Speaking of Myths...
12/29/05
By: Soraya
Sepahpour-Ulrich
Iran’s
president Ahamadinejad created a political tsunami when he stated that the
Holocaust was a “myth”. Not a
single shore around the world was left immune. Tragically, the epicenter,
Iran, is beginning to receive the
worst aftershocks imaginable. As the international community
reacts to Ahmadinejad’s outrageous rhetoric, they are making plans to embark on
punitive measures against the innocent Iranian people - Sanctions and military
strike have become common talk – losing site of the real victims, the
Iranians.
Of
course the Holocaust was not a myth.
Humanity must never forget nor repeat its dark history. However, it does beg the question where
is the outrage over the Armenian genocide?
Why is humanity so mute in light of the Darfur genocide and why are we not stopping it? Surely
that is no “myth”.
Humanity cannot be selective in its denial of genocide. History is unforgiving.
But back
to “myths”, here is another…
The
United
States is not the world’s superpower. Israel is. The US is at the command of Israel, or at least its foreign policy,
particularly in the Middle East is; especially in light of Iran, its
regime, and its nuclear program, which AIPAC has insisted that the Bush
administration is not doing enough to stop and destroy[i] . As the Christian
Coalition president Roberta Combs stated: “Our Heart is with Israel”, and as such, “It is very important for
people of faith to know where our legislators stand on support for
Israel.”[ii] One need
only be reminded of the Christian coalition behind President Bush in 2004 to
draw the line…
However, life dictates that we dispense with myths and deal with
reality.
Maybe
Ahmadinejad just wants to be the hero of another war. It may be that it is easier for the
US to drop phosphorous on
Iraqis than to stop the genocide in Darfur.
Perhaps it is convenient to deny the Armenian genocide…
Perhaps
myths are more comfortable to live with….