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Special Report

(Page 2 of 3)

Mark the time, friend. We've got a keeper.

One knew from all the yarmulkes in the room that wouldn't be the end of the Jewish Question for Khatami and soon enough, despite the applause, another brave Harvard Jew was pressing him about Ahmadinejad's persistent Holocaust denial. No, no, Khatami said, what Ahmadinejad actually contends is that if the Holocaust did occur, it was at the hands of the Europeans, which is "admitting in a way that he does believe in the Holocaust." That's a fairly roundabout way of acknowledging genocide, but there's some logic to it. Khatami, readers will be relieved to know, however, does believe in the Holocaust and even that it was "a human tragedy," but can't quite leave it at that. "I also condemn if Holocaust will be used as a tool to persecute other people."

That's not so quotable, but the Ying to this particular Yang came only moments later in Khatami's response to a young man challenging his past characterization of "Zionists" as unnaturally aggressive in which he brought out the old standard of anyone back-peddling on some racist or sexist remark -- "I have very good friends among the Jews." Oh, and, "I am against violence. It doesn't matter if it comes from a Jew, Muslim of Christian."

Mark the time. We got another good one.

THERE WERE SOME FALSE MONEY quote alarms, as when an Iranian student began his question expressing his hope that Khatami would have a chance to visit Walden Pond, where "Thoreau, who was a great practitioner of civil disobedience, lived." What a lead that would be! Khatami Connects With American Tradition of Non-Violence. Hopes were dashed, however, when the student ended up giving an impassioned speech about the arrest, torture, rape and murder of Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi, aided and abetted by Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, who now sits on the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The notebooks went down. Illiberal tendencies? Torture? Murder? This isn't what we came to see.

If the student's speech didn't fit the preordained storyline, Khatami's cold reply was even less so. While allowing the Iranian judiciary was "not in conformity" with his views on the case and he wished it had been resolved in "a more pleasant manner," Khatami nevertheless barbed, "Maybe if the relatives of Kazemi had not made into such a big political issue it could have been resolved a lot quicker and more to their liking." Good luck finding that bit in today's newspaper.

Likewise, when Iranian funding of Hezbollah was brought up, Khatami said, "If we support Hezbollah it is only spiritual support," but nevertheless added, "We should be fair and not write off justified resistance as terrorism." Need an example? Khatami's got one! "Today the resistance the French showed in the face of German attack is not condemned," he said.

And who are the Nazis in that little allusion? It's no big deal, though. Khatami's got Jewish friends!

KHATAMI'S DEFENSE OF Hezbollah was doubtless not the only uncomfortable moment for those bound and determined to see him as an agent of tolerance in the face of American extremism.

One such moment came when a student pointedly brought up the persecution and prosecution of gays in Iran, to which Khatami answered simply, "homosexuality is a crime in Islam and crimes are punishable" and, further, that "punishment is seen as a response to violence or deviance. If there is no punishment in a society, society cannot run." Many other religions, including "important sects of Christianity," felt the same way, he said.

Can you guess what CNN's headline on the Khatami visit is? Do you think it was "Khatami: 'Society Cannot Run' Without Punishment of Homosexuals" or "Khatami Slams bin Laden"?

The question of whether Khatami would bring up the Sept. 11 attacks was not answered until the end of his speech when he switched from Farsi to English for a short address to "the hospitable American people."

"As a human, as a Muslim, and as an Iranian, I stand before you to once again express my deepest sympathy with the families of the victims and with all the great American people," he said.

Never mind that Khatami's speech had been one barb after another how America was turning the world into its own giant "military camp in the name of human rights and democracy." Mark the time. There's the ultimate money quote.

topics:
Religion, Islam, Books, Military, Iran, Israel, United Nations