The "Wipe Israel Off The Map" Hoax

Today, I am not writing about a recent event, but rather an issue that is plaguing our great nation. I am choosing to write about this because it involves some of the most horrendous misreporting that I have seen in awhile. Let's start with the basics. Iran is currently under sanctions and threats from around the world for two reasons: 1) they do not like Israel, and 2) they are developing nuclear weapons. Several politicians are rallying the American people for a war with Iran, and the people are agreeing chiefly because of one phrase, "Iran has stated that they will wipe Israel off the map." This makes sense to the American people, seeing that they do not like Israel and could be developing nuclear weapons. However, this is not true and the American people need to know that to avoid submitting to another major war.

First of all, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's Prime Minister, never even said it. Professors and Arabic translators have agreed that the proper translation is not, "wipe Israel off the map," but rather, "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time." Now, while this is not exactly "friendly" language, it is starkly different from what has been presented. First of all, they are saying that they are opposed to the Israeli regime rather than the Israeli people. They would like the Israeli regime removed from power, not the Jews removed from Israel.

When asked to clarify these comments, Ahmadinejad said that he has no plans to violently remove the regime or kill any Israeli people. Rather, he has said that the regime, he believes, will collapse on its' own. What this boils down to is that Iran is simply choosing not to recognize the Israeli government as legitimate. While that is not a good thing, it is not new. In fact, 27 countries do not recognize Israel as legitimate. So why are we treating Iran differently? It has nothing to do with Ahmadinejad statements, actually. We have been targeting Iran for years. Ahmadinejad only took power in 2005, yet we have had a trade embargo on Iran since 1995. The reason that we are targeting Iran is the same reason that we targeted Iraq: they questioned our legality in interfering with Middle Eastern politics and they have access to a lot of oil.

So, what do I suggest we do about this? First, we must reevaluate our position. While I agree that Iran is a shady regime, they do have a right to uranium enrichment. They are a part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows them to enrich uranium in small amounts. We must accept this, or we are breaking one of the most significant treaties in our history. We must address the issue diplomatically. Regardless of the Santorum talking points, we must sit down with Iran and discuss this. We must make it clear to them that we are willing to allow them to enrich as long as they let the world know exactly what they are doing and why. The only way that we can fix this problem is through this kind of diplomatic action. Hostile sanctions and eventually another war will do nothing but make the situation much worse.