Life is too short to waste in congested airports, following the partial reopening of some and the influx of passengers there. Volcanic ash has grounded me in London, depriving me from hearing King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and King Hamad bin Isa in Manama, and also from attending a lecture by the Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in Oxford. Naturally, if I had indeed visited Bahrain, I would have also sought to meet Prince Salman bin Hamad, the Crown Prince, Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmad and all my friends there. Whenever I write about top officials, I receive letters from readers – perhaps they are all one reader who suffers from chronic hunger- saying that I often sit at the table of senior officials, as though my job is all about finding opportunities to eat. I'm not Einstein, and none of us is Einstein or his equivalent either: contacting leaders, ministers and officials is only aimed at obtaining new or additional information that I can relate to the readers through this column, because if I write my personal opinion day after day, it would be repeated ad nauseam, and the readers would lose interest in what I write. As I am staying in London against my will, I have a collection of news and ideas for the benefit of the reader: - Western-style democracy means that a person may deny the existence of God, but cannot deny the Holocaust. The English Catholic Bishop Richard Williamson said in an interview on Swedish television in 2008 that Jews were not killed in gas chambers, with the result being that a German court last week sentenced him to a fine equivalent to ten thousand pounds because Holocaust denial is a crime, and not just a misdemeanour or a fringe or different opinion. If Bishop Williamson woke up one day to announce that he is an atheist and to deny the existence of God, the Church would expel him, but no one would try him, and a thousand atheists would support him. In England, there is a famous atheist, the scientist Richard Dawkins who wrote the book the God Delusion, which quickly became a best seller. The author is a prominent figure and has many supporters who recently placed ads on the buses in London that said “God probably does not exist. So don't worry and enjoy life”. However, if Dawkins should deny the Holocaust, he will be crucified both physically and morally. Personally, I believe that the Nazi Holocaust did occur, and there is sufficient evidence that six million Jews perished in the Holocaust. I have always criticized Holocaust deniers; however, I nonetheless insist that it is the right of every person to deny it and to put forward his evidence, in order to prove his folly or his anti-Semitism. In truth, I do not understand how the freedom of expression guarantees the right to deny the existence of God but not to deny the Holocaust. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust in such fervour that even the neo-Nazis cannot compete with. His position is very strange for a number of reasons, of which I will discuss two in this journalistic haste: first of all, he is not accused of being behind the Holocaust, and hence, does not need to deny it day after day. And second, the perpetrator of the Holocaust is the Christian West, i.e. his own enemy that wants to prevent Iran today from continuing its nuclear program, and is preparing harsh sanctions against Iran. In other words, Ahmadinejad appointed himself as an advocate for his political opponents. - From Iran to Hezbollah, as one thing leads to another: there were recent claims by Israel that Hezbollah obtained Scud missiles through Syria. I want to say ‘God willing', like I once said about the Iranian nuclear program which I hope is a military program as long as Israel still possesses a nuclear arsenal. I also want to add the following: first of all, I denounce the U.S position and the fact that it took the Israeli allegations at face value, although the Netanyahu government has no credibility whatsoever, and despite the fact that this government is lying as it attempts to fabricate premises for a new war against Lebanon. Second of all, all weapons in any country, including Lebanon, must be controlled by the government, and not by an armed party no matter how noble its cause is. And third of all, this must be followed by disarming Palestinian camps and its surroundings. All the above, however, does not invalidate the fact that I wish, nay, call for and pray that Iran and Hezbollah acquire the nuclear program and missiles that the Netanyahu government is claiming they have. - My stance above also applies to Syria: according to news reports, Russia began modernizing Syrian ports, specifically in Lattakia and Tartous, to equip them to receive the vessels of the Russian Navy which recently stepped up its cooperation with the Syrian Navy. Again, I say ‘God willing', and add something else in response to the American Likudniks and Israeli war criminals. Their permanent excuse is that Iran, Hezbollah and Syria are a threat to Israel, although the latter is a threat to the Middle East and all of humanity. I heard in recent days alone many threats coming from Israeli officials – read terrorists – to take Syria back to the Stone Age in the event of a war, which is a threat that is also used against Lebanon almost every day. The Israeli official who speaks about taking another country to the Stone Age is basically saying that he is a Nazi, because the means that will be used to carry out this threat are akin to the Nazi gas chambers and the massacres that targeted the Jews in Europe. I have said time and again, and repeat today, that Israel is a fascistic state, and from thy mouth I condemn you Israel, or from the mouths of its officials. [email protected]
