Volume 4 No 1 - Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

256 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 4:249
face and pushing at our very eyeballs: Hitler, the maniac, speaking of killing
the Jews to a frenzied crowd; great Father Stalin, who liquidated his
own assistants regularly and was reported to engage in “games” of putting
out his cigarettes on their palms, let alone liquidating millions of one ethnic
group after another in the Soviet Union; Mao, who expressed himself with
open sadistic glee about the thrill of killing people and undertook bizarre
campaigns such as the Great Leap Forward, which maimed the lives of
countless everyday people and claimed the lives of millions of them, his
countrymen.
Civilized people who believe in justice and Santa Claus and evolution
of a better human being and society may feel uneasy and embarrassed by
the presence of someone wild, when one dares to raise a question of
whether a given leader and/or government can be crazy enough to kill so
many people—not only other peoples, but also so many of their own people.
It can seem like the questioner is the mad one, certainly rude and
uncouth, and an undesirable spirit who should be unwelcome in the otherwise
respectable halls of our academies or public forums.
But the facts are that it is long since time that we face the overwhelming
propensity and high probabilities of mass destruction on the part of
certain leaders and governing organizations.
Are there serious problems with doing so in terms of standards of evidence
rather than hearsay? Does such thinking open doors to indefensible
abuse of others’ identities? Of course, and a fuller discussion of these issues
is critical. But the first critical need is to identify in advance when there will
be a high probability of major killing.
What are the evidences of Iran’s behaviors, policies, and guiding value
concepts?
Is Iran irrational? Of course it is.
If irrational means destructive of human life by way of active worldwide
terrorism—absolutely. Iran is indicted in terror in the Middle East,
Europe, Asia, and South America.
If irrational means committed to the destruction of other peoples? Of
course it is. “Death to Israel.” “Death to America.”
If irrational means a leadership that eschews democratic processes and
further tortures and murders those who dare oppose them, the record is
again clear. The Western world has expressed great respect for broad segments
of the Iranian populations as inspired by modern knowledge, beautiful
esthetics, and democratic values, but the Iranian regime has crushed its
people mercilessly.