And the Silence is Deafening

Yesterday I blogged about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad‘s comment that the Holocaust is a myth.

Today I went searching for comments about this and here is a sample of what I found:

EU to condemn Iran leader on Israel, warn on nukes

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders were set to condemn Iran’s president for denying the Holocaust and warn Tehran the opportunity for a diplomatic solution to its nuclear programme cannot stay open forever, diplomats said on Thursday.

A summit statement drafted by EU foreign ministers said of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s statement that the Nazi mass extermination of Jews was a myth: “These comments are wholly unacceptable and have no place in civilised political debate.”

It also voiced grave concern at Iran’s failure to remove suspicions about its nuclear intentions and said: “The window of opportunity will not remain open indefinitely.”

and

Russia condemns Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust remarks

“MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia on Thursday condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust happened, saying his remarks were unacceptable and ran counter to the principles of the United Nations.

Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that the Holocaust — the systematic killing of six million Jews by the Nazis in World War Two — was a myth, reiterating comments that drew international condemnation last week.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry, employing language it has used before in reacting to anti-Israel statements by Ahmadinejad, said: “We consider attempts to revise generally known historical facts about the Second World War, including those facts connected with the Holocaust, as unacceptable.”

“Speculation on these topics runs counter to the Charter of the United Nations and the views of the international community,” it said in a statement.”

And then I went searching for the Arab response because I thought surely someone, somewhere will have said something, but there was nothing. Sadly I wasn’t disappointed.

Arab States Silent Over Iranian President’s Comments Denying Holocaust

By TAREK AL-ISSAWI Associated Press Writer

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Dec 15, 2005 — Arab governments appeared reluctant Thursday to condemn Iran’s president for calling the Holocaust a “myth” used by Europeans to create a Jewish state in the heart of the Islamic world.

While official Arab reaction in such cases is usually slower than international reaction, any issue involving a defense of Israel is a thorny one for Arab governments, who risk appearing to side with Israel against a Muslim nation.

The comments by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, broadcast live Wednesday on state-run Iranian television, drew quick condemnation from Israel, the European Union and the United States.While official Arab reaction in such cases is usually slower than international reaction, any issue involving a defense of Israel is a thorny one for Arab governments, who risk appearing to side with Israel against a Muslim nation.”

Ok, so maybe they are slow, but certainly they’ll say something or discuss it in some fashion

“However, in the United Arab Emirates, the top three Arabic-language newspapers buried the remarks deep in their Thursday editions, with no commentary. Newspapers in the country are government-controlled.

In neighboring Saudi Arabia, government-controlled newspapers picked up the statements from international news agencies and ran them on inside pages. They did not comment on them.

Arabic language newspapers circulated widely in the Arab world, such as the London-based Al-Hayat and Asharq Al-Awsat, carried the news on their front pages, but also without editorials.”

The silence is deafening and some would say very telling about the prospects for peace. How very sad.