Holocaust deniers and their allies

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Jan. 27 was the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz (1945). It was also U.N.-sponsored International Holocaust Commemoration Day.

Poland, as well as other European countries joined in support of a U.N. resolution, initiated by the United States, which "condemns without reservation any denial of the Holocaust" and urges U.N. member states "unreservedly to reject any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event."

The U.S. Acting Ambassador to the United Nations Alejandro D. Wolff said "those who would deny the Holocaust -- and, sadly, there are some who do -- reveal not only their ignorance, but their moral failure as well."

In a recent lecture, the newly elected U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, in a veiled reference to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "Denying historical facts, especially on such an important subject as the Holocaust, is just not acceptable. Nor is it acceptable to call for the elimination of any State or people. ... We must apply the lessons of the Holocaust to today's world."

Heeding his call, 103 countries co-sponsored the resolution, which passed by consensus and without a vote. The Holocaust was one of the defining events of the last century. It should be one of its most important lessons.

But who is refusing to learn from the mass slaughter? Who voiced objections to the U.N. resolution and who opposed it? Those who do not wish to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Unsurprisingly, Iran made a strong statement against the resolution, focusing instead on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the treatment of the Palestinians. None of the Arab nations, and most Muslim countries refused to co-sponsor.

This is a chilling fact. It says a great deal not just about the Iranian state of mind, but of its intentions. By supporting Holocaust denial Tehran is legitimizing it -- and paving the way to a new Holocaust.

The deafening silence of the Arab states, even though some, like Egypt and Jordan, are formally at peace with Israel, as well as the stance of nuclear-armed Pakistan, makes one wonder how deep both denial of history and hatred of the Jews go.

Even Kofi Annan, hardly a friend of Israel, stated at the end of his tenure that "the [Iranian] rhetoric implies a refusal to concede the very legitimacy of Israel's existence, let alone the validity of its security concerns. ... Today Israelis are often confronted with words and action that seem to confirm their fear that the goal of their adversaries is to extinguish their existence as a state and as a people."

The United States and Israel have warned that Iran's stance on the Holocaust-- and its president's assertions that Israel should be wiped off the map -- are in direct violation of the U.N. Charter and should be viewed with extreme concern in light of its defiant development of nuclear capabilities.