Oh the irony! The irony! And the nerve. Christmas is, no doubt, a holiday celebrated all over the world… apparently even in repressive, oppressive backward Iran (directed at the government, not the people). Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (the beadie-eyed man who talks like Hitler) even went so far as to issue a Christmas message, in which he espoused on what Jesus would do. For some reason a British TV network decided they were going to air it as an “alternative” message to Queen Elizabeth’s. Would they have given Adolf Hitler air time to express his “alternative” message? You figure it out.

The irony, the fact that Iran just killed 10 people in slow, painful hangings on Christmas Eve (they do strangulation, too and it’s all public), is addressed near the end.

Excerpt:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stoked criticism by delivering a Christmas message on Channel Four, saying if Jesus were alive he would oppose “expansionist powers.”

Ahmadinejad said in the address on Thursday that Jesus Christ would oppose “bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers.”

The Foreign Office condemned the speech, while Israel’s ambassador to London called it a “national embarrassment.”

The Channel Four broadcast is seen as an alternative to Queen Elizabeth II’s traditional annual address to the Commonwealth, which aired earlier in the day, and the station had invited Ahmadinejad to speak.

… He began by congratulating Christians and the people of Britain on the anniversary of the birth of Christ, which Christians celebrate on Christmas Day.

“If Christ were on Earth today, undoubtedly he would stand with the people in opposition to bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers,” he said.

(AFP/Getty Images)

“If Christ were on Earth today, undoubtedly he would hoist the banner of justice and love for humanity to oppose warmongers, occupiers, terrorists and bullies the world over.”

Speaking in Farsi, Ahmadinejad blamed society’s problems on humanity’s rejection of religion but predicted Christ would return “with one of the children of the revered Messenger of Islam and will lead the world to love, brotherhood and justice”.

He ended by saying: “I pray for the New Year to be a year of happiness, prosperity, peace and brotherhood for humanity. I wish you every success and happiness.”

Explaining the decision to invite Ahmadinejad to speak, Channel Four’s head of news and current affairs Dorothy Byrne said: “As the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad’s views are enormously influential. (Read full article here…)

And the skeptic’s point of view is sometimes a good thing: The double-hype of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – Gaurdian UK commentary

It’s no secret to… ANYONE… that Iran persecutes Christians and anyone they find “undesirable” and hang hundreds of people every year. This man obviously doesn’t know Jesus Christ of Nazareth, else he would refrain from his hypocrisy… among other things (note to Ahmadinejad: Christ Jesus is Jewish).

According to The Norway Post:

Norway deplores the executions of 10 persons in Iran on Christmas Eve. Prior to the executions Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere appealed to Iran to stop in time and not go ahead with the executions.

… The Government is concerned about the human rights situation in Iran in general. Two days ago the Iranian authorities closed the Center for Defence of Human Rights in Tehran, The centre was established and headed by the Iranian lawyer and human rights defender Shirin Ebadi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.

You can see a photo of the hanging at Iran Focus, a very interesting Web site you may want to bookmark. Also, here is an interesting blog page with a collection of some of Iran’s gruesome public hangings and strangulations (slow suffocation).