It's very unusual that one of j.'s op-eds gets me to change my mind on anything. Don't get me wrong - I like our op-ed section, I think it's interesting and enlightening, and I enjoy reading other peoples' opinions. But in the three and a half years I've been working at j., I don't think I've ever actually come away from an op-ed saying, "Wow, that made me change my mind about X."
Until I read Yousef Moradzadeh's op-ed in this week's j. In Moradzadeh's piece, he argues that Ahmadinejad's radical rhetoric is the only thing that truly is reflective of the opinions of the real leader of Iran - the Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah. He says that electing a moderate candidate may make Iran look good on the outside, but it would just be a coverup for the rotten core of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism that exists at the heart of its regime.
Because of this, Moradzadeh says, re-electing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is actually good for Israel and the West.
Before reading this op-ed, I was of the exact opposite opinion. It's no shock that I thought Ahmadinejad was the worst candidate for Israel's security, given his frequent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rants, Holocaust denial and nuclear aspirations.
But now I think differently. Thanks to Moradzadeh's column, I now am actually rooting for Ahmadinejad to win.
Right on, ma'am! (photo courtesy of monthly review)
Thanks to Ahmadinejad, entrenched Iranian anti-Semitism (at least on the political/theocratic level) is finally being revealed to the world. If the public face of Iranian politics is basically a sham, how does that benefit Israel or the West? It just means that the real nasty stuff is going on in the background, instead of up front, where it can be challenged and rejected by the rest of the world.
Also thanks to Ahmadinejad, we now know much more about who our enemies are: the Ahmadinejad apologists, fans and cronies who have supported him since his election, and everyone who went to the Holocaust denial conference emceed by the Iranian president. For example, before that conference, I didn't know what Neturei Karta was, nor that there were "Jews" who so hate the State of Israel that they would (pretend to?) deny the Holocaust just to help hasten Israel's downfall. Thanks to Ahmadinejad, I know now.
If I didn't know better, I'd think Ahmadinejad was a Zionist himself. He inadvertently makes one of the best cases for the State of Israel that I've ever heard -- by being so off-the-wall crazy that any rational, reasonable person would want to believe the exact opposite of whatever he was saying, no matter what it was.
The bottom line, like Moradzadeh says, is that if Iran elects a more moderate candidate, it's not going to change a thing about the country's nuclear program or its attitude toward Israel and the West. The only thing that will change is that the rhetoric will be tempered by a "leader" with no real power. The world will breathe a sigh of relief, and everyone will pretend that Israel is safe again. But that will be far from the reality.
We're seeing this exact same concept play out in politics here in America. In yesterday's Washington Post, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker made the argument that the GOP needs to distance itself from its more "out-there" members, saying that "what the Democrats have that the Republicans lack is a moderating voice to neutralize the party's more strident characters" and that "until the Republicans marginalize those who belong in the margins, they won't be attracting many new recruits." In other words, when people like Randall Terry and Rush Limbaugh are the face of the Republican Party, it only strengthens their opponents.
Substitute Iran for Republicans and Israel and the West for the Democrats, and the message is exactly the same. The crazier the voices in Iranian politics, the more it strengthens Israel's case against radical Islamic regimes.
So I say to all Iranians: Vote early, vote often, vote Ahmadinejad.
As I said over on Mr. Moradzadeh’s article, you are endorsing the more anti-semitic candidate. Regardless of the political expediency, which is suspect, where is the morality in endorsing anti-semites? Are you saying you WANT the Iranian people to be anti-semitic? You are.
I was also enlightened by the article, Rachel. The obvious point that I got from reading it is that all of the candidates are anti-semitic, but Ahmadinejad is the only one who actually puts it out there, for all to see. If Iran does elect a more moderate candidate, it won’t actually change the country’s nuclear program and most certainly won’t change it’s views and attitude toward Israel. Like you said, the only thing that will change is that the rhetoric will be tempered by a “leader” with no real power. Very fascinating. The only thing that all these candidates have in common is that they all hate Israel. One of the candidates is just louder than the rest.
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06/04/2009 at 07:15 PM
As I said over on Mr. Moradzadeh’s article, you are endorsing the more anti-semitic candidate. Regardless of the political expediency, which is suspect, where is the morality in endorsing anti-semites? Are you saying you WANT the Iranian people to be anti-semitic? You are.
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