International and U.S. media gloss over Iranian President's anti-Israeli comments

by Ted Lipien

FreeMediaOnline.org Free Media Online, Dublin, CA, December 4, 2006 -- Strong anti-Israeli comments with anti-Semitic overtones in Iran's President Ahmadinejad's open letter to the American people have received relatively little attention from international and U.S. media. Most of the media focus has been on Mr. Ahmadinejad's criticism of President Bush's policies and his strong defense of Palestinian rights. Media reports generally glossed over President Ahmadinejad's attempt to vilify Israel in the minds of the American people. Very few journalists tried to explain whether the anti-Israeli language used by Mr. Ahmadinejad would be effective in convincing Americans to withdraw their support for Israel or whether it might have the opposite effect.

President Ahmadinejad's letter was primarily designed to turn Americans against Israel. The aggressive anti-Israeli tone and the derisive language of the letter, however, appear strongly at odds with mainstream American views and attitudes about Israel and international politics in general. The use of such openly belligerent language while appealing to the religious sentiments of the American people also appears to highlight Mr. Ahmadinejad's deep misunderstanding of contemporary American- Christian attitudes and American public opinion in general.

In his letter, Mr. Ahmadinejad asks: "What have the Zionists done for the American people that the U.S. administration considers itself obliged to blindly support these infamous aggressors?" He answers his own question: "Is it not because they have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural and media sectors?" [Link] Accusations against Jews in Mr. Ahmadinejad's letter are similar in language and tone to the Nazi propaganda and articles in fascist media in other countries before and during World War II.

Most Americans would likely consider such language as deeply inflammatory and racist. International media, however, has not focused much on this portion of Mr. Ahmadinejad's letter or its possible impact on the American public opinion.

The mainstream American media have reported on the major themes of the letter but have treated it more as a crude propaganda ploy rather than a serious message worthy of public debate. While the use of similar language by a Western politician would most likely result in widespread reporting and numerous condemnations, U.S. and international media outlets on the whole ignored this aspect of Mr. Ahmadinejad's letter.

Whether American media is fair to the Palestinians is, however, a matter of some controversy. According to a study of the op-ed newspaper pages in the U.S. done by Patrick O'Connor for Palestine Media Watch in March 2006, "In the US media, Palestinians generally aren't allowed to speak for themselves or to articulate their historical narrative. Israelis, however, are permitted to speak, to explain the Israeli experience and even to explain about Palestinians. As a result, the Israeli story is known in the US while Palestinians are dehumanized." [Link]

It is unclear how much of this discrepancy may be due to a shortage of pro-Palestinian opinions being expressed using language considered acceptable by mainstream American media. Many American newspaper editors might find it difficult to publish letters to the editor supporting Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments if most readers would view his comments as peculiar, hateful and racist.

The Jewish-American Anti-Defamation League (ADL) included selections from Mr. Ahmadinejad's open letter to the American people on its long list of anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic statements by the Iranian President. In the past, Mr. Ahmadinejad had called for "wiping Israel off the map" and questioned whether the Holocaust had really occurred. [Link to ADL letter to the NYT]

According to the ADL, " Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views place him and the Iranian regime among the foremost threats to Jews and the state of Israel." [Link] Most major American-Muslim and Arab-American organizations have ignored Mr. Ahmadinejad's letter. They were most likely embarrassed by its anti-Semitic tone.

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