women and children by racist Zionist soldiers," he says.
<SNIP>
The show also pushes Iran's political line regarding the legitimacy of Israel: The Jewish state was conceived in modern times by Western powers rather than as part of a centuries-old desire of Jews for a return to their ancestral homeland.
The WSJ, again much to my surprise, also points out that Holocaust Denial is not an official policy among the
real Iranian leadership:
Iran is home to some 25,000 Jews, the largest population in the Middle East outside of Israel. Iran's Jews -- along with Christians and Zorastrians -- are guaranteed equal rights in the country's constitution. Iran's Jews are guaranteed one member of parliament and are free to study Hebrew in school, pray in synagogues and shop at kosher supermarkets. Despite Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements, it isn't government policy to question the Holocaust, and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hasn't endorsed those views.
While Iran makes it no secret that it considers Israel an enemy, it has been extremely touchy about criticism of its treatment of Jewish citizens. The show is seen as an effort by the government to erase the image that it may be anti-Semitic -- both at home among Jews and non-Jews, and abroad.
Horowitz derides the fact that Iran's Jews have "only" one representative in the Iranian Parliament. In a country of 75 Million citizens, I would say a guaranteed rep for a group of 25,000 people is pretty darn good.
Thanks for the post, Schlack. Lots of food for thought here.
