Nazila Fathi
Apparently Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, Iranian vice president for tourism, is a hippie and loves everyone. Is everyone over there communicating with each other because I am sensing some mixed messages from the Iranian regime?
This statement is a lame imitation of genuine Israeli and American Jewish efforts to express concern for the Iranian people while being forthright to the Iranian regime about
Mashai said, “I say for a thousandth time that we are a friend of all people in the world, even Israelis and Americans.” The other 999 quotes on the matter have yet to be discovered in print media. Later on in the tidbit, he declared, “We are against the Israeli regime. We have no war with Jews.” As DB has noted, this is typical Iranian doublespeak. That the Israeli “regime” is governed by Jews slipped past Mashai’s unassailable logic.
MA
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It's astounding and somewhat reviling that this is actually reported as news in a serious newspaper.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
1) The Iranian official is vice president for tourism? Who CARES what he says! This is not an official with the power to influence anything.
2) The official says, "I say for a thousandth time that we are a friend of all people in the world, even Israelis and Americans.” Even those satanic Israelis and Americans? How humane of you!
3) The article goes on to say that the Iranian official repeated these comments again recently, stating: "We are against the Israeli regime. We have no war with Jews." Actually, that's not the same thing AT ALL. It directly contradicts his prior assertion that Iran is the friend of all peoples - not the Israelis.
4) What is most disturbing about this article is that it serves to validate the idea that one can be at war with Israel while having no enmity towards Jews. I believe the NYT may actual support this notion. This article does not exist to highlight how preposterous that idea is, but to show that it's perfectly reasonable and is actually a sign of peaceful intentions.