[WCUSP] "Wiped Off the Map"- Rumor of the Century

[KATHARLOW at aol.com]

Dear friends,
   Please read this article: 'Wiped Off the Map' - The Rumor of  the Century.
   _http://www.antiwar.com/orig/norouzi.php?articleid=11025_ 
(http://www.antiwar.com/orig/norouzi.php?articleid=11025) 





             (http://www.antiwar.com/)   (javascript:void(printArticle());) 
             
      
    May 26, 2007  'Wiped off the Map' – The Rumor of the  Century
by Arash Norouzi   
 
Across the world, a dangerous rumor has  spread that could have catastrophic 
implications. According to legend,  Iran's president has threatened to destroy 
Israel, or, to quote the  misquote, "Israel must be wiped off the map." 
Contrary to  popular belief, this statement was never made. 
On Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 at the Ministry of Interior  conference hall 
in Tehran, newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud  Ahmadinejad delivered a 
speech at a program, reportedly attended by  thousands, titled "The World Without 
 Zionism." Large posters surrounding him displayed this title  prominently in 
English, obviously for the benefit of the international  press. Below the 
poster's title was a slick graphic depicting an hour  glass containing planet 
Earth at its top. Two small round orbs  representing the United States and Israel 
are shown falling  through the hour glass' narrow neck and crashing to the  
bottom. 
Before we get to the infamous remark, it's important to note that the  
"quote" in question was itself a quote – they are the  words of the late Ayatollah 
Khomenei, the father of the Islamic  Revolution. Although he quoted Khomeini to 
affirm his own position on  Zionism, the actual words belong to Khomeini and 
not Ahmadinejad.  Thus, Ahmadinejad has essentially been credited (or blamed) 
for a quote  that is not only unoriginal, but represents a  viewpoint already 
in place well before he ever took office.   
The Actual Quote: 
So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact  words in Farsi: 
"Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar  mahv 
shavad." 
That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring  a 
bell: rezhim-e. It is the word "regime." pronounced just  like the English word 
with an extra "eh" sound at  the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the 
country or Israel the  land mass, but the Israeli regime. This is a vastly 
significant  distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map.  Ahmadinejad 
does not even refer to Israel by name, he  instead uses the specific phrase 
"rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods"  (regime occupying Jerusalem). 
So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want "wiped from  the map"? 
The answer is: nothing. That's because the word "map" was  never used. The 
Persian word for map, "nagsheh" is not  contained anywhere in his original Farsi 
quote, or, for that matter,  anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the 
western phrase "wipe out"  ever said. Yet we are led to believe that Iran's  
president threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." despite never  having uttered the 
words "map." "wipe out" or even "Israel." 
The Proof: 
The full quote translated directly to English: 
"The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from  the page of 
time." 
Word by word translation: 
Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime) ishghalgar-e  
(occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye ruzgar (from page  of time) 
mahv shavad (vanish from). 
Here is the _full transcript of the speech in  Farsi_ 
(http://www.president.ir/farsi/ahmadinejad/speeches/1384/aban-84/840804sahyonizm.htm) , archived on 
Ahmadinejad's web site 
The Speech and Context: 
While the false "wiped off the map" extract has been  repeated infinitely 
without verification, Ahmadinejad's actual speech  itself has been almost 
entirely ignored. Given the importance placed  on the "map" comment, it would be 
sensible to present his words in their  full context to get a fuller understanding 
of his position. In  fact, by looking at the entire speech, there is a clear, 
logical  trajectory leading up to his call for a "world without Zionism."  
One may disagree with his reasoning, but critical appraisals are  infeasible 
without first knowing what that reasoning is. 
In his speech, Ahmadinejad declares that Zionism is the  West's apparatus of 
political oppression against Muslims. He  says the "Zionist regime" was 
imposed on the Islamic world as a  strategic bridgehead to ensure domination of the 
region and its  assets. Palestine, he insists, is the frontline of the Islamic 
 world's struggle with American hegemony, and its fate will  have 
repercussions for the entire Middle East. 
Ahmadinejad acknowledges that the removal of America's powerful grip on  the 
region via the Zionists may seem unimaginable to some, but  reminds the 
audience that, as Khomeini predicted, other  seemingly invincible empires have 
disappeared and now only exist in  history books. He then proceeds to list three 
such regimes that have  collapsed, crumbled or vanished, all within the last 30 
years: 
(1) The Shah of Iran – the U.S. installed monarch 
(2) The Soviet Union 
(3) Iran's former arch-enemy, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein 
In the first and third examples,  Ahmadinejad prefaces their mention with 
Khomeini's own words  foretelling that individual regime's demise. He  concludes 
by referring to Khomeini's unfulfilled wish: "The Imam  said this regime 
occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of  time. This statement is very 
wise." This is the passage  that has been isolated, twisted and distorted so 
famously. By  measure of comparison, Ahmadinejad would seem to be calling for 
regime  change, not war. 
The Origin: 
One may wonder: where did this false  interpretation originate? Who is 
responsible for the translation that  has sparked such worldwide controversy? The 
answer is surprising. 
The inflammatory "wiped off the map" quote was first disseminated  not by 
Iran's enemies, but by Iran itself. The Islamic Republic News  Agency, Iran's 
official propaganda arm, used this phrasing in the English  version of some of 
their news releases covering the World Without Zionism  conference. 
International media including the BBC, Al-Jazeera, Time  magazine and countless others 
picked up the IRNA quote and made headlines  out of it without verifying its 
accuracy, and rarely referring to the  source. Iran's Foreign Minister soon 
attempted to clarify the statement,  but the quote had a life of its own. Though the 
IRNA wording was  inaccurate and misleading, the media assumed it was true, 
and besides, it  made great copy. 
Amid heated wrangling over Iran's nuclear program, and months  of continuous, 
unfounded accusations against Iran in an attempt to rally  support for 
preemptive strikes against the country, the imperialists had  just been handed the 
perfect raison d'être to invade. To the war  hawks, it was a gift from the 
skies. 
It should be noted that in other references to the conference, the  IRNA's 
translation changed. For instance, "map" was replaced  with "earth." In some 
articles it was "The Qods occupier regime  should be eliminated from the surface 
of earth." or the  similar "The Qods occupyingregimemust be  eliminated from 
the surface of earth." The inconsistency of the  IRNA's translation should be 
evidence enough of the unreliability of the  source, particularly when 
transcribing their news from Farsi into the  English language. 
The Reaction:   
The mistranslated "wiped off the map" quote attributed to Iran's  president 
has been spread worldwide, repeated thousands of times in  international media, 
and prompted the denouncements of numerous  world leaders. Virtually every 
major and minor media outlet has published  or broadcast this false statement to 
the masses. Big news agencies such as  The Associated Press and Reuters refer 
to the misquote, literally, on  an almost daily basis.  
Following news of Iran's remark, condemnation was  swift. British Prime 
Minister Tony Blair expressed  "revulsion" and implied that it might be necessary 
to attack Iran. U.N.  chief Kofi Annan cancelled his scheduled trip to Iran due 
to the  controversy. Ariel Sharon demanded that Iran be expelled from the  
United Nations for calling for Israel's destruction. Shimon Peres, more  than 
once, threatened to wipe Iran off the map. More recently,  Israel's Benjamin 
Netanyahu, who has warned that Iran is "preparing  another holocaust for the 
Jewish state" is calling for  Ahmadinejad to be tried for war crimes for inciting 
genocide.  
The artificial quote has also been subject to additional  alterations. U.S. 
officials and media often take the liberty  of dropping the "map" reference 
altogether, replacing it  with the more acutely threatening phrase "wipe Israel 
off the  face of the earth." Newspaper and magazine articles dutifully report  
Ahmadinejad has "called for the destruction of Israel." as do senior  
officials in the United States government. 
President George W. Bush said the comments represented  a "specific threat" 
to destroy Israel. In a March 2006 speech in  Cleveland, Bush vowed he would 
resort to war to  protect Israel from Iran, because, "the threat from Iran is, 
of course,  their stated objective to destroy our ally Israel." Former 
presidential  advisor Richard Clarke told Australian TV that Iran "talks openly about  
destroying Israel." and insists, "The president of Iran has said  repeatedly 
that he wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth." In an  October 2006 
interview with Amy Goodman, former UN Weapons Inspector Scott  Ritter referred 
to Ahmadinejad as "the idiot that comes out and says  really stupid, vile 
things, such as, 'It is the goal of Iran to wipe  Israel off the face of the 
earth.'" The consensus is clear. 
Confusing matters further, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pontificates rather than  give 
a direct answer when questioned about the statement, such as  in Lally 
Weymouth's Washington Post _interview_ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092201306_pf.html)  in September  2006: 
"Q: Are you really serious when you say that Israel should be wiped  off the 
face of the Earth? 
"A: We need to look at the scene in the Middle East – 60 years of  war, 60 
years of displacement, 60 years of conflict, not even a day of  peace. Look at 
the war in Lebanon, the war in Gaza –  what are the  reasons for these 
conditions? We need to address and resolve the root  problem. 
"Q: Your suggestion is to wipe Israel off the face of the  Earth? 
"A: Our suggestion is very clear:... Let the Palestinian people  decide their 
fate in a free and fair referendum, and the result, whatever  it is, should 
be accepted.... The people with no roots there are now  ruling the land. 
"Q: You've been quoted as saying that Israel should be wiped off the  face of 
the Earth. Is that your belief? 
"A: What I have said has made my position clear. If we look at a map  of the 
Middle East from 70 years ago... 
"Q: So, the answer is yes, you do believe that it should be wiped  off the 
face of the Earth? 
"A: Are you asking me yes or no? Is this a test? Do you respect the  right to 
self-determination for the Palestinian nation? Yes or no? Is  Palestine, as a 
nation, considered a nation with the right to live under  humane conditions 
or not? Let's allow those rights to be enforced for  these 5 million displaced 
people." 
The exchange is typical of Ahmadinejad's  interviews with the American media. 
Predictably, both Mike  Wallace of 60 Minutes and CNN's Anderson Cooper asked 
if he wants to  "wipe Israel off the map." As usual, the question is thrown 
back  in the reporter's face with his standard "Don't the Palestinians  have 
rights?, etc." retort (which is never directly answered  either). Yet he never 
confirms the "map" comment to be true.  This did not prevent Anderson Cooper 
from referring to earlier portions  of his interview after a commercial break 
and lying, "as he said  earlier, he wants Israel wiped off the map." 
Even if every media outlet in the world were to retract the  mistranslated 
quote tomorrow, the major damage has already been done,  providing the 
groundwork for the next phase of disinformation:  complete character demonization. 
Ahmadinejad, we are told, is the next  Hitler, a grave threat to world peace who 
wants to bring about a  new Holocaust. According to some detractors, he not 
only wants to  destroy Israel, but after that, he will nuke America, and then  
Europe! An October 2006 memo titled "Words of Hate: Iran's Escalating  Threats" 
released by the powerful Israeli lobby group AIPAC opens  with the warning, 
"Ahmadinejad and other top Iranian leaders are issuing  increasingly belligerent 
statements threatening to destroy the United  States, Europe and Israel." 
These claims not only fabricate an  unsubstantiated threat, but assume far more 
power than he actually  possesses. Alarmists would be better off monitoring the 
statements of the  ultra-conservative Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who 
holds the most  power in Iran. 
As Iran's U.N. Press Officer, M.A. Mohammadi, complained to the  Washington 
Post in a June 2006 letter: 
"It is not amazing at all, the pick-and-choose approach of  highlighting the 
misinterpreted remarks of Iranian President Mahmoud  Ahmadinejad in October 
and ignoring this month's remarks by Iran's supreme  leader, Ayatollah Ali 
Khamenei, that 'We have no problem with the world.  We are not a threat whatsoever 
to the world, and the world knows it. We  will never start a war. We have no 
intention of going to war with any  state.'" 
The Israeli government has milked every drop of the spurious  quote to its 
supposed advantage. In her September 2006 address to the  United Nations General 
Assembly, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni  accused Iran of working to 
nuke Israel  and bully the world. "They speak proudly and openly of  their 
desire to 'wipe Israel off the map.' And now, by their actions, they  pursue the 
weapons to achieve this objective to imperil the region and  threaten the 
world." Addressing the threat in December, a fervent Prime  Minister Ehud Olmert 
inadvertently disclosed that his country already  possesses nuclear weapons: "We 
have never threatened any nation with  annihilation. Iran, openly, 
explicitlyand publicly  threatens to wipe Israel off the map. Can you say that this is 
the same  level, when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, 
France,  Israel, Russia?"  
Media Irresponsibility: 
On December 13, 2006, more than a year after The World Without Zionism  
conference, two leading Israeli newspapers, the Jerusalem Post and  Haaretz, 
published reports of a renewed threat from  Ahmadinejad. The Jerusalem Post's 
headline was _Ahmadinejad: Israel will be 'wiped  out'_ 
(http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881878838&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull) , while 
Haaretz posted the title _Ahmadinejad at Holocaust conference: Israel will 'soon be 
 wiped out'_ (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/800098.html) . 
Where did they get their information? It turns out that both papers,  like 
most American and western media, rely heavily on write ups by news  wire 
services such as the Associated Press and Reuters as a  source for their articles. 
Sure enough, their sources are in fact  December 12th articles by Reuter's Paul 
Hughes [_Iran president says Israel's days are  numbered_ 
(http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-12-12T173514Z_01_L12130
60_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAN-HOLOCAUST.xml&src=rss&rpc=22) ], and the AP's Ali Akbar 
Dareini [_Iran President: Israel will be wiped  out_ 
(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/12/ap/world/mainD8LVI2AO0.shtml) ].    
The first five paragraphs of the Haaretz article, credited to  "Haaretz 
Service and Agencies." are plagiarized almost 100%  from the first five paragraphs 
of the Reuters piece. The only  difference is that Haaretz changed "the Jewish 
state" to "Israel"  in the second paragraph, otherwise they are identical. 
The Jerusalem Post article by Herb Keinon pilfers from both  the Reuters and 
AP stories. Like Haaretz, it uses the  following Ahmadinejad quote without 
attribution: ["Just as the Soviet  Union was wiped out and today does not exist, 
so will the Zionist regime  soon be wiped out," he added]. Another passage 
apparently relies  on an IRNA report: 
"The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet  Union 
was, and humanity will achieve freedom," Ahmadinejad said at  Tuesday's meeting 
with the conference participants in his offices,  according to Iran's official 
news agency, IRNA.   
He said elections should be held among "Jews, Christians and Muslims  so the 
population of Palestine can select their government and destiny for  
themselves in a democratic manner." 
Once again, the first sentence above was wholly plagiarized from  the AP 
article. The second sentence was also the same, except "He called  for elections" 
became "He said elections should be held..." 
It gets more interesting. 
The quote used in the original AP article and copied in the  Jerusalem Post 
article supposedly derives from the IRNA. If true,  _this can easily be  
checked_ (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0612134902101231.htm) . 
There you will discover the actual IRNA quote was:  
"As the Soviet Union disappeared, the Zionist regime will also  vanish and 
humanity will be liberated."  
Compare this to the alleged IRNA quote reported by the Associated  Press: 
"The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet  Union 
was, and humanity will achieve freedom."  
In the IRNA's actual report, the Zionist regime will vanish just  as the 
Soviet Union disappeared. Vanish. Disappear.  In the dishonest AP version, the 
Zionist regime will be "wiped out."  And how will it be wiped out? "The same way 
the Soviet Union was."  Rather than imply a military threat or escalation in 
rhetoric,  this reference to Russia actually validates the intended meaning  of 
Ahmadinejad's previous misinterpreted anti-Zionist statements. 
What has just been demonstrated is irrefutable proof of media  manipulation 
and propaganda in action. The AP deliberately alters an  IRNA quote to sound 
more threatening. The Israeli media not only repeats  the fake quote but also 
steals the original authors' words. The  unsuspecting public reads this, forms 
an opinion and supports  unnecessary wars of aggression, presented as self 
defense, based on  the misinformation.  
This scenario mirrors the kind of false claims that led to the illegal  U.S. 
invasion of Iraq, a war now widely viewed as a catastrophic mistake.  And yet 
the Bush administration and the compliant corporate media continue  to 
marinate in propaganda and speculation about attacking Iraq's much  larger and more 
formidable neighbor, Iran. Most of this rests on the  unproven assumption that 
Iran is building nuclear weapons, and the lie  that Iran has vowed to 
physically destroy Israel. Given its  scope and potentially disastrous outcome, all 
this amounts to what is  arguably the rumor of the century. 
Iran's president has written two rather philosophical letters  to America. In 
his first letter, he pointed out that  "History shows us that oppressive and 
cruel governments do not  survive." With this statement, Ahmadinejad has also 
projected the outcome  of his own backwards regime, which will likewise 
"vanish from the page of  time." 

          
      Find this article at:  
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/norouzi.php?articleid=11025   
     (javascript:void(printArticle());)       _SAVE THIS_ 
(javascript:void(open('http://antiwar.savethis.clickability.com/st/saveThis?partnerID=16&urlID=224
75318&origin=11','click','height=450,width=510,title=no,location=no,scrollbars
=yes,menubars=no,toolbars=no,resizable=yes'));)  | _EMAIL THIS_ 
(javascript:void(open('http://antiwar.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=creat
ePT&partnerID=16&urlID=22475318','click','height=450,width=510,title=no,locati
on=no,scrollbars=yes,menubars=no,toolbars=no,resizable=yes'));)  | _Close_ 
(javascript:self.close();)    
     
Check the box to include the list of links  referenced in the article. 


        




************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wilpf.org/pipermail/wcusp_wilpf.org/attachments/20070527/09a80639/attachment-0001.html