Castro Criticizes Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust Denial
Cuban leader Fidel Castro criticized Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and promoting anti-Semitism.
In a wide-ranging interview with Atlantic reporter Jeffrey Goldberg, Castro, a frequent critic of Israel, said the Iranian government could encourage peace by acknowledging the “unique” history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence.
“I think their culture and religion kept them together as a nation,” Castro said of the Jewish people, adding that “The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust.”
Castro described his experiences with anti-Semitism as a young boy, when he was told that the Jews killed God.
Castro said he does not believe Iran will back down on its pursuit of nuclear weapons, despite sanctions and threats of an Israeli attack.
“This problem is not going to get resolved because the Iranians are not going to back down in the face of threats,” he told Goldberg.
“The Iranian capacity to inflict damage is not appreciated. Men think they can control themselves, but Obama could overreact and a gradual escalation could become a nuclear war.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30