Calling On United Nations Security Council To Charge Iranian Presidnet With Certain Violations Because Of His Calls For Destruction Of Israel
Floor Speech
CALLING ON UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL TO CHARGE IRANIAN PRESIDENT WITH CERTAIN VIOLATIONS BECAUSE OF HIS CALLS FOR DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL -- (House of Representatives - June 18, 2007)
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. KUCINICH. I will yield to my friend.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, is the gentleman aware that it is standard usage in the Government of Iran and in many of the Arab regimes that since they will not say the word ``Israel,'' they refer to Israel as the Zionist entity or the Zionist regime so that when they say the ``Zionist regime,'' they are not necessarily calling for regime change? When they say the ``Zionist regime'' or the ``Zionist entity'' must be abolished, they are usually referring to the country of Israel?
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, to respond to my friend, if that is what he meant, then we have cause for great concern. However, in one of the articles I wanted to submit so that Congress could see it, it says, and I quote, ``What did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words in Farsi,'' and then they give the quote, ``that passage will mean nothing to most people but one word might ring a bell: `regime.' It is the word `regime' pronounced just like the English word with an extra Ðe-h sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country or Israel the land mass but the Israeli regime. That is a vastly significant distinction as one cannot wipe a regime off the map.''
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. KUCINICH. I would be glad to have my friend respond and also for Mr. Rothman to respond.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I will respond again. It proves nothing because the fact is that if you are just looking at etymology, it may make sense. But if you look at usage in the Middle East, the Arab and Iranian people who wish the State of Israel eliminated have, since 1947 or 1948, referred to Israel either as the ``Zionist regime'' or the ``Zionist entity.'' And you can look back at the rhetoric of 1967 when they lined up the troops and they said all the Jews will be killed. They talked about the Zionist regime or the Zionist entity being eliminated. They weren't talking about regime change; they were talking about genocide.
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