Some subjects do not lend themselves well to parody. Either the subject is itself so repulsive that parody is unsavory, or it is impossible to tell parody from reality because the reality is so bizarre. As Mark Twain noted, fiction writing is more difficult because it must stick to possibilities, while non-fiction doesn’t. As Dave Barry noted, “I can’t make this stuff up.”
Tehran, Iran, is hosting a Holocaust denial conference.
“Revisionist fringe,” says the headline in the online Independent. Analysis from The Jerusalem Post says it’s mainly the same old stuff, including the denials that the denial of the Holocaust is anti-Semitic. Iranian students protested the stuff — so often it is the students who seriously read history, now, who see what is going on and what is wrong with it — but the story from the online Times of London also carries the photo of the fringe ultra-orthodox Jewish group who showed up at the conference just to voice their opposition to the creation of Israel. A sub-headline in the Times is “‘Nazis and racists’ gather in Tehran.”
One would be much more comfortable were there a floating picture of MAD Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman coming across these stories on-line. But it’s not humor, it’s not parody. It’s really happening.
The ghost of Santayana rests uneasily today.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
The conference is completely misconceived. The question to ask is “who profits”?
Israel naturally vigorously protests. But actually they love it. An absurdity like this can only help their propaganda.
Another look not only at the pseudo-conference, but at the whole holocaust question, or rather its political manipulation by interested parties today.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Dec06/Ash14.htm
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The conference isn’t about “severely criticizing Israel.” It’s about bogus history. The Jerusalem Post is not a wholly unbiased source, but it’s not wholly wrong on this story, either.
The danger here is in the bogus history. Was it Twain who said ‘get your facts straight, then distort them as you choose?’ Good advice. This conference is about getting the facts wrong.
(Now I’ll have to look up that quote.)
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Not wishing to be contrary, but the notion that Holocaust revisionists / denialists are not by that fact alone anti-Semitic is actually a logical truism. Idiots and charlatans, yes. Jew-haters, no. To be a Jew-hater you have to hate Jews. Yes, many Holocaust deniers do – but not all.
That particular equating of two distinguishable positions isn’t as remotely wrong-headed as the one mentioned by bernarda, of course.
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Golly Gee. Israel and the Jerusalem Post–more or less the Voice of Israel-don’t like the conference in Iran. What a surprise, if it were true. In fact they love it, as it helps them present themselves as the perpetual victims once again. No, the Israelis have never ever victimized the Palestinians. Who could suggest such a thing? A quote from the article,
“If this new excuse, that questioning the Holocaust doesn’t mean you’re an anti-Semite, sounds familiar, that’s no coincidence. It’s merely a takeoff from another one that’s become very fashionable of late – that severely criticizing Israel doesn’t mean you’re an anti-Semite.”
“severely criticizing Israel” is “anti-semitism” for the Post. Apparently only innocuous, wishy-washy criticism of Israel can be tolerated. If you are going to refer to a source, it would be better that it wasn’t a racist propagandistic one like the Post.
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