By I. Greenberg

	“The Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world,” the newly elected Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared at ‘The World Without Zionism’ conference in Tehran which featured representatives of Hamas and Hezbolla. “The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of the war of destiny. Hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land. As the imam [Khomeini] said, Israel must be wiped off the map.”

The world was up in arms and major international players condemned the anti-Semitic diatribe, some more harshly than others, wagging fingers at the monster, saying, “Bad, bad boy.”

But caught between an olive branch and a crescent, the UN’s Kofi Anan said nothing. On one hand the UN represents the “world oppressor” Ahmadinejad referred to, while on the other hand it is now a puppet of Muslim nations who hijacked it to further their agenda.

I found it amusing when Shimon Peres demanded that Israel petition for the revocation of Iran’s membership to the UN. Quite the contrary, Mr. Peres: It seems that Iran is a model member of an organization that manages to agree on passing dozens of resolutions lambasting Israel for defending itself, but can’t coordinate a distribution program to feed the hungry or resolve to act when millions are murdered by genocidal tyrants.

Indeed, Israel does not belong on your map, Mr. Ahmadinejad. Your map, representing your worldview, is paper thin in its insubstantiality and its one-dimensional flatness. It cannot contain Israel, from which flows the wisdom that sustains humanity to this day, and which brings enlightenment and freedom to all who seek it.

This is a war of destiny. But your weapons cannot harm us, you cannot outwit us and you can’t outlast us. You are a hater of humanity that seeks destruction. We teach humanity to radiate the multi-colored tapestry of its Creator. You will be forgotten, but Israel will always remain.

So thank you Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for reminding me, and other discerning listeners, that you and I are so very different. Your hate and my love are not opposite sides of the same coin - they don’t even exist on the same map.

I. Greenberg is Editor of Exodus Magazine. A writer and filmmaker, he studied at York University in Toronto and New York University and the Rabbinical College of America.