Saudi rejects Iran Holocaust comments
Saudi Arabia envoy to U.S. tells Washinton Post Holocaust is undisputed "historical fact"
Western countries have condemned Ahmadinejad’s comments broadcast on Iranian state television Wednesday where he denied the Holocaust and suggested Israel be moved to Alaska.
"As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, that's a historical fact, you cannot deny that, and people should move forward from that," said Prince Turki al-Faisal during an interview with the Washington Post.
The Iranian President prompted a diplomatic uproar with the west with a number of hostile comments against the Jewish State, which ranged from lambasting Israel must be “wiped off the map” to suggesting Germany and Austria offer Jews land to form a state in Europe.
"As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, that's a historical fact, you cannot deny that, and people should move forward from that," Turki said.
The extermination of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II "of course has affected our part of the world because much of the European and American sympathy for the Zionist movement stemmed from that horrific genocide," Turki told the Washington Post. "The occupation of Palestine since then has been a consequence of that," he added.
Defending the Arab World’s policy towards Israel, Turki said Arab states have "made our peace" with the creation of Israel. He evoked a Saudi peace plan adopted by the Arab League in 2002, committing Arab nations to a peace process with Israel should the Jewish State agree to concede land it captured during the 1967 war and the creation of the Palestinian state. The Arab World will in return recognize Israel’s right to exist and push for normalization.
"It is a done deal for us," he said. "We are not going to go back on that."
