During last week’s Durban II conference, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a speech that some in the West regarded as outrageous and others as merely representing public opinion in much of the world (personally speaking, I think it harmed the Palestinian cause no end).
This clip from the BBC is startling for its honest questioning and would never be seen in the US or Australia:
BBC reporter for Newsnight, Jeremy Paxman grills the UK Ambassador at the UN in Geneva:
Jeremy Paxman: What is the difference between Zionism and racism?
Peter Gooderham: Well we see the two as being quite distinct”¦
Jeremy Paxman: Yeah what’s the difference?
Peter Gooderham: Well Zionism is a political movement related to the establishment of a homeland”¦
Jeremy Paxman [quietly]: So are some forms of racism.
Peter Gooderham:”¦a Jewish homeland, in the er”¦in what is now Israel and racism is something else. I mean racism is, I think we all know it when we see it and it’s not, it’s not that, and we have fought long and hard at the United Nations to keep that, to maintain that distinction.