A Yom Kippur Disaster
The ideals of the United Nations supposedly include a standard of cultural and religious tolerance that promote the ideals of international economic progress, recognition of human rights and ultimately, world peace. However, if all goes as planned, the UN will dramatically stray from its principals when the international agency allows Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on September 26th. Whatever credibility this international agency still has ought to be lost when the United Nations General Assembly gives the Holocaust-denying President the podium on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar year.
While Jews will be fasting and praying on their holiest day, Yom Kippur, Ahmadinejad will be spewing his anti-Israel and Anti-Western hatred. In order to fully grasp the magnitude of this insult, let’s propose a comparison. How would the black community in America react if George Rockwell, the founder of white supremacist organization American Nazi Party, came to the White House on Martin Luther King Day? What would be the ripple effects throughout the world if Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the creator of the deplorable anti-Islam video that resulted in attacks on US embassies in Libya and Egypt, was given the stage of the United Nations General Assembly during Ramadan? These scenarios seem impossible because they are. A certain baseline of cultural sensitivity is a universal right that should be guaranteed to all nations, religions and ethnicities. To labeling this as a case of cultural insensitivity is an understatement.
While one might assume that President Ahmadinejad’s speech on Yom Kippur is just another case of Iranian antagonism, the General Assembly’s office sets the schedule for speakers, not individual member states. This scheduling debacle is one of a steadily growing list of examples of the United Nations allowing Iran to mock the ideals of the institution. Just three months ago, the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crime allowed Iranian Vice President, Mohammad Reza Rahimi to deliver an anti-Semitic speech that would not have been out of place in Nazi Germany. In the speech, the Vice President linked illegal drug trading to the Jewish religious text the Talmud, and even told stories of Zionists ordering gynecologists to kill black babies. The United Nations introduced this speaker by saluting Iran as a “key strategic partner in the fight against drugs”. Or perhaps consider the fact that this week Iran admitted to intentionally deceiving the West over their nuclear program. This week the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) admitted to exaggerating and hiding certain facts when the UN Watchdog, IAEA, came to inspect their nuclear facilities in August. The United Nations continues to give an illusory sense of progress towards addressing Iran’s nuclear threat while Iran continues to march steadily towards nuclear capability, all while abusing the UN podium shamelessly.
Regardless of your position on Iranian’s nuclear programs and the United States’ role to intervene, one cannot stand quietly by as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks on September 26th. Allowing Ahmadinejad to continually speak at the United Nations, deny the Holocaust, and call for the destruction of the “Zionist Regime” on any normal day is enough. Letting him do it on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar is an abomination.
2 Comments
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“How would the black community in America react if George Rockwell, the founder of white supremacist organization American Nazi Party, came to the White House on Martin Luther King Day? What would be the ripple effects throughout the world if Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the creator of the deplorable anti-Islam video that resulted in attacks on US embassies in Libya and Egypt, was given the stage of the United Nations General Assembly during Ramadan? ”
These people aren’t leaders of sovereign states. They are private individuals with no standing in government. Ahmadinejad is the leader of a sovereign nation, which is a part of the United Nations. He has just as much a right to speak in front of an assembly as David Cameron or President Obama.
What’s more, criticizing one for speaking on the holy day of another is a similar kind of censorship that the Islamic fundamentalists in the Middle East are calling for. By branding Ahmadinejad’s speech as something to be stopped fails to uphold the very values that make the United States a better place than Iran.
Strom Thurmond was a US Senator for many years. He was third in line to the Presidency for his thirteen years as President Pro Tempore.
Censoring a foreign head of state or government (as if Ahmadinejad has any actual power within Iran) brings forth American hypocrisy when criticizing the censorship of American political leaders when noting the abuse of citizens abroad.
The United Nations has no place setting restrictions on the speech of political leaders. Just as President Obama should never be censored by any international agency, neither should foreign leaders. Let them speak their minds and reveal their idiocy to the masses.
@Siddharth Ravishankar
Your comment entirely misses the point, failing to address any of the ideas explored by the author. The issue of censorship is not relevant. Ian is not suggesting that the United Nations censor anything; rather, he is requesting that an international body supposedly dedicated to maintaining peace and increasing cultural understanding and relationships worldwide demonstrate some semblance of cultural sensitivity.
Keep in mind that the United Nations did not “allow” Ahmadinejad to speak on Yom Kippur. Rather, the UN actively scheduled him to speak on the holiest, most important day in Judaism. While Jews in Israel and around the world partake in a day of intense prayer and introspection, the outspoken leader of the global crusade against them is given the podium on the world’s grandest stage.
Who cares whether or not he is the leader of a sovereign nation? The issue at stake here is not sovereignty but cultural sensitivity. Ian is not criticizing Ahmadinejad for speaking on Yom Kippur, as you state. Instead, he is castigating the United Nations for scheduling him to speak today. By giving the Iranian president the podium today, the UN is doing something inherently antithetical to its purported objectives. It is sacrificing global understanding for no apparent reason, creating unneeded tension in a region that certainly has enough already.