SPD Foundation Courts Holocaust denier think tank
STOP THE BOMB calls for cancellation of the Iran event of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation
Berlin, May 10, 2019
The STOP THE BOMB campaign, which is directed against the dictatorship of the Iranian regime and its nuclear program, is protesting against the invitation of Iranian experts to an Iran event hosted by the Social Democratic Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) on 14 May.
The FES invited Saeed Khatibzadeh, a representative of the state-run Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), which hosted the 2006 Holocaust deniers conference in Tehran. Khatibzadeh presents himself as a mouthpiece of the Iranian regime on his twitter account, which he uses for the dissemination of statements by the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, the spiritual leader Ali Khamenei and for the glorification of the Revolutionary Guards. [2] The second guest of the FES conference is Hassan Ahmadian from the University of Tehran. Ahmadian recently described the devastating war of the Islamic Republic in Syria as a war of "deterrence" against the US and Israel. [3]
Despite of public criticism, the FES sticks to its plan. The campaign STOP THE BOMB demands the cancellation of the event. Spokeswoman Ulrike Becker comments: "A few days after the Iran-backed terrorist groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas attacked Israel with more than 700 missiles, the FES is courting the Iranian regime, which is not only threatening Israel with destruction, but spreads terror in its neighboring countries in supporting Shiite militias. The Iranian regime also plans and carries out terrorist attacks in Europe. The planned FES conference is a slap in the face for all democrats. The FES should focus on its core values of freedom, justice and solidarity and support the social and political struggles of women, trade unionists and other opposition groups fighting for freedom in Iran. "
At the end of April, the FES disinvited the German-Israeli author Chaim Noll to a planned event. The FES justified the disinvitation, inter alia, with Noll's vehement criticism of German cooperation with the Islamic Republic. [4]
Becker continues: "The fact that the Ebert Foundation is canceling an event with a critic of Germanys Iran-policy, and sticks to an event with IPIS, underlines that the FES with its courting of the antisemitic Iranian regime embarks on a strategy of political-moral twilight."
[1] https://www.fes.de/themenportal-die-welt-gerecht-gestalten/artikelseite/europa-und-iran-ein-jahr-nach-dem-us-ausstieg-aus-dem-atomabkommen/ . The Holocaust Denier Conference "The International Conference On Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision" is still available here: https://web.archive.org/web/20070114134827fw_/http:/www.ipis.ir/English/meetings_roundtables_conferences.htm.
[2] See for example https://twitter.com/SKhatibzadeh/status/1115370864453869568, https://twitter.com/SKhatibzadeh/status/1112643759186022400
[3] https://academic.oup.com/ia/article-abstract/95/2/341/5306386?redirectedFrom=fulltext
[4] https://jungle.world/blog/von-tunis-nach-teheran/2019/05/fes-am-runden-tisch, https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/politik-ausland/umstrittene-veranstaltung-nazi-jaeger-kritisiert-ebert-stiftung-61738210.bild.html
SPD Foundation Courts Holocaust denier think tank
STOP THE BOMB calls for cancellation of the Iran event of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation
Berlin, May 10, 2019
The STOP THE BOMB campaign, which is directed against the dictatorship of the Iranian regime and its nuclear program, is protesting against the invitation of Iranian experts to an Iran event hosted by the Social Democratic Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) on 14 May.
The FES invited Saeed Khatibzadeh, a representative of the state-run Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), which hosted the 2006 Holocaust deniers conference in Tehran. Khatibzadeh presents himself as a mouthpiece of the Iranian regime on his twitter account, which he uses for the dissemination of statements by the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, the spiritual leader Ali Khamenei and for the glorification of the Revolutionary Guards. [2] The second guest of the FES conference is Hassan Ahmadian from the University of Tehran. Ahmadian recently described the devastating war of the Islamic Republic in Syria as a war of "deterrence" against the US and Israel. [3]
Despite of public criticism, the FES sticks to its plan. The campaign STOP THE BOMB demands the cancellation of the event. Spokeswoman Ulrike Becker comments: "A few days after the Iran-backed terrorist groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas attacked Israel with more than 700 missiles, the FES is courting the Iranian regime, which is not only threatening Israel with destruction, but spreads terror in its neighboring countries in supporting Shiite militias. The Iranian regime also plans and carries out terrorist attacks in Europe. The planned FES conference is a slap in the face for all democrats. The FES should focus on its core values of freedom, justice and solidarity and support the social and political struggles of women, trade unionists and other opposition groups fighting for freedom in Iran. "
At the end of April, the FES disinvited the German-Israeli author Chaim Noll to a planned event. The FES justified the disinvitation, inter alia, with Noll's vehement criticism of German cooperation with the Islamic Republic. [4]
Becker continues: "The fact that the Ebert Foundation is canceling an event with a critic of Germanys Iran-policy, and sticks to an event with IPIS, underlines that the FES with its courting of the antisemitic Iranian regime embarks on a strategy of political-moral twilight."
[1] https://www.fes.de/themenportal-die-welt-gerecht-gestalten/artikelseite/europa-und-iran-ein-jahr-nach-dem-us-ausstieg-aus-dem-atomabkommen/ . The Holocaust Denier Conference "The International Conference On Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision" is still available here: https://web.archive.org/web/20070114134827fw_/http:/www.ipis.ir/English/meetings_roundtables_conferences.htm.
[2] See for example https://twitter.com/SKhatibzadeh/status/1115370864453869568, https://twitter.com/SKhatibzadeh/status/1112643759186022400
[3] https://academic.oup.com/ia/article-abstract/95/2/341/5306386?redirectedFrom=fulltext
[4] https://jungle.world/blog/von-tunis-nach-teheran/2019/05/fes-am-runden-tisch, https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/politik-ausland/umstrittene-veranstaltung-nazi-jaeger-kritisiert-ebert-stiftung-61738210.bild.html