In a speech in August, Ahmadinejad announced that justice and freedom would only be achieved on our planet if “Zionists” were eradicated. Here is the idiosyncratically worded account of his speech from his English-language website: “Ahmadinejad said that a ‘dreadful Zionist current’ has been managing the key international affairs over the past 400 years and ‘behind the scene of the world’s main powers, media, monetary and banking centers.’”
The speech goes on to note that “people around the world have the right to enjoy justice, respect and freedom with no discrimination and exception, urging all freedom-seeking and justice-seeking nations to adopt a measure to rout the epitome of the Zionist hegemony, with the final purpose of establishing justice and freedom across the globe.”
Yes, the defeat of “Zionists” would bring about the reign of freedom and justice, not just in the Middle East but also in every corner of the earth. Only an eliminationist anti-Semite would speak this way. And only an eliminationist anti-Semite would blame “Zionists” for 400 years of global misery. Zionism is a political movement that is roughly 130 years old. Before Zionism, there was simply Judaism and Jews, and these are what Ahmadinejad and the regime actually loathe. It is the official position of the president of Iran that Jews are a plague, and should thus be removed from the world. Other Iranian officials argue that Jews should at least be suppressed and returned to their traditional second-class status, if the world is to be made whole.
