Why do people still say Iran threatened to “wipe Israel off the map” when it’s a proven mistranslation?

Question

First of all, I’m not defending Iran. I wouldn’t have voted for Ahmadinejad & think he’s bad for Iran. Please stick to the point raised here & don’t attack me personally

In 2005, Iran held its annual “World against Zionism” conference. President Ahmadinejad’s speech quoted Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini from several previous conferences.

This statement was translated by western media as a threat to “wipe Israel off the map”. It’s been quoted as this ever since.

Iran immediately rejected this & publicly stated there is no desire to harm Israel.

Since then, several experts in Farsi & University Professors have translated the Ahmadinejad quote to actually be:

"the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time"

This is a rejection of the political ideology of Zionism, not a threat to Israel or Jews

So why still quote this? Using it makes any real argument against Iran look like propaganda

Some proof:

http://tinyurl.com/ybb7e4
http://tinyurl.com/o238s

When he said the regime should be removed from the pages of time, it is also translated as the regime should be removed from the pages of history.

This isn't a plan to remove the people or nation. It's a plan to remove the regime of Zionism like the Nazi regime in Germany or the Fascist regime in Italy were removed in WW2.

The experts agree it was not a threat, but a rejection of a political system.

Zionism is a movement for a state of the Jewish people.

This is different to a land for Israel's citizens of all faith.

Post-Zionist views are not against any Israel land or Jewish people. They simply view a land of tolerance and equality for all, including Palestinians.

gordonmother - you've ignored everything I stated and simply repeated your governments propaganda and deception to scare you into a false understanding

Try and think for yourself and research what's going on. There's no excuse for being totally uninformed.

Answer 1

It is how propaganda gets spread. Since when have the mainstream media reported the truth? Who owns the mainstream media and what is their agenda? it is anything but creating an honest beacon of truth by which the electorate shall be enlightened and fully informed to make a good decision at election time.

The mainstream media is owned by zionists with very large stock portfolios in the banking, petrochemical industries and military industrial complex.

There is also the frightening reality that we have leaders in the west that are trying to create the biblical end times and create the rapture. Any propoganda that helps then to manufacture this end-game will be reported over and over ad-infinitum. Truth be damned!

Answer 2

I had actually never heard that this was a 'mistranslation' - so I'm going to take your word on this. I think you're picking at flies here. I mean the 'regime' occupying Jerusalem are the Jews and at the very core of Zionism is the belief that Israel is their homeland. So, what Ahmadinejad is saying, in essence, is that he believes the Jews should be expunged from Israel. I do not agree with you that Ahmadinejad is not directly threatening Israel (as it exhists now) or the Jews who live there.

Answer 3

The denial by Iranian propaganda of the original threats to Israel and the claim of a mistranslation is in point of fact a lie. The Iranian President stated publicly on more than one occasion that the goal of his country and the goal of his religion was the destruction of Israel. Iran is the primary force behind Middle Eastern terrorist activity, and the primary source of "radical fundamentalist Islamic dogma." The fact that the U.S. is about to end that great evil is causing the flood of disinformation you have currently succumbed to.

Answer 4

Recent news reports that Iranian officers have taken command of the Palestinian Gaza missile front. How does that grab you?

This is the same Iran whose leader has threatened to wipe Israel off the face of the globe. Maybe that is why the world should impose sanctions on Iran. Do you get it yet? http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/scp_v3/viewer/index.php?pid=16598&rn=49750&cl=584083&ch=283293&src=news

Iran's Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust and has also announced that he intends to wipe Israel off the map.

What about Mahmoud Abbas, the chief of the PA?

As for how it will achieve its goal to wipe Israel off the map, Fatah’s constitution, Article 19, minces no words:

“Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People’s armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated.”

In light of the Palestinians’ history of violence, and their poor performance coping with limited freedom or autonomy – the equivalent of a “half-way house” to test their readiness to join the Family of Nations should be devised. Because of the support (rather than pressure to ‘toe the line’) that Palestinians enjoy in the international arena, Palestinians' independence could very well turn into a genuine nightmare.

Answer 5

You are making the mistake of letting the facts get in the way of a build up to war. What is going on is the dual process of dehumanising a people and demonising a country. While the Iranians may also do this, in respect of Israel, we should really know better than to base aggression on error. If all the world were to reach a final and potentially fatal conclusion about Americans and America based on Bushes utterances, we could start fighting for space on the first rocket out of here straight away.

Answer 6

Who are your experts? The regime occupying Jerusalem is theoretically always going to be Zionist, so how exactly do you not see this as wanting to annihilate the Jews and Israel?

I find your premise and argument naive. What other idealogy would one expect to find in Israel?

Answer 7

Maybe they should choose a better phrase then..

"the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time"

As for the translation, there are also Iranian officals who would disagree with the authours you have quoted, See attached.

So it seems like the the familiar liberal vs conservative ramblings ...

Answer 8

If you are to ask why media uses mistranslations, statements out of context, and hyperbole, then you are a fool, because the answer is so obvious and commonly seen that it does not warrant a response.

However, if one is to allow credibility to a lunatic and assume that a zealot means literally what he says, taking your translation at value, then how do you explain the next dribble from your post: "...publicly stated there is no desire to harm Israel." We all know this is not the case. Also, please do not confuse the issue that one group of people want what another group of people have. Isreal is as much a Jewish land as an Arab land, historically, and simply put, it's a Jewish land now! Ahmadinejad has a real disdain for the Jews and he wants them out of his "brother's land". Please do not empower circular logic to reason a way back. It started as nonsense and finished with nonsense. Assumptions, semantics and legal jargon from "experts" cannot create enough dsitractions from the real issue here, HATE! Keep in mind, that this is a man that denies the Holocaust. Addressing a crowd of thousands on December 14, 2005, during a tour of Sistan-Beluchistan Province, Ahmadinejad called the Holocaust a "myth." He said: "There were those who created a myth about the Holocaust and insisted on it, even more than on the belief in the religion and the prophets. When a man expresses his lack of belief in God, the religion, and the prophets, they do not oppose him - but they will rise up against anyone who rejects the [claim regarding the truth] of the Holocaust... Those who support freedom of expression, democracy, and human rights are exploiting the propagandist media [in order to protest] against my clear and documented claims and to criticize me and say that the Iranian president is not capable of living in the civilized world... If your civilization is made up of aggression, of transferring the oppressed nations [from their territory], of repressing the voices of the seekers of justice, and of spreading injustice and poverty among most of the people on Earth, then we say this loud and clear: We scorn your hollow civilization." And the irony is he thinks HE is paying for the (hypothetical) crimes of another man. I ask this back to you, sir; what is the legal claim of the native Americans on the USA?
Lastly, this is a threat to Israel and Jews. They must be protected from idealists looking to "wipe" them out.

Answer 9

Right.. and the "death to America" and "death to Israel" rallies are just translation mistakes?

And of course Iran funding terrorist groups which target Israeli, and American, targets.. is just more translation problems?

No.. it's what Iran stands for. It's what has formed the basis of the political agenda for decades. So when an Iranian leader calls for Israel to be wiped off the map ( which he certainly did ) it's just more of the same old Iranian genocidal politics.

Answer 10

at the time of the '79 islamic revolution, many affluent, moderate iranians fled to the usa. at that time, shah palavi's friends partners aquaintences, etc. were being persecuted, prosecuted, even executed in the heat of the revolution. we have an iranian expat lobby here, comparable to the cuban lobby, trying to influence our govt. to orchestrate the overthrow of the iranian govt. (like castro in cuba). the govt. sides with the expats, and is prejudiced against the iranian regime, especially easy because of the iranian hostage crisis. basically, the govt. will do anything to prejudice americans against iranian muslims.