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Iran: A Grave Threat
A
s we finish celebrating
Chanukah, it may be
time to take a moment
and reflect on what Chanukah
can teach us about modern-day
events. The story of Chanukah
is one that every religious
school child knows. The brave
Maccabees led a small army
and overcame a frightening and
powerful opponent. However,
most teachers and students
believe that the great miracle of
Chanukah was the story of the
oil, which lasted for eight nights.
I believe that there was a
greater miracle.
The great miracle of Chanukah
was that the Maccabees saw a
grave threat to their lifestyle and
believed the threat was real. They
Iran, but while that
did not dismiss it nor
may have garnered
did they assume that
the greatest press,
everything would be all
it is only a drop in
right. They saw what
the ocean of what
was wrong, and they
is actually going on.
were ready to meet it
Iran, which has a
head-on.
government-con-
Sadly, this has not
trolled media, has
always been a strength
shown documenta-
among our people. And
Rabbi Daniel
ries that "prove" that
today, there is a threat
M. Wolpe
Israel steals the eyes
that we ignore not only
Community
of Palestinian chil-
to our detriment, but
View
dren to give to Israeli
to the detriment of the
children and that the most-prof-
entire world. We may no longer
itable companies in the world
sit idly by and pretend that the
are owned by Jews and are sworn
threat of Iran does not exist.
to destroy the Arab world. They
Let us look at the recent his-
have even resurrected the old
tory in Iran. We all know of the
canard about Jews using blood of
symposium of Holocaust denial
Christian and Moslem children
that took place this month in
to bake matzah!
All of this would be scary
enough. But in addition to every-
thing else, Iranian President
Maumoud Ahmadinejad has
sworn that the end of Israel was
nearing while he is preparing to
get the nuclear bomb. And what
is the world doing about this
growing threat? Little to nothing.
Many people are crying out that
we are in 1938 again, but this
time, it's worse. In 1938, there
was no nuclear bomb. We are liv-
ing in a world much scarier than
that of 1938, yet it is a world full
of Neville Chamberlains and piti-
fully few Winston Churchills.
By this time, some people may
have already dismissed me as a
"right-wing reactionary." But this
is not about right wing or left
wing. It is about believing the
words of a man who has made
no secret of the fact that he is
coming after us — first as Jews,
then as Americans. If we do not
stand up and demand that our
elected officials do something
about the situation in Iran, then
we will be responsible for the
consequences.
We were silent in 1938 and one
out of every three Jews on Earth
was murdered. If we do not raise
our voices on Iran, only God
knows what horror might await
us. L
Dictator were actually capable
of mass murder. All of which
leads us to ask whether those
now in a position of power in the
West understand the threat, and
whether they are willing to do
something about it.
There has been some fine
rhetoric' about Iran and the
need to stop it coming from the
Bush administration, but the
White House's ability to lead on
this issue is hamstrung by the
conflict in Iraq. Most Americans
are no longer willing to discuss
"weapons of mass destruction:'
such as the ones Iran covets,
because of the association the
issue has with Iraq. The bloody
stalemate in Baghdad that has so
soured opinion on the war leaves
little room for rousing the public
to back action on Iran.
The furor over the denial
conference also does not dimin-
ish the impact of the Iraq Study
Group, led by former Secretary
of State James Baker, which had
as one of its key recommenda-
tions an attempt to conciliate
the Iranians while at the same
time force Israel into dangerous
concessions. These so-called
"realists" are about as inter-
ested in confronting a genocidal
threat coming from Tehran, as
the appeasers of the 1930s were
to stop Hitler. Such "realism" in
Europe will similarly spike any
efforts to make meaningful sanc-
tions against Iran stick.
Even worse, Robert Gates, the
new U.S. Secretary of Defense,
made it clear during his confir-
mation hearings that he opposed °
action against Iran, thus remov-
ing any doubt that there are no
bullets in the gun that the West
was trying to use to threaten it.
It may well be that the real
case of "denial" is our own refus-
al to take Iran and its genocidal
intent seriously -- not just their
ravings about the Holocaust.
With appeasement masquerad-
ing as "realism" about the war on
terror dominating the discussion,
getting people to concentrate on
the Iranian threat may be too
hard a sell right now.
But if those who lined up to
bash Iran this month don't real-
ize that there is a connection
between the Holocaust and the
need to confront Ahmadinejad's
drive for nuclear weapons, then
all of their rhetoric will be mean-
ingless.
Daniel M. Wolpe is rabbi at
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak
Park.
Iran: We're In Denial
Philadelphia
F
or most politicians and
pundits, it was just like
shooting ducks in a bar-
rel. Rarely has an international
event united so diverse a group
of writers and power brokers in
revulsion.
The cause of all this unanim-
ity was the Holocaust-denial
conference sponsored by the
Islamic Republic of Iran and its
irrepressible President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. It was the sort
of freak show that no rational
person could defend. The assem-
blage of Islamist hate-mongers
and Western anti-Semites
(accompanied by a handful of
rogue lunatic ultra-Orthodox
"rabbis") earned its hosts a level
of international opprobrium
that's rare for a Third World
country.
Condemnation came from
just about every corner of the
civilized world. From coast to
coast, bipartisan and interfaith
coalitions lined up to keep alive
the memory of the Six Million, as
well as to flay Iran.
All of which is well and good.
But there is also a bit of bad news
about the indignation that the
Holocaust-denial meeting has
not merely to thumb
generated. As much as
its nose at the pieties
we can take satisfaction
of the West or to
in the negative press
raise Jewish blood
attention devoted to
pressure. It wants
Iran, it also needs to
to murder millions.
be said that if some
Inappropriate analo-
huffing and puffing
gies to the Nazis are
about Ahmadinejad's
used far too often,
mad chutzpah is as far
Jonathan S.
but this is one case
as our Iran policy will
Tobin
where it's hard to
go, then we're in big
Special
argue that the terms
trouble.
Commentary
don't apply. It's true
Unless the same peo-
that Iran isn't as
ple who were eager to
powerful as Nazi Germany. But
take a shot at Iran are willing to
we may be only a few years away
put their support behind a deci-
from a situation where Iran's
sion not merely to isolate it, but
to encourage action — up to and genocidal intent will no longer be
merely a theoretical possibility.
including force — to prevent it
And though obvious differenc-
from acquiring nuclear weapons,
es exist between Nazism and the
then it is only Ahmadinejad who
extremist version of Islam that
will have the last laugh.
Iran's Shiite rulers champion,
For the religious oligarchy
the role of the despised Jew in
that controls Tehran and their
both of their worldviews remains
irrepressible front man, their
striking.
Holocaust campaign isn't an
In the 1930s, both Adolf Hitler
aberration. Nor is it unrelated
and his lesser dictator buddy,
to their policy goals. Their pur-
Benito Mussolini, struck many
pose in promoting denial rests
otherwise right-thinking indi-
primarily on their wish to dele-
viduals in the West as more a
gitimize the State of Israel and
source of comedy than menace.
demonize the Jewish people,
whom their propaganda machine Only too late did most people
realize that the buffoonish bullies
routinely accuses of being the
ridiculed so accurately in Charlie
oppressors of the world.
Iran's openly stated objective is Chaplain's film The Great
❑
Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor
of the Jewish Exponent: contact him
at tobin@jewishexponent.com .
December 28 a 2006
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