MEDIA REACTION: IRAN

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 002220 SIPDIS STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PD, INR/IAA, PM, INL STATE FOR INR/R/MR, NEA/PDA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO OPRC PTER CI IR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAN On September 28, center-left "Diario Siete (circ. 23,000) ran an editorial entitled "Erase Israel from the map?" Quote: "Mahmud Ahmadinejad, the new president of Iran, said yesterday that Israel `should be erased from the map'.... This is an obscene expression that can lead to the justification of genocide.... Whether for God, country, superior race, or the argument of a chosen people, fundamentalists are an affront to humanity ... and any doctrine that tries to validate genocide must be confronted by the international community as whole.... There can be no double standard on this. Just as humankind condemns the Holocaust, it also condemns the abuses committed by Israel against the people of Palestine.... The fundamentalist mentality is the main obstacle to long-lasting peace in the Middle East, which requires the co-existence of Israel and a Palestinian state.... We must encourage those in the Arab world who distance themselves from the stance of the new government of Iran, and those sectors in Israel who want to end the bloodshed." KELLY"