Author Topic: Ahmadinejad gives festive speech  (Read 7206 times)

MicroBalrog

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Ahmadinejad gives festive speech
« on: December 24, 2008, 09:35:51 PM »
 Ahmadinejad gives festive speech

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will deliver Channel 4's alternative to the Queen's Christmas Day speech this year, it has announced.

He will be shown telling British viewers "the general will of nations" is for a return to "human values".

His speech, in Farsi with English subtitles, will be the channel's 16th alternative Christmas message.

Unlike previous years, it will be broadcast at night and not at the same time as the Queen's speech.

The message of seasonal goodwill is to be aired at 1915 GMT.

'Alternative view'

In his speech, Mr Ahmadinejad congratulates the people of Britain on the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ.

He says that problems in society are rooted in the rejection of the message of the prophets of God, including Jesus.

And he criticises the "indifference of some governments and powers" towards the teachings of "the divine prophets".

Channel 4 head of news and current affairs Dorothy Byrne said: "As the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad's views are enormously influential.

"As we approach a critical time in international relations, we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view."

'Divisive denial'

But Stephen Smith, director of the Holocaust Centre in Newark, Nottinghamshire, criticised Mr Ahmadinejad's "benign" message as "deception".

"This message of so-called peace needs to be treated very carefully," he said.

A speech Mr Ahmadinejad gave in December 2005, in which he referred to the Holocaust as "the myth of the Jews' massacre", angered Jewish groups.

Mr Smith criticised "the fact that somebody who openly denies the Holocaust is given legitimacy on prime time television, someone who uses Holocaust denial to be divisive".

Mr Ahmadinejad has also been criticised for the treatment of gay people in Iran.

Last year, when asked in a visit to New York's Columbia University about the execution of gay people in Iran, he replied: "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."

Gay rights group Stonewall said Mr Ahmadinejad should "celebrate the fact that he can appear on television to give a message like this".

"In spite of his ridiculous and often offensive views, it is an important way of reminding him that there are some countries where free speech is not repressed," director Ben Summerskill said.

Channel 4's first alternative message was delivered by gay icon Quentin Crisp in 1993.

Others to have given the broadcast include French actress Brigitte Bardot, former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne and TV chef Jamie Oliver.

Last year's message was given by Maj Andrew Stockton, a British soldier who lost an arm fighting in Afghanistan.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/7799094.stm

Published: 2008/12/24 14:03:49 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

Micro Sez:

...words fail me on this. Of all the 150+ world leaders, did they have to invite him? AGAIN?
Destroy The Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat.

"...tradition and custom becomes intertwined and are a strong coercion which directs the society upon fixed lines, and strangles liberty. " ~ William Graham Sumner

Nitrogen

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Re: Ahmadinejad gives festive speech
« Reply #1 on: December 24, 2008, 10:09:52 PM »
Sometimes you have to listen to kooks to remember that they are kooks.
יזכר לא עד פעם
Remember. Never Again.
What does it mean to be an American?  Have you forgotten? | http://youtu.be/0w03tJ3IkrM

taurusowner

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Re: Ahmadinejad gives festive speech
« Reply #2 on: December 24, 2008, 10:56:59 PM »
Sometimes you have to listen to kooks to remember that they are kooks.

Indeed.  Some people only exist to be examples to the rest of us how not to live.  Ahmadinejad is such a person.

MikePGS

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Re: Ahmadinejad gives festive speech
« Reply #3 on: December 25, 2008, 10:32:51 AM »
Remind me to ask the Caliph of Europe in 20 years or so how he feels about this.
"The people in the gun culture have a better safety record than any police department in the nation, but in
several states actually prohibit us from using guns for self-protection, and in all the other states except one
they make us buy a license. They tax us so we can have more cops, and when crime still goes up, they tax
us more and ban more of our guns."
John Ross, Unintended Consequences

Bigjake

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Re: Ahmadinejad gives festive speech
« Reply #4 on: December 25, 2008, 11:20:59 AM »
At a passing glance, the thread title looked like it said "Ackmahsheepistabbed gives FESTIVUS speech"

txgho1911

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Re: Ahmadinejad gives festive speech
« Reply #5 on: December 25, 2008, 11:53:44 AM »
Sometimes you have to listen to kooks to remember that they are kooks.

Someone should explain this theory in practice to the masses. Lets roll out some of Hitlers holiday cheer from the 1930s.
socialnewswatchDOTcom instead of Drudge

Cromlech

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Re: Ahmadinejad gives festive speech
« Reply #6 on: December 25, 2008, 09:14:18 PM »
When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt, run in little circles, wave your arms and shout!