Cuban leader Fidel Castro has criticized Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust. Castro told visiting Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic that Iran could serve the cause of peace by “acknowledging the 'unique' history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence" [The Atlantic, 8 September].
Castro, himself a fierce critic of Israel, told Goldberg in Havana that there is nothing that compares to the Holocaust and the Iranian government should understand that the Jews were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world.
Castro also told Goldberg that he had read his recent article on Iran and agreed with him that Israel and America were moving “precipitously and gratuitously” toward confrontation with Iran.
American sanctions and Israeli threats will not dissuade the Iranian leadership from pursuing nuclear weapons, Castro said. "This problem is not going to get resolved, because the Iranians are not going to back down in the face of threats.”
To read Goldberg’s original piece, please visit: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel-to-ahmadinejad/62566/
