That's a common oversimplification amongst not only non-Jews but also much of the Jewish establishment.  I've lost count of the number of times I've heard the phrase "Israel rose from the ashes" at Jewish communal functions.

 While (short-lived) guilt over the Holocaust may have sped up international recognition of the Jewish state, the fact is that the state's foundations had been well in place for some time before.  Much of what would become Israel's infrastructure--an army, a national labour organization, an absorption agency, a chief rabbinate, universities, and more--had come into existence by the 1930s.  If the Holocaust hadn't occurred, either at all or to the extent that it did, Israel may not have been formally established specifically in 1948, but given the well-organized Jewish majority in mandate Palestine, it would have been only a matter of time.

The Balfour Declaration, which promised Palestine to two separate peoples, was signed in 1917, and the crystallization of Herzl's dream for Jewish statehood occurred after he saw France devoured by anti-Semitism during Dreyfus affair in the 1890's. (He covered the case as a Viennese journalist.)

The Ahmadinejad wingnuts have to argue that the Holocaust never happened precisely because they see it as the founding myth, and original sin, of Israel. If they conceded the Shoah as historical fact, they'd be forced into the much more difficult position of saying, "Yes, it was terrible, but...."  Far easier to keep it simple by saying, "It's one big lie that begat other lies."

What I've never quite understood is how neo-Nazis like David Duke can claim with a straight face to disbelieve the Holocaust. If Hitler was a hero, then wouldn't putting his theory of a Jew-free Europe into practice be his ultimate heroic accomplishment? 

Nor do I contest the history at all.

I read Ahmadinejad's blog -- it's remarkably poor quality propaganda. He's not an intellectually stupid man -- it's not having the sense to avoid people recognizing the rhetoric as the same caliber as a pasty, fat punk in doc martins his mother purchased at Nordstrom's.

White flour, bro! White flour!

But I think it's great this is getting done. The sooner they get their BS out in public, the sooner it can be refuted. Easy slam dunk -- and nothing gets broken, invaded or occupied in the process.

It remains that Israel's problems will be, for the foreseeable future, compounded by their association with the US and as such, it's to be expected that the opportunists will scuttle out from behind the fridge to make the most of the situation. Better all the shit hits the fan all at once than incrementally.

The lesson European countries could (but won't) learn from all this is that criminalization of Holocaust denial is silly and self-defeating. Insanity, like anti-Semitism, has a tenacious gift for cropping up despite repeated attempts to suppress it.

Now all the sinister continental cranks can hope a plane to Tehran and to nod along to the "No Holes" postulate about the absence of gas chambers at Auschwitz. So much for criminalization.

The high visibility of Iran's conference also makes it that much more scandalous for Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian brigade to declare anti-American solidarity with Ahmadinejad... Would that be anti-Americanism at any price, then? It appears it would.  (The same goes for leftist fellow travelers of chavismo who express their sympathy with Venezuela's alms-house version of "socialism." Will The Nation publish a piece denouncing Hugo for his continuing support of the Islamic Republic, after this week? Not likely -- even if he won his re-election "fair and square.")

Let the toxic academics have their fun, and let's be sure to keep the cameras full of reel. 

I wrote this after reading about Melchik's new skin flick, but on second thought I think it's more appropriate posted here.

 I've been wondering the past few days if Hutton Gibson, Mel's superbright Dad (you try to win a life-changing pile of dough on Jeopardy, smartie pants), is going to give a talk at the Holocaust Deniers' Ball in Tehran. I would think he'd be right in his element there. Maybe zip over to a Tehran IHOP for a breakfast special with David Duke, try on KKK hoods with Ahmadinejad (who should be considered for the role of Michael Dukakis in the biopic of that underrated statesman's life). Hutton Gibson, you scamp. If you're not in Iran, if you think it's only the title of a song made famous by Flock of Seagulls (Hutton loved to call them Fucked Up Siegels, in a witty jab at the Jew-controlled record industry), you are missing one muddah fuddah of a party, dude. I know you must be busy watching your grandkids while Melvin is out hyping his new film ("Bashin' of the Christ, Part Dos" but surely you can spare a little time for the Jew-baiting of all Jew-baitings. Give it some thought, brother, something you're not inclined to do. But you never too old to change. Just ask your baby boy.