Jeffrey Goldberg just went to visit the father of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro, and was surprised and pleased to hear the 84-year-old castigate Iran’s President Ahmadinejad and denounce anti-Semitism:
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.”
As an elder statesman and revolutionary leader, Castro retains some influence, but to say ‘no one blames the Muslims for anything,’ makes it sound like he’s a man living in a time warp.
Has the post-9/11 Islamophobia now sweeping Europe and rising in America, somehow escaped Castro’s attention? Does he not know that even in Germany, whose national consciousness should have been permanently seared by the memory of the horrific consequences of ethnic hatred, anti-Muslim rhetoric now finds a widening and receptive audience. “Germany is slowly becoming a state that is dominated by exaggerated fears and that exhibits the beginnings of an Islamophobic society,” writes Erich Follath in Der Spiegel.
Dear Dr. Fidel Castro:
A lot of people blame Israeli (which declares itself a Jewish state). A lot of people blame various groups of Muslims (or nations which declare themselves to be Islamic States). What goes unsaid (by USA’s main-stream media, at least) is the blame which should attach to the USA and Israel for reducing the international law of belligerent occupation in all practical effect to a nullity.
Tell me, Dr. Castro, have you spoken in public demanding the removal of all Israel’s settlers and Israel’s “separation” wall and demanding the end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza? If you have not, you are in a large but not a “good” company, for the leaders of most of the nations of the world have equally neglected to perform their duties to ‘ensure respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention in all circumstances.’ And surely, respect for the Convention requires removal of the settlers and of the wall and lifting of the blockade.
Instead of blaming Ahmedinejad, a single man and quite possibly not claiming to be a statesman, how about acting like a statesman yourself and calling for a return to the RULE OF LAW on the part of the USA, Isrfael, and all the other nations of the world?
With great admiration for the Cuban revolution, yours truly
He’s either getting senile or he would still love to see the USA get’s it final comuppance by being lead astray by the jewish zionist into that clash of civilizations with the Green Peril….lol…I think he loves stirring the US s***.
There are only 1000 Jews in Cuba so that sure isn’t the reason.
I want to see the footage that alledged show a 757 hitting the Pentagon. Show me the footage!
Israel is an anti-Semitism factory. By its insistance on adhering to its murderous colonizing behavior, and its shunning of international laws and basic decency, it is swelling the ranks of anti-Semites. This all plays well for propagandists and apologists who can continue to pronounce that Israel and Jews are victims, and that continued seige mentality and overwhelming force are necessary to “protect” Israel from its enemies;
A self-perpetuating circle of status quo.
Perhaps someone can correct me on this, but it looks as if someone handed Fidel a check, probably for a $million, so he would go along with what ever talking point was brought up. Of course, I do think that Almond is out to lunch, but, that’s progress in the scheme of things Middle East.
What stood out to me in this article is that Castro said the only way to avoid a catastrophic war is to create a nuclear free zone in the middle east i.e. Israel must get rid of it nukes.
Goldberg dismisses this observation as unrealistic, and proceeds to focus on Castro’s views on anti-semitism for an entire article.
The Mainstream Media = The Twilight Zone.
If I want to find out what Fidel Castro has to say about anything, I’ll search through his voluminous speeches and writings that are available online in Spanish and, to a great extent, in English. The last thing I’ll do is take the word of a Zionist ideologue from a pro-imperialist magazine about what Fidel said in a lengthy interview.
I also wonder why Fidel would have agreed to such an interview at all and, especially, would make major statements in such an interview that he has never made in his speeches and writings. Meanwhile, I would consider it foolish to debate comrade Castro’s views without seeing or hearing them from him, unmediated.
Has Ahmedinijhad actually denied the holocaust? I’ve heard him question it’s relevance to Arabs or the Palestinians specifically, but, I haven’t heard him actually deny the holocaust. Just as he never said Iran doesn’t have gays, but that they don’t have gays like we do here. Point of fact, if two men were to kiss (on the cheek) and walk down the street holding hands, it would turn more heads in San Francisco than in Saudi Arabia or Iran.
could castro be saying this to get the help of the jewish lobby for a removal of the american cuba-blockade?
he is right about some things and it seems a lot was cut out of the interview so we don’t know everything he has said.
I always think it “nice” to have a selective memory – whether it’s due to Alzheimer (excusable) or due to a check (unforgivable in his case). Wonder what the years of absence from the political scene have done to Fidel Castro?
Ahmedinejad – like many others – does question the Holocaust numbers which are flung around and one should by al means. The Jews themselves have revised DOWN the number of Auschwitz victims 3 times so far! Currently the number stands at 1,4 Mio which is exactly 1,4 Mio too many. (The other victims of the Nazi regime which outnumber the Jewish victims strangely enough never enter(ed) the debate …) And he is right in questioning its relevance to the Arabs – and one should also be allowed to question the relevance to all other people who had nothing to do with.
One should also question why research into the Jewish Holocaust is not allowed. Every attempt by non-Jews so far has been blocked – the archives (especially of Germany and Tel Aviv which are well stocked with all the gruesome details) close like magic and access is denyied. All the other attrocities around the world are minutely researched and reviewed time and again – except this one. This fuels the arguments of the deniers – is this what the Jews want? What’s there to hide? Even if the numbers were exaggerated – even if it were “only” 1 Mio deaths – does this take away from the sufferings? No.
Others who have equaly suffered if not worse – like the Roma and the Sinti as well as the handicapped as an example – are brushed over and never got 1 word or 1 $ of compensation nor do they have memorials and museums popping up everywhere in the world nor have they turned it into an industry through which they milk the world.
After all, we don’t go into a constant sobbing and crying “mea culpa” when it comes to the Holodomor (Ukranian Holocaust), to the Albanian, Cambodian, Palestinian, Roma, Sinti, Rwandan et al … Holocaust or do we? Do our “statesmen”? No.
The same goes for Ahmedinejad’s comment about “whiping Israel off the map”
(http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=NOR20070120&articleId=4527) His statement was: “”The Imam [Khomeinei] said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time”. Has a whole different meaning which was twisted in every possible way. But what he asked for is nothing else than what America is doing all the time in every place off the world: regime change. And the USA does it usually through invading, killing and bombing – it brings “freedom and democracy” on the wings of the B-52 bombers and is surprised that the people who get killed and maimed don’t love the USofA.