Thursday, February 16, 2012

Iran

U.S. Denounces Iranian Holocaust Cartoon Contest

Iranian President Ahmadinejad addressing an anti-Zionism conference in Tehran in October 2005 (Fars)

8 February 2006 -- The United States has condemned an Iranian newspaper's plan to hold a contest for cartoons about the World War II Holocaust of Jews.

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February 08, 2006

The paper announced the contest in response to Danish caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that have outraged Muslims around the world.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack reiterated U.S. support for freedom of expression, including in Iran, but condemned the Holocaust cartoon contest.

"Any attempt to mock or to in any way denigrate the horror that was the Holocaust is simply outrageous," McCormack said.

McCormack connected the contest to Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's recent anti-Israeli comments, including his dismissal of the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews as a myth.

In its announcement, the "Hamshahri" newspaper said it wanted to test whether Western countries would extend freedom of expression to cartoons about the Holocaust.

(AFP, Reuters)

Iranian Anti-Zionism

President Ahmadinejad visiting the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in October (Fars)

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