Ahmadinejad: No Surprises

Iranian President Ahmadinejad addressing the United Nations. Photo: Screenshot.

The Ahmadinejad status quo continues—the leader of Iran continues to rail against Israel and Jews, the United States and the West in general. He does it from a globally sanctioned podium.

And yet too many U.N. member nations still seem surprised by the things he says.

At the General Assembly podium on Yom Kippur, the man who is perhaps most responsible for undermining stability in the Middle East spoke before a nearly full United Nations General Assembly—only the United States and Israel didn’t attend the speech. Canada—which has become a global leader in warning the world of the danger posed by Iran—walked out.

Where were the other nations in good standing? Sitting in the great hall listening to Ahmadinejad’s latest rant, seemingly caught flat-footed because early drafts of his speech didn’t include certain “trip wire” words that would have sent them walking out in protest.

Knowing Ahmadinejad’s history, why did the delegates stay in their seats? This would have been the best opportunity to address all that he’s said and done. To show that his words fell on deaf ears. But they missed this once-a-year opportunity to put Ahmadinejad in his place.

Ahmadinejad’s—and Iran’s track record of hatred, threats and the fomenting of terror and violence— not to mention its nuclear program, foretold what he’d say.

With his history of belligerent comments and aggressive actions, overseeing the largest state-sponsored global terror network, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a history of using world forums for incendiary rhetoric.

His eighth U.N. General Assembly address was no exception.

His history being what it is, U.N. officials even warned Ahmadinejad to avoid inflammatory comments.

Why they expected him to abide by that admonition is a mystery. In seven previous U.N. addresses, he’s been provocative and deeply offensive.

Over his terms in office, Ahmadinejad has referred to “uncivilized Zionists,” described Israel as a “fake regime,” and called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”   To him, Jews are “the most detested people in all humanity,” and he has said Israel is a “cancerous tumor.” He likes to say: Israel will be “eliminated.”

The man has taken part in an event called “World Without Zionism.”

He uses every public opportunity to deny the Holocaust.

Leading up to his appearance at the United Nations, Ahmadinejad sat for interviews with many journalists. His ignorance of historical fact was remarkable, stating things like “[The Zionists] imposed World War I on Europe and today those countries are forced to admit their wrong doings.”

His disregard for history is on display when he says Israel has “no roots” in the Middle East.

Siding with President Bashar al-Assad, who continues a brutal campaign against his own people, Ahmadinejad demonstrates his affection for the dictator, not the people who want change.

Ahmadinejad is perhaps single-handedly responsible for the world standing potentially on the precipice of a nuclear disaster in the form of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. Tehran repeatedly ignores international sanctions and entreaties to halt its nuclear weapons programs. It fails to cooperate with international nuclear inspectors.

Just about every Iranian policy conflicts with the founding principles of the United Nations, which include: “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.”
Nothing about Ahmadinejad and Iran embodies those goals.

Whatever sort of podium Ahmadinejad is preparing for himself when his presidential term expires next year, the United Nations has given him the ultimate practice venue.

Daniel S. Mariaschin, is the International Executive Vice President of the B’nai B’rith.