A long-awaited action

Editorial

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been railing against Israel almost since his instalment as leader two years ago.

It was in October 2005, at the World Without Zionism conference in Teheran, that Ahmadinejad echoed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini's belief that Israel, "the occupying regime," should be "wiped off the map."

Ahmadinejad, who defiantly refuses to kowtow to Western officials alarmed by his country's renewed nuclear development program, has made it his business to issue regular, ongoing condemnations of Israel. He has compared the country's leadership to Hitler, referred to it as "a murderous regime" and referred to the Holocaust as "a myth."

Ill-fated attempts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions aside, the international community has done little to take the regime to task on this matter. Last week in Ottawa, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler took up the gauntlet. He tabled a motion at the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Human Rights, calling for the United Nations Security Council "to not only continue to address Iran's development of nuclear weapons, but consider to Iran's state-sanctioned incitement to genocide as a standing threat to international peace and security, and to refer this case to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for investigation and prosecution."

Cotler also requested that Canada initiate a state-to-state complaint under the Genocide Convention against Iran in the International Court of Justice for its incitement of genocide.

The motion was successfully passed – a move that has been applauded by Jewish organizations, including the Canada Israel Committee. However, according to Liberal MP Susan Kadis, Conservative members of the committee voted against the motion, "with one government member citing that it is not Canada's responsibility to take action when it is not affected by the direct threat of Iran."

We are encouraged by Canadian politicians leading the way when it comes to holding the collective feet of the Iranian regime to the fire – but disappointed that there are those in the House of Commons who don't believe Ahmadinejad's rantings are any of our business.

A belligerent Iran is not just a threat to Israel, but to all of us.

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