I said I’d keep you posted on reactions to the Iranian Holocaust cartoon exhibition which opened in the Islamic Republic last month.
From the Independent:
An exhibition of cartoons about the Holocaust, some suggesting it was fabricated or exaggerated, has been a flop in Tehran. It drew audiences of fewer than 300 a day in its first week and now, three weeks after sparking international furore when it opened, attracts just 50 people a day.
Most of those approached in central Tehran said they had not heard of the exhibition and insisted the slaughter of six million Jews by the Nazis was a historical fact. “I’m sure the Holocaust was true – I’ve heard all about it from newspapers and television,” said a housewife from a religious family. “I don’t know why some say it didn’t happen.”
One person takes a guess:
“This regime is crazy. Everybody knows the Holocaust happened. Over the past year things have become more difficult and this exhibition shows they do not care what we think.”
The exhibition was supposed to demonstrate that freedom of expression in Iran is alive and well. The evidence proves otherwise:
yesterday they closed Iran’s most popular reformist newspaper. One alleged offence was its publication of a cartoon which appeared to show President Ahmadinejad as a donkey.
