The President and news media keep repeating that
President Ahmadinejad of Iran said "Israel should be
wiped out." According to our sources what President
Ahmadinejad said is entirely different.
Arash Norouzi writes at
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=19590 that
the full quote translated directly to English is "The
Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish
from the page of time".
A word by word translation: Imam (Khomeini) ghoft
(said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime) ishghalgar-e
(occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye
ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from).
Professor Juan Cole explains the quotation further at
http://www.juancole.com/2006/05/hitchens-hacker-and-
hitchens.html.
President Ahmadinejad was, apparently, quoting a
statement by the late Ayatollah Khomenei the gist of
which is that in time Israel, like the USSR, would
disappear.
Not only is Ahmadinejad incorrectly quoted, he can't
order an attack on Israel - the decision to attack
would have to be made by the Supreme Leader and the
Guardian Council.
News media spend considerable time parsing what
Senator Allen said (the "macaca" comment), and what
Senator Biden said (about Senator Obama), about much
less important issues. Correcting the record on what
President Ahmadinejad said is vital - it may help
avert a war with Iran.
Enver Masud
Founder and CEO
The Wisdom Fund
Arash Norouzi, "Caught Red-Handed: Media
Backtracks on Iran's Anti-Israel 'Threat'," Dissident Voice, July
17, 2007