Iran to Host Holocaust Conference Later This Year

TEHRAN (AFP) -Iran has said it will still go ahead with its plan to host a conference questioning the Holocaust, with the event now scheduled for later in 2006.

The controversial idea emerged after hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the systematic slaughter of an estimated six million Jews during World War II as a “myth”, and the event was initially set for early this year…

In January, British Prime Minister Tony Blair described plans for the conference as “shocking, ridiculous, stupid”, and advised Ahmadinejad to “come and see the evidence of the Holocaust himself in the countries of Europe”.

But Iran responded by inviting Blair to take part in the conference and “defend the Holocaust” as an historical fact.

Because I’m an optimist, I can see how this conference could be very useful in educating an ignorant audience to some actual facts. But because I’m not particularly stupid, I can also see how that’s not going to happen. If this conference were truly open, inviting people with real knowledge, then it has the possibility of opening some Muslim eyes to things the rest of the world has known for over 60 years. But I fear that the doors won’t be open and that this will just be an echo chamber for anti-Semites.