Castro to Ahmadinejad: Stop denying the Holocaust

[Modbert]

Castro to Ahmadinejad: Stop denying the Holocaust

In rare interview, retired Cuban dictator tells Jeffrey Goldberg, "The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours."

Israel and the Jewish people found an unlikely defender in Fidel Castro, the retired dictator of Cuba, on Tuesday, when he came out strongly against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust and supported Israel's right to exist.

In a rare interview with Jewish-American reporter Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, the ailing 84-year-old leader said he sympathized with the Jews who have suffered from repeated persecution over the course of history.

Asked by Goldberg if he could relay the message to Ahmadinejad, who has denied the Holocaust and called for Israel to be wiped off the map, he was quoted as saying: "I am saying this so you can communicate it."

Interesting read to say the least.

 

[jillian]

maybe fidel has been studying kaballah with madonna.

 

[Sunni Man]

Castro defending the Jews is just more proof he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease

 

[Middleman]

It sounds like Castro has begun some self examination in his old age. Good for him! I applaud him for addressing this issue.

BBC News - Cuba's Fidel Castro criticises Iran over anti-Semitism

Fidel Castro has criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for what he called his anti-Semitic attitudes.

The former Cuban leader also warned that an escalating conflict between Iran and the West could lead to nuclear war.

Mr Castro, speaking to a US journalist, also questioned his own actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Asked if he stood by his recommendation for the Soviets to bomb America, he said "it wasn't worth it at all".

 

[Middleman]

More from this article...

Over the course of a five-hour discussion, Mr Castro "repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism", and criticised Mr Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust.

"The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust," the former president said.

Mr Castro said that Iran could further the cause of peace by "acknowledging the 'unique' history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence", Mr Goldberg wrote.

Mr Castro told Mr Goldberg that he understood Iranian fears of Israeli-American aggression and that he did not believe that sanctions and threat would dissuade Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons.

"The Iranian capacity to inflict damage is not appreciated," Mr Castro said. "Men think they can control themselves but [US President Barack] Obama could overreact and a gradual escalation could become a nuclear war."

 

[Modbert]

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[lizzie]

Castro defending the Jews is just more proof he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease

In my observation of people with Alzheimer's (and I've seen quite a bit of it), not many people with Alzheimer's disease get kinder as the disease progresses. They also don't have the capability of analyzing and/or reversing previously held positions. I doubt Castro's change of heart (if he did indeed have one) is related in any way to any dementia he may have.