Anyone see/hear the Ric Sanchez interview w/an Iranian voter who voted Ahmedinejad?

[Mika]

Ric brought up his "wipe Israel off of the map" quote, and she said that he didn't say that, and that it is a mistranslation that he said so.

Anyone else hear the interview?

Comments?

[Catherine Vincent]

1. No. Is there actual video of Ahmedinejad saying that?

If not, then the media played us.

[DefenseLawyer]

2. I believe it is widely accepted as a mistranslation

The closer translation appears to be "The regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time" which while provocative, denotes a hope that in time Israel will no longer control Jerusalem, rather than a genocidal attack "wiping them off the map".

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. And 'the regime' would denote the ruling party - Likud, with its

expansionist, confrontational mindset - rather than Israel as a whole. Just as Bush confronted Amadinijad into power, so did Amadinijad and the hardliners confront Likud into power.

Pushing produces resistance - what we need to see is a little more jujitsu.

[Sensible321]

3. Translation is tricky here

I have heard the quote translated as "... wipe Zionism off the page." From there, we get into the definition of 'Zionism'. Some define it as the 'Greater Israel' defined by biblical scripture and including all of the West Bank vs. the 1948 or 1967 borders. Others identify Zionism with an independent Israeli 'Jewish State' of any dimension.

It is safe to say, in any case or by any translation and definition-set, that Ahmedinejad is not the best person to cooperate for Middle-East peace, especially after he walked into the 'Holocaust Denier' minefield. Let's hope the moderate wins as that could help quiet the 'war drums'.