Ex-Klan Chief At Holocaust Conference

(CBS/AP)  Iran hosted Holocaust deniers from around the world on Monday in a conference debating whether the World War II genocide of Jews took place, a meeting that Israel's prime minister condemned as a "sick phenomenon."

The 67 participants from 30 countries included former U.S. Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

The New York Times reported that Duke, a white supremacist, was expected to claim that Germany built no gas chambers or extermination camps during World War II.

"Depicting Jews as the overwhelming victims of the Holocaust gave the moral high ground to the Allies as victors of the war and allowed Jews to establish a state on the occupied land of Palestine," Duke said, according to the summary of the paper he will deliver, the Times reported.

Duke told BBC cameras in Tehran that he is not a Holocaust denier.

"I'm a Holocaust questioner," he told the BBC. "But I'm here to defend freedom of speech."

Other attendees include a number of Western Holocaust skeptics who have been prosecuted in Europe for publishing their theories casting doubt on whether 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis or whether gas chambers were ever used.

"The number of victims at the Auschwitz concentration camp could be about 2,007," Australian Frederick Toben told the conference, according to a Farsi translation of his comments. "The railroad to the camp did not have enough capacity to transfer large numbers of Jews."

The two-day conference was initiated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in an apparent attempt to burnish his status at home and abroad as a tough opponent of Israel.

The hard-liner president has described the Holocaust as a "myth" and called for Israel to be wiped off the map. Earlier this year, his government backed an exhibition of anti-Israel cartoons in a show of defiance after Danish cartoons caricaturing Islam's prophet Muhammad were published in Europe, raising an outcry among Muslims.

Organizers and participants touted the conference as a scholarly gathering aimed at discussing the Holocaust away from Western taboos and the restrictions imposed on scholars in Europe. In Germany, Austria and France, it is illegal to deny aspects of the Holocaust.

Duke, a former Louisiana state representative, praised Ahmadinejad for his "courage" in holding a conference "to offer free speech for the worlds most repressed idea: Holocaust revisionism."

"In Europe you can freely question, ridicule, and deny Jesus Christ. The same is true for the prophet Muhammad, and nothing will happen to you," he said in his speech. "But offer a single question of the smallest part of the Holocaust and you face prison."

Also among the participants were two rabbis and four other members of the group Jews United Against Zionism, who were dressed in the traditional long black coats and black hats of ultra-Orthodox Jews. The group rejects the creation of Israel on the grounds that it violates Jewish law.

Rabbi Ahron Kohen urged participants not to deny the Holocaust. "If we say that this crime did not happen, it is a humiliation and insult to the victims," he said, according to the Farsi translation.

But he added that Zionists have used the Holocaust to "give legitimacy to their illegitimate project," the creation of Israel.

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[nikman66]

The thing is that people are missing the most important fact: there is a big difference between Jeweish people and the "Zionists". The Holyland(not "Isreal") belong to the Jewes all over the world, belongs to the Muslims all over the world, and belongs to the Christians all over the world. It should become an international country. But the Zionists used the myth of Haulocost as an excuse to unlawfully occupie the Holyland, claim it as their own only, commit the history's worst genocites (even worst than the Nazis) on the Muslims in there and the neigboring countries, and drag America in their mess and crimes and in the process they destroied America's world's reputation too. Jewes are not the criminals, The Zionists are.

[verohnika]

I think Duke has grown a lot since his Klan days; he no longer seems to espouse that tunnel-like worldview of the Jewish-led Klan. Numerous Jews infiltrated the Klan and turned it into a disgusting, racist lynch mob, so, it's very good that he steered away from that vicious hatred and malevolence.

Besides, the "Nazis" did not mass murder Jews, so, he is becoming more understanding with the uncovering of the truth. Hitler had at least 150,000 Jews in his military during WWII. He also employed Blacks; cinema was lucrative employment for them under Hitler.

http://www.adolfhitlerresearchsociety.org/index_files/hitlers_jewish_nazis_and_soldiers.html

http://www.adolfhitlerresearchsociety.org/index_files/blacks_in_hitlers_germany_black_ghettos_america.html

[nothappyatall]

Religion- christianity- is a subversive, demeaning, violence backgrounded, violence and bigotry promoting entity whose days I hope are numbered by the lawsuits and declining attendence.
Nuts like Phelps & Aikens use the bible to spew hate against gay people which results in actions like Mathew Sheppard's death, its been used to justify slavery and subversion of women as mens property

Religion is totally SICK and those who practice it are in my opinion mentally ill or at the very least emotionally weak minded and feeble.
At least with the Buddha, pagan and wiccans they teach love of ALL and they are not about god worship but more about spirituality and nature, their message is far better than the "Jealous god" of the bible who orders people stoned to death and worse.

[nothappyatall]

Religion- christianity- is a subversive, demeaning, violence backgrounded, violence and bigotry promoting entity whose days I hope are numbered by the lawsuits and declining attendence.
Nuts like Phelps & Aikens use the bible to spew hate against gay people which results in actions like Mathew Sheppard's death, its been used to justify slavery and subversion of women as mens property

Religion is totally SICK and those who practice it are in my opinion mentally ill or at the very least emotionally weak minded and feeble.
At least with the Buddha, pagan and wiccans they teach love of ALL and they are not about god worship but more about spirituality and nature, their message is far better than the "Jealous god" of the bible who orders people stoned to death and worse.

[nothappyatall]

It's backwards, religion is for emotionally WEAK people who need an emotional crutch to lean on and a "Santa Claus" in the sky to make them feel better and share their problems with by "talking" (prayers)
Real people don't need to worship an imaginary being, real people who have inner love for themselves, are confident in themselves and have strength don't need religion.

More death, destruction, wars, brutality and slaughter as well as animal sacrifice has been done in the name of, the cause of, because of, or justified by religion, especially the Christian religion whose bible is chock full of blood, animal sacrifices for "atonements" directives to stone people to death and all the rest. On one hand it says " worship no ther gogs for your god is a jealous god"- JEALOUS, and I thought that was just a human trait!

Just read about the violence and mass slaughter of "non believers" including muslims and women at the hands of christian crusaders during the crusades, the reformation, the Salem with trials and more, just read about how people were jailed tortured and executed by THE CHURCH for anything THE CHURCH felt was "bad" or if the individual DARED speak out against the church teachings in any way.

[agnim]

"I hope you don't mind if I pray for you. God bless.

Posted by finewoven at 02:11 PM : Dec 12, 2006"

I wouldn't mind you praying for me, but!

The only problem is that with the time-wasting exercise ('praying', which has no redeeming value besides maybe to keep you out of trouble while your eyes are closed LOL) you will only do further damage to your mind-brain.
And I sure wouldn't want you being harmed to be on my conscience. LOL

[finewoven]

For every crumbs of positives the religions may preach, there are countless loaves of destructiveness emanating from the religion.
Posted by Agnim at 01:58 PM : Dec 12, 2006

You've got it backwards, for the countless loaves of positives that religions preach, there are crumbs of destructiveness emanating from the people who don't get religion.

This is a historical fact, yours is a contrived and contrarian view. I hope you don't mind if I pray for you. God bless.

[agnim]

"Agnim, I would give you a hyperlink to a website that would help you understand the Creative Process of the Individual, and how this is synergized in a person within their faith.

Posted by finewoven at 01:27 PM : Dec 12, 2006"

And speaking of something that some consider synergistic with the creative process, how about your John Lennon ("who changes the western world"?)and his drugs? LOL

The point is, Woven, the human mind is of a very very vast potential; it has enough capability for innumerable synergistic pairings; good/bad, worthwhile/worthless.

Respecting an object doesn't mean that the object cannot and should not also be analyzed for its validity/utility to individuals and to the society as a whole.

When the religions are so analyzed, they are found wanting.

For every crumbs of positives the religions may preach, there are countless loaves of destructiveness emanating from the religion.

Religion is more like a very very thorny bush that bears a few flower, than a flowery plant with inconsequential thorns. Get it? LOL

[nothappyatall]

titocordero; thanks, I agree, but one has to look partly at this guys motives for having Duke attend, there may be more side issues/motives, but I believe the PRIMARY reason the head of Iran is making these statements is just to tee US off big time because he knows this is a real sensitive issue with America, so what better way to get his jolies and laugh at us than to publicly deny the holocauset happened and then watch us REACT, which is exactly what we are DOING!

The muslims over there are laughing their heads off because they know that to rile us up, get a reaction as well as one from BUSH, all they have to do is make a statement, threat or show pictures of US troop bodies being dragged down the street and they can YANK our chain and watch us CRY.
Make no mistake they KNOW this game works because we DO react and that is our mistake. Like the bully at school, the more you react the more they ACT out even to get attention, even if it's negative attention. Any psychiatrist can tell you about that- negative attention is for some- better than NO attention.

[finewoven]

Agnim, I would give you a hyperlink to a website that would help you understand the Creative Process of the Individual, and how this is synergized in a person within their faith. But my guess is that you wouldn%u2019t be inclined to read through the material.

I do wish you well in your endeavors, since I happen to respect agnostic and atheistic viewpoints as well. For instance, John Lennon was pretty much agnostic, and look at what a wonderful influence he was on Western Society.