Holocaust Denier Denies Not Denying Holocaust

Tehran, October 23 – A senior Iranian official today denied reports that he had failed to deny the Holocaust, attempting to fend off criticism from political rivals intent on denying him support.

Maher Shalalhashbaz, a regional governor, told reporters he had not said the Holocaust had not happened, and contradicted reports that he had contradicted his own previous statements contradicting the established historical record.

“I flatly deny failing to continue to deny what I have always denied, namely, that any specific targeting of Jews for extermination took place at the hands of the Nazis, which of course I deny, and deny I ever did not deny it,” he insisted. “Those who deny I do not still deny the Holocaust are merely trying to deny me a second term in this position.” Shalalhashbaz’s term ends next year, and there are several contenders to succeed or replace him.

“Though they will deny it, the individuals are only attempting to smear me with an alleged denial of my Holocaust denial, which is undeniably false,” he asserted. “No one can deny that I have always denied, and will continue to deny, that anything unique occurred to the Jews of Europe during World War Two.” If one fails to deny that, said Shalalhashbaz, it could deny the Muslim world success in ridding the region of Israel, the legitimacy of which Iran denies.

Ishal Dinai, one of the contenders attempting to deny Shalalhashbaz a second term, denies denying that his rival denied denying the Holocaust. “I never said that,” said Dinai.

Analysts explain that Holocaust denial has become a staple of Middle Eastern sensibilities, including the curriculum of UNRWA schools throughout the region. Officially the organization denies teaching denial, but many of its employees do not deny denying it. “The region’s leading and most populous Arab country, Egypt, is undeniably in the forefront of Holocaust denial,” says Dean Nye, who studies the region. “But in recent years the ‘industry,’ as it were, of Holocaust denial has caught on in the Arab and Muslim worlds far beyond this corner of the Mideast, such that in an undeniable way, denial is not just a river in Egypt.”