| House Blasts Ahmadinejad's Israel Comments |
| Written by Andrew Clayton | |
| Wednesday, 20 June 2007 | |
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Washington DC – The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution today urging the UN Security Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and the UN Charter. House Concurrent Resolution 21, sponsored by Representative Rothman (D-NJ), passed by a vote of 411 to 2. The two Representatives who voted against the resolution were Ron Paul (R-TX) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who expressed concern over the proper translation of Ahmadinejad’s comments on Monday. Kucinich cited faulty information leading up to the Iraq War as grounds for concern about the accuracy of Ahmadinejad’s comments, offering alternative interpretations to what was presented in the bill of the text. Rothman asserted that Ahmadinejad had expressed the desire to “wipe Israel off the map” in an October 2005 speech and had made subsequent comments of a similar nature. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), expressing her support for the bill, stated: “Let us be clear, [Ahmadinejad] is calling for the genocide of Jews.” Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, “direct and public incitement to commit genocide” is illegal. The proper translation of Ahmadinejad’s quotes has been the subject of some debate. Kucinich argued that the translations used in the bill were either misquoted or out of context, offering alternative translations from the New York Times to convey his point. |
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