How can this kind of religious intolerance still exist?

As you know I usually keep this Blog for things relating to my school work, and random upbeat traveling and photos. I generally try to keep away from serious political issues on this Blog, but this one requires some serious attention.

Today, the President of Iran said that the Holocaust is 'myth' that Europe used to create the state of Israel. The following is quoted from Bloomberg.com:

The West has "fabricated a myth under the name 'Massacre of the Jews,' and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves,'" Iran's leader told thousands of supporters in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, in a speech aired live today on state television.

"If you say and insist it's true that you killed 6 million Jews in crematoria during World War II, then why should the Palestinians pay for that?" Ahmadinejad asked, referring to Europeans.

Here are some more news sites reporting on this:

• Bloomberg.com
• CBC
• German newspaper
  

It is hard to believe that comments like these can be made in this day and age, in what we are appearing to pretend is an accepting and progressive society. How can it be that the Holocaust can occur only 50 years ago, wiping out 6 Million Jewish people and comments like this can be made by someone who is actually in CHARGE of a country????? It is so unbelievably disgusting and ridiculous that it almost seems like fake news.

The only benefit of these comments occurring is that the world's response has been very strong and very swift. Germany's new foreign minister Franz-Walter Steinmeier said that these comments by the Iranian President were "Shocking and totally unacceptable." I have seen literally hundreds of other reports from newspapers around the world, condemning these comments from the Iranian President and describing a sincere outrage that this kind of attitude can exist in the world, let alone in someone who is supposed to be a leader of a country.

This is absolutely ridiculous. I can see that Iran may have frustrations with Israel, but there is NO REASON why this Anti-Zionist attitude should become Anti-Semitism and the idea that the "Land of Israel is in the way of Palestinians" should turn into "All Jews are bad and should not live here, and oh yeah, the Holocaust was made up by Europe so that the Jews could live in the way of the Palestinians..."

The fact that this can occur in our so-called modern, progressive society is beyond me. The positive step that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took to give some of the Gaza Strip back to the Palestinian people should be viewed as a method of creating a peaceful truce between these two nations of people. Comments like this will just convince Israel that no matter what they do, their actions will never be appreciated and peace will never exist in the Middle East. I can't believe how racist and short-sighted the President of Iran was with these comments, and how much this could affect an already-fragile peace process in the Middle East.

Anyone reading this please make note... being a Zionist is NOT the same as being a Jew. I am Jewish and I am all for a peaceful co-existence in the Middle East between Palestinian and Jewish people. That is an ideal situation and if Israel must give land back to the Palestinian people for the sake of peace and freedom for all in the Middle East, then I completely support that. But I am enraged that a political leader in the Middle East can take his frustrations with Israel and turn them on the entire Jewish nation as a whole. That is unmistakably wrong and disgusting to see in the year 2005.