Last Friday, Canada's National Post broke a story that the government of Iran had passed a law that would require its non-Muslim citizens to wear a strip of cloth on their clothing that would denote their religion. according to the report by amir Taheri, Jews would be required to wear yellow, Christians, red and Zoroastrians blue.
Denials from Iran came fast and furious. The Iranian authorities indicated that there were proposed laws that would require proper dress for women and standard Islamic dress for men that would remove any class and ethnic distinctions, but vehemently denied that distinguishing colours would be required for non-Muslims.
after the Post's report had gone around the world, the newspaper backtracked saying that the journalist's sources were Iranian dissidents. No one in Iran, including a Jewish member of parliament said that the story was true, although it was conceded that the wearing of coloured pieces of cloth by Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians may have been discussed during the last two years when the dress code law was being devised. It came down to the fact that there was no real proof that religious minorities would have to wear the offensive material.
Given the recent outrageous statements of Iranian President Mahmoud ahmadinejad, the National Post's original story seemed credible. Iran was being compared to Nazi Germany and even the "give peace a chance" gang was noticing the dangers that that country poses.
While the Holocaust is still remembered and still kept in its proper perspective, Hitler and his Nazi government has lost much of the meaning that it used to have. after World War II, when the full horrors of the Nazi regime became known, the word "Hitler" became synonymous with "evil". Of course it helped a lot that back in the 40s and 50s the concept of good and evil was more prominent that it is in today's world of moral relativism. Now, the word "Hitler" is bantered about so much by those on the left, to describe anyone and everyone who is to their right on the political spectrum that the word has lost any significance or meaning that it had. George W. Bush is called "Hitler" so much by the likes of Cindy Sheehan and the air america crowd that it virtually goes unnoticed. It is trendy in many circles to refer to Bush as Hitler and Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld as Nazis. and Canadians such as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former Ontario Premier Mike Harris are not immune from comparison with the Nazi dictator whenever they do anything (usually refuse to spend more money on certain social programs) that those on the left do not agree with.
We all know what would happen if ahmadinejad made good his promise to wipe Israel off the map and attacked that country. Israel would fight back and then all the moral equivalencers such as interim Liberal leader Bill Graham would rise up in indignation. They would label Iran's actions as "unacceptable", beg the United Nations to intervene and, at the same time scold the Jew country for retaliating or using too much force in fighting for the survival of their population.
If the world could see pictures of Iran's minorities walking the streets of Tehran wearing strips of cloth of various colours then maybe, just maybe, those who think that "Hitler" is simply an adjective to insult those on the right with, there might actually be a better appreciation of the horrors and dangers of the Nazi Germany regime. and there might be a better understanding of the present dangers that the civilized world faces from Mahmoud ahmadinejad and his government.
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