'Silence begets evil actions'

Yad Vashem decries "alarming silence" to Iranian genocide threats.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Yad Vashem on Tuesday deplored the "alarming silence" of most of the world in the face of repeated Iranian genocidal threats against the Israel, warning that the Islamic republic represents a danger to all enlightened nations. "The alarming silence of the world indicates that the West has not yet understood that what is taking place is an attack on Western values and civilization," said Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev. "History has demonstrated that silence in the face of evil statements begets evil actions," he added. His unusually harsh comments bemoaning the passivity of most of the world's leaders to the looming Iranian threat came one day after Iran launched an exhibition of Holocaust cartoons in Teheran. The cartoon fair was initiated by Iran "as a test of western tolerance" in response to last year's controversial caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper which sparked worldwide Muslim outrage and a wave of violence. "The exhibit not only is horrific propaganda that supports Holocaust denial, it also paves the road to justifying genocide of the Jews in Israel," said Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council and Holocaust survivor Yosef (Tommy) Lapid. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust a "myth," and said that Israel should be wiped off the map. Iran is facing an end-of-the-month UN deadline to suspend its uranium enrichment activities or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions