A group of Iranian academics, writers and artists has denounced the Holocaust conference held in Tehran late last year, calling it a move that endangered peace and hurt the reputation of Iranian academics.
The Iranian government organized a two-day gathering in December, billed it as a legitimate conference on the historical record, and invited notorious Holocaust deniers and white supremacists from around the world. Among those representing the US was the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
The foreign ministry held the event after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed several times that the Holocaust was a myth invented to justify the state of Israel.
In a bold gesture, more than twenty academics, writers, and artists, many of whom live outside of Iran, signed a statement that was sent to the New York Times and circulated on the Internet last week, arguing that the gathering was an exercise in propaganda.
The statement said that the conference harmed the academic image of Iranian universities and merely provided a pretext for warmongers in the region. It added that the gathering perpetuated the immoral stance of Holocaust denial, a position that seriously endangers world peace.
"The extensive material evidence, the confessions made in the Nuremberg trial and other trials that took place after the war and the testimonies of the survivors established the veracity of the accounts beyond any doubt," the statement said.
"The accuracy of the accounts has been acknowledged by many academic, political, and religious authorities, including the Catholic Church," it said.
The statement added that talking inconsiderately about the genocide can only be described as rubbing salt into a historical wound.
"Those who perpetuate the discourse on Holocaust denial ignore the feelings of the people directly affected by this event," it said.
The statement also argued that denying the Holocaust would not help the Palestinian cause.
"No matter what political position we adopt regarding the creation of Israel and its further expansion, the historical evidence for the Holocaust remains intact," it said.
"The Palestinians, like all other nations, have a right to enjoy their livelihood in their own independent state. This right has nothing to do with the denial or acknowledgment of the Holocaust," the statement added.
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