UN Chamber Mostly Empty for Ahmadinejad Speech

The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,  found himself addressing a mostly empty UN debating chamber on 23 September 2009 as delegates either boycotted his speech entirely or walked out as he attacked the 'Zionist Regime' for committing genocide against Palestinians.

Ministers and senior diplomats of Western countries denounced Ahmadinejad's speech as unacceptable.

  

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The main points of his speech are as follows:

He made no mention of the Irans nuclear program.

He attacked Israel as the "Zionist regime" which pursues "inhumane policies in Palestine"  calling the "attack on Gaza by the Zionist regime barbaric." He alleged that "official reports on the brutalities of the Zionist regime in Gaza have not been completely published" and called on the UN to "punish the agressors."

He asked: "How can the crimes of the occupiers against defenseless women and children... be supported unconditionally by certain governments? And at the same time, the oppressed men and women be subject to genocide and heaviest economic blockade being denied their basic needs, food, water and medicine?"

He called for "a referendum and free elections in Palestine in order to prepare a conducive ground for Palestinian populations, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, to live together in peace and harmony; putting an end to all interferences in the affairs of Iraq, Afghanistan, Middle East, and in all countries of Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe."

He attacked evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem as "oppression" and compalined that Guantanamo has still not been closed down.

He said that a "small minority is dominating much of the world through a complicated network" [an indirect reference to the Jews, as in previous speeches], and accuses "Zionists" of seeking to "establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions."

He defended the Iranian elections as "glorious and fully democratic" and his government as one of the most "democratic and progressive in the world."

He attacked US military engagement in Latin America (Colombia).

He said that Iran had been "the victim of terrorism" and is prepared to build a peaceful and stable world and "shake all those hands that are honestly extended to us".

Large passages of the speech werereferences to the prophets, including Abraham, Jesus Christ, and Mohammed, and he said that the world is "awaiting patiently the return of the Imam," which would eventually bring salvation.