Madam, - Coilín Ó hAiseadha (April 25th) writes: "As far as I know, it is a factual error to say Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to 'wipe Israel off the map'".
Citing the Middle East Media Research Institute translation of the Iranian president's speech, he points out that Mr Ahmadinejad was actually quoting the late Ayatollah Khomeini (the same gentleman who ordered the death of Salman Rushdie): "This regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history."
Is there much difference between "wiping" and "eliminating"? I would like to know why the civilian Israeli inhabitants of Haifa and other Israeli towns, who endured a murderous barrage of rockets fired by the Iranian-backed terrorist organisation Hizbullah during the 33-day conflict in 2006, would care either way? By the way, that admirable organisation The Middle East Media Research Institute also published the transcript of a speech given by the same President Ahmadinejad on August 1st, 2006 in which his denunciations of Israel and his praise for Hizbullah as "the standard-bearer of the resistance of all the monotheistic peoples, of the seekers of justice, and of the free people" were rewarded with cries of "Death To Israel!" from the appreciative crowd.
It is indeed perplexing how anyone can claim Mr Ahmadinejad's threats to Israel are "unverified". - Yours, etc,
RICHARD FOGARTY,
Dean Swift Road,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.
Madam, - Further to Coilín O hAiseadha's recent letters (April 25th and May 1st), it is good that somebody has at last questioned the constant misquoting of a statement made by the president of Iran regarding Israel. The highly questionable translation has been repeated verbatim et litteratim by prominent Irish broadcasters and columnists on the national airwaves and in broadsheet newspapers without a hint of journalistic inquiry as to its veracity.
The words that Ahmadinejad used - "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time" - have been conveniently lost in translation and misquoted for the zappy newsbyte that "Israel must be wiped off the map".
While an accurate translation is open to debate, many experts in philology agree that Ahmadinejad was most definitely talking about the Israeli regime, and not the country or state of Israel, and that the word "map" could not be inferred.
This repetitive misreporting is just devious distortion for political purposes by warmongering politicians and the right-wing media, with the remainder of the media lazily following in tow. The aim is to bolster the US neo-con argument for a military attack on Iran to distract from the brutal war wrought on the Iraqi people.
Irrespective of the human rights record of the Iranian regime, we expect more investigative journalism from the media that, were it to happen, would easily demolish the sham case for an escalation of war in the Middle East. Can we not have investigative journalism that is premised on the search for universal human rights for all oppressed people, instead of a lazy regurgitation of misquoted words in the interests of profiteering, war-mongering elites? - Yours, etc,
JIM ROCHE,
Steering Committee,
Irish Anti-War Movement,
Dublin 1.