Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Holocaust website draws Iranian visitors

From the news.com.au network, April 16, 2007 [Source: AFP] ...

THOUSANDS of Iranian surfers every month visit a new Holocaust website in Farsi run by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, despite their leadership's questioning the Nazi genocide of Jews, the museum said.

...The website was put online by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem in January, and has so far had some 25,100 visits, including 12,170 from inside Iran, spokeswoman Estee Yaari said. It includes 20 historical chapters on World War II, the Nazi regime, the systematic killings and photos from the Nazi death camps and ghettos. "We believe that making credible, comprehensive information about the Holocaust available to Persian speakers can contribute to the fight against Holocaust denial," said Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev.

...."The possibility for anybody in Iran to reach objective and balanced information in Farsi is very important... the opposition in Iran is important and people are looking for information," Mr Shalev said. According to emails translated by Yad Vashem, most Iranian surfers who visit the site say they are staunch opponents of their country's leadership. "The world should not allow people such as Ahmadinejad to fulfil their evil intentions," wrote one....

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