Why they Deny the Holocaust

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has written an op-ed for the LA Times, providing some perspective on the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's conference for those that deny the Holocaust. Muslims living in the Arab world are woefully ignorant of the Holocaust. They simply do not know what the Nazis did -- and if they did, the horror would be justified by the propaganda that they are fed: namely, that Jews are evil, are out to destroy Islam, and are the cause of everything bad in the world. This of course is known to be untrue by those in power -- those that carry some influence in the Muslim world. Yet, there is hardly any protest of Ahmadinejad's conference from the Muslim leaders of the world.

What's striking about Ahmadinejad's conference is the (silent) acquiescence of mainstream Muslims. I cannot help but wonder: Why is there no counter-conference in Riyadh, Cairo, Lahore, Khartoum or Jakarta condemning Ahmadinejad? Why are the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference silent on this?

Could the answer be as simple as it is horrifying: For generations, the leaders of these so-called Muslim countries have been spoon-feeding their populations a constant diet of propaganda similar to the one that generations of Germans (and other Europeans) were fed - that Jews are vermin and should be dealt with as such? In Europe, the logical conclusion was the Holocaust. If Ahmadinejad has his way, he shall not want for compliant Muslims ready to act on his wish.