Fidel Warns Iran On The Consequences Of Anti-Semitism

Jeffrey Goldberg writes about an invitation from Fidel Castro to visit him after reading Goldberg's post The Point Of No Return.

In describing his conversation with Castro, Goldberg notes a recurring message from Fidel to Ahmadinejad: 'Stop Slandering the Jews':

Over the course of this first, five-hour discussion, Castro repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism. He criticized Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and explained why the Iranian government would better serve the cause of peace by acknowledging the "unique" history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence.


...He said the Iranian government should understand the consequences of theological anti-Semitism. "This went on for maybe two thousand years," he said. "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they are blamed and slandered for everything. No one blames the Muslims for anything." The Iranian government should understand that the Jews "were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world, as the ones who killed God. In my judgment here's what happened to them: Reverse selection. What's reverse selection? Over 2,000 years they were subjected to terrible persecution and then to the pogroms. One might have assumed that they would have disappeared; I think their culture and religion kept them together as a nation." He continued: "The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust." I asked him if he would tell Ahmadinejad what he was telling me. "I am saying this so you can communicate it," he answered.

I don't know how seriously to take Castro's message. I have no idea if this is something he strongly feels or whether the invitation to Goldberg and the conversation he had with him was just a whim--for that matter, I have no idea why Ahmadinejad should care what Castro thinks or says.

But Castro thinks he should.

Technorati Tag: Fidel Castro and Ahmadinejad.