Iran denies contact with Israel

[emad]

BBC


Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has denied speaking to Israel's president at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

Moshe Katsav says they exchanged words, but Mr Khatami told Iranian media the "allegations are false" and that they had not shaken hands.

Syria has confirmed that its leader shook hands with the Israeli president, but added that this did not change Syria's position on the Jewish state.

Iran and Syria do not recognise Israel. Syria and Israel are officially at war.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4425487.stm

[drdon326]

1. Shake hands ??? With a ...a ....a....JEW !!??!!??

PERISH THE THOUGHT.





/SARCASM

[Trajan]

9. You have defended the refusal of Israeli leaders to have such contact ....

Thats a two way street, Dear Dr. ....

You should ALL kiss and make up, as far as Im concerned .....

Wouldnt that be nice ? .... everyone could go home and start rebuilding their lives ....

Once and for all ....

[drdon326]

12. UHHHH....I Have ???....you do have a link,dont you ??

btw.....Iran has advocated nuking israel. And i suspect israel will take out as many ites as possible should the time come.

I'm sure you will support that.

[leesa]

17. Israel has 200+ nukes pointed at her neighbors for decades now.

Who is threatening whom? Sharon has said that all Muslims should be killed. Who is threatening whom??

Stop trying to make the genocidal behavior of Israel into an issue of Jew hating, when THAT is not the issue. It is the GOVERNMENT of Israel that is conducting genocide. Compare the hits by Israel on Palestinians and others compared to the hits on Israelis.

[Behind the Aegis]

18. Links?

Where has Sharon said that all Muslims should be killed? I have never seen that statement. Perhaps it is true, but I'd like a link.

"Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that must be wiped from the world map."

"Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, has repeatedly said the destruction of Israel is the only way to solve the problems of the Middle East. But Iran’s reformers, including Khatami, avoid using such language." from Iranian president denies Israeli handshake

Also, I'd like to know what genocide has occurred? Is it similar to the ones in Rwanda, Sudan, or the former Yugoslavia?

[Colorado Blue]

23. Sorry, that is just plain nuts. I mean no disrepect, but we've

been hearing how we're going to get exterminated for DECADES now, since well before 1948. And forgotten somehow are the 1,000,000 plus Jews who have lived throughout the Middle East since Biblical times, and who were forcibly expelled from THEIR homes and lands. If you need some links to read about this, please let me know and I will supply them. THEY had to start over too, and thousands were killed on their way out of town.

The last thing anyone wants to do is use nukes, for heavens sake.

We've been TRYING to get along since forever and every overture has been rejected. Still, however bad things have been the army has tried to avoid taking life - not possible, in a war zone.

I really wish you would reconsider your remarks. It most certainly IS hateful, your protests to the contrary notwithstanding.

As far as the attacks on Israelis are concerned, those have been very serious, and many soldiers have been killed and wounded also. The casualties have been bad on both sides. Have you NO compassion for these people? And do you see NO connection between the attacks on Israelis and the retaliations, which have cost Arab lives?

Can we please dial down the rhetoric and try to heal this land? Do we really need a voice of hate, as has just been unleashed?

The term genocidal in conjunction with the Israelis is absolutely ridiculous, is is calumnous, and I believe, it is bigoted.

If you want to discuss the Sudan, that's another story. THAT is a genocide, it has been going on for decades. Some figures there put the deaths of African tribespeople INTO THE MILLIONS. And, there are dispossessions, expulsions and the rape of women and property.

Shall I continue?

So don't let's get out the genocide word unless you really mean it.

[nodehopper]

21. ??? They are not the ones "denying allegations."

Actually, Israel is the one making it. What are you talking about?

[DemFromMem]

2. Katsav is a good liaison choice

He was born and raised in Iran.

My sense has always been that Khatami wants to move Iran to opening relations with Israel. Obviously, he would be doing so at great risk from the clerics which are not compromise-oriented.

[Colorado Blue]

3. Oh, HEAVEN FORBID we should make a move toward

PEACE.

Christ almighty. When will people stop hating? How many more will have to die? Does every single generation of mankind have to act like morons?

[drdon326]

4. But.....but.....but.....

he's accused of shaking hands with a ....a.....a....JEW !!!

[11cents]

5. No joke

When I was in high school, a friend's sister had an Iranian boyfriend. He was SHOCKED when he found out that I was a Jew and he'd shared a meal with me. Not an untypical attitude.

But later I had an Iranian boyfriend myself. So there y'are.

[drdon326]

6. Did you shake hands ?

lol

[Colorado Blue]

16. You know what's ridiculous? We get along very well, left to

our own devices, in MANY cases. Plus, culturally we're completely linked.

I've been studying Sephardic music, and have some recordings from Iraqi Jews that are identical to Iraqi Arabic music. Some of the leading exponents of old Greek and Turkish music have been Jewish, and their work influences Egyptian music to this day. I have recordings of Sephardic music from Medieval Spain, and my favorites are Ofra Haza's records - she was an Israeli, who walked with her family from Yemen. She sang in Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic, songs that go back centuries.

In fact, my fascination with Eastern music and art, come from going to temple when I was a little girl - it's so silly. We are PART of this world!

We're all interwoven, not some separate species!

I have had many Iranian friends, and Arab friends as well. These are longstanding relationships, too. My hubby works for a Muslim from Pakistan and his fellow employee is Muslim, an African American.

Sigh. This could be a BEAUTIFUL world.

[Colorado Blue]

14. I've been researching the apartheid of the Jewish people

under Islam, which goes all the way back to the beginning of the religion.

http://www.wm.edu/so/monitor/fall2000/paper7.htm

Apparently, Jews (and Christians) are definitely considered a lower order. One was allowed to practice ones religion but not really considered on the same plane, and frequently took jobs that were considered "unclean" for a Muslim, such as physician, tanner, banker.

Different clothes were worn and it was even prescribed that a Jewish man had to ride sidesaddle. Of course there is far more but this is just an example. I'm not a scholar on this issue!

But, I mention this in light of the concerns people have with "apartheid" in Israel and the O.T.

Discrimination against Jews has ALWAYS existed in the M.E. and Jews were especially regarded with displeasure, since they wouldn't simply convert and become "saved."

Of course we have the same problems with the Christians:) Sometimes, I think, oh to hell with it, we should give up already and let somebody SAVE us, oy.

It should be mentioned, however, that compared to European antisemitism, the Jewish community in the ME was treated with tolerance, and it flourished in many cities. Of course this ended with the influence of Nazi philosophy in the 20th century, and with the declaration of the state of Israel. Now, there is a really virulent form of antisemitism being expressed, with genocide the avowed goal of many Muslim leaders, for the past several decades.

There is NOTHING in traditional Islam that supports such a view.

[GHOSTDANCER]

7. When nations are on no speaking terms, things can only get worse.

Bush pulls this shit too. Leaders that act like children have got to go!!!

[Colorado Blue]

15. I heard on the tube that Bush got booed in Rome, by that

enormous crowd, when his image appeared on the video screens.

Ouch!

That has GOT to be embarrassing, for a person who has daily conversations with the Almighty:)

[James T. Kirk]

8. Photo!

Khatami- what a dork!

[Trajan]

10. Cheap name-calling ....

Classy ! ....

[drdon326]

11. You're right...he's not a dork.

hes an a$$hole.

[James T. Kirk]

19. Khatami also looks like a monkey!

:P

[Behind the Aegis]

13. Just plain fucking sad!

A simple gesture cannot be recognized?! It is not symbolic other than they were being polite during a funeral. Heaven forfend that the mere shaking of hands could be perceived as something bad. :eyes: They are leaders of countries and should act as such, as not like 5yo children! Good for president Katsav and Syria's president for rising to the occasion.

[nodehopper]

20. allegations? oh man.

[ScotTissue]

22. We need UN hand inspectors

We need to get to the bottom of Shakegate.

[Colorado Blue]

24. LOL!