Those of us who care deeply about the security of Israel and the well-being of the Jewish people often find ourselves lamenting time and again, "The world is against us." And often, it seems to me anyway, we have been right. I would venture to say that in this long struggle with the Arab world, the tilting in favor of the Arabs, the tremendous imbalance and unfairness of almost all the nations of the world, and the United Nations, give us real justification for feeling this way.
Thus, it is somewhat surprising to see what the reactions have been to the Iranian president's genocidal, anti-Semitic outbursts.
For calling to "wipe the Zionist entity off the map," and for denying the Shoah (Holocaust) the present Iranian president received the condemnation of the Security Council of the United Nations (including Algeria). He was condemned not only by the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Canada, but was also rebuked by Russia and China, who are ordinarily Iran's staunch supporters diplomatically.
On the one hand, considering the situation on the ground and the fact that the West, the United States and even Israel have taken no concrete military steps to stop Iranian nuclear development, it may seem that these condemnations are meaningless. And in the case of Iran's major military suppliers and trade partners, Russia and China, hypocritical. But it is well to remember that it could be the other way around, and that the world as a whole could be joining the Islamic jihadists and the Shoah-deniers in condemning Israel. As it is, it is not Israel that is now the pariah receiving world condemnation, but Iran, despite its having vital energy resources for which the world is so hungry.
The question now is whether these condemnations, and the growing perception of how dangerous for the world as a whole a nuclear Iran would be, will lead to concrete action on the part of the United States and its allies. Here, despite his failings on other issues, it may be that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has taken the right tack in insisting that a nuclear Iran is not only a danger to Israel, but to the world as a whole. A nuclear Iran would destroy world non-proliferation agreements, lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, further endanger Gulf oil supplies and the economy of the world, threaten US troops throughout the Middle East, make nuclear terror possible anywhere and everywhere in the world, and increase the possibility of a vastly destructive nuclear war.
Condemnation of Iran by the nations of the world will not necessarily stop it from developing and using nuclear weapons. But it does send a signal to those Iranian leaders who are perhaps a bit more sane than the current president that the price of such an attack would be isolation from the world community. And it gives a certain encouragement to forces opposing this most extreme Iranian president.
The condemnation by the major states also has a consequence outside of Iran, which can give decent people throughout the world a certain limited satisfaction. It is the hardest blow in the face that Holocaust deniers have as yet received. The whole world, even, surprisingly, parts of the Arab and Islamic world now acknowledge that what is arguably the greatest crime in human history did, in fact, take place.
All this is no reason for great joy, but it would have been far worse had the opposite been the case and the hate-filled, primitive Iranian president was allowed to speak his evil nonsense without criticism or condemnation.
Thus, it is somewhat surprising to see what the reactions have been to the Iranian president's genocidal, anti-Semitic outbursts.
For calling to "wipe the Zionist entity off the map," and for denying the Shoah (Holocaust) the present Iranian president received the condemnation of the Security Council of the United Nations (including Algeria). He was condemned not only by the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Canada, but was also rebuked by Russia and China, who are ordinarily Iran's staunch supporters diplomatically.
On the one hand, considering the situation on the ground and the fact that the West, the United States and even Israel have taken no concrete military steps to stop Iranian nuclear development, it may seem that these condemnations are meaningless. And in the case of Iran's major military suppliers and trade partners, Russia and China, hypocritical. But it is well to remember that it could be the other way around, and that the world as a whole could be joining the Islamic jihadists and the Shoah-deniers in condemning Israel. As it is, it is not Israel that is now the pariah receiving world condemnation, but Iran, despite its having vital energy resources for which the world is so hungry.
The question now is whether these condemnations, and the growing perception of how dangerous for the world as a whole a nuclear Iran would be, will lead to concrete action on the part of the United States and its allies. Here, despite his failings on other issues, it may be that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has taken the right tack in insisting that a nuclear Iran is not only a danger to Israel, but to the world as a whole. A nuclear Iran would destroy world non-proliferation agreements, lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, further endanger Gulf oil supplies and the economy of the world, threaten US troops throughout the Middle East, make nuclear terror possible anywhere and everywhere in the world, and increase the possibility of a vastly destructive nuclear war.
Condemnation of Iran by the nations of the world will not necessarily stop it from developing and using nuclear weapons. But it does send a signal to those Iranian leaders who are perhaps a bit more sane than the current president that the price of such an attack would be isolation from the world community. And it gives a certain encouragement to forces opposing this most extreme Iranian president.
The condemnation by the major states also has a consequence outside of Iran, which can give decent people throughout the world a certain limited satisfaction. It is the hardest blow in the face that Holocaust deniers have as yet received. The whole world, even, surprisingly, parts of the Arab and Islamic world now acknowledge that what is arguably the greatest crime in human history did, in fact, take place.
All this is no reason for great joy, but it would have been far worse had the opposite been the case and the hate-filled, primitive Iranian president was allowed to speak his evil nonsense without criticism or condemnation.