Three leading figures of the Middle East have rushed to revise and re-read the Holocaust from a completely immoral and inhumane perspective. Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad began by denying the massacre against Jews ever took place. Soon after, leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, reiterated the same ideas to be followed by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood”s supreme guide, Mahdi Akef.

The denial of the Holocaust equates the clearance of Adolf Hitler, with which Islamists should not associate. Such denial is like dissociating Sharon from Sabra and Shatila, Begin from Deir Yassin, the Turks from the massacring of Armenians and Saddam Hussein of his mass murders.

We must draw a line between the fact of the torture of innocent Jews in concentration camps and the Zionist exploitation of the Holocaust with its aim of maintaining a Zionist state that practices the same methods of the Nazis but against Palestinians. For our own sake, we must acknowledge that Zionists cunningly used the genocide of the Jews for political blackmail, whereas no Arab or Muslim organizations have yet documented professionally the genocide of Palestinians to present to the world. Meanwhile, some Arab political parties still insist upon denying the annihilation against the Kurdish village Halabjah and the mass graves perpetrated by Saddam Hussein”s regime, however, will seek to justify such horrendous acts!

The ideas of the Islamists about the Holocaust aims predominantly at provoking people”s emotions at the expense of our reputation. It seeks to shake our moral stand that condemns any massacres carried out against innocent people regardless of race or religion. Therefore, the comments made by Ahmedinijad were soon followed by a statement from an Iranian official that the President”s words were &#34a matter for academic discussion.&#34 Similarly, 24 hours after the Muslim Brotherhood”s Supreme Guide made comparable controversial remarks, explanations began, claiming that the leader”s comments were made &#34in context to criticizing Western democracy.&#34

We have a moral issue on our hands. The major problem is that we do not want to address it!