September 20, 2007 | 10:44 am

Kudos to NYC for saying no to Ahmadinejad’s visit to ground zero

Posted by Karmel Melamed

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Yesterday New York City officials sent a clear message to Iran’s fundamentalist Islamic regime by denying the request of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to place a wreath at the site of the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks. Ahmadinejad is slated to speak at the U.N. on September 24th. Ahmadinejad who has headed a regime that has fueled international terrorism and called for the destruction of Israel was correctly prohibited from this sacred ground. While city officials sited ongoing construction as the reason for denying Ahmadinejad’s request, the NYPD also indicate security risks with his visit to the site. New York City officials deserve our praise and admiration for standing up to the Iranian regime and letting them know they cannot use P.R. stunts to improve their tainted image in the world.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York are sponsoring a demonstration outside the U.N. during Ahmadinejad’s speech to protest his calls for genocide against Israel and denial of the Holocaust.

Perhaps the smartest response to this ordeal has come from U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Zalmay Khalilzad, who told reporters yesterday that the United States would not support Iran’s attempt to use the site for a “photo op.” “Iran can demonstrate its seriousness about concern with regard to terrorism by taking concrete actions,” said Khalilzad. “Such as dropping support for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and suspending their uranium enrichment program”.

The U.S. also has denied a visa to Iran’s United Nations ambassador in Geneva to attend next week’s General Assembly meeting because he was involved in the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis. Also a great move to send a clear message to the Iranian regime!

Ahmadinejad’s request to place a wreath at the WTC site is only the latest in a series of damage control public relations moves the Iranian government has been taking to whitewash his horrible image in the international community after he has repeatedly denied the existence of the Holocaust and called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”. The following are just a few other BOGUS and very obvious publicity stunts undertaken by Iran’s mullahs to repair their tainted image in the media:

Producing and broadcasting “Zero Degree Turn” a television series on Iranian state-run network which accepts the existence of the Holocaust and shows an Iranian-Palestinian man saving a Jewish woman’s life in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Despite the show’s efforts to show that Iran is supposedly tolerant of the Holocaust, it is full of inaccuracies and attacks “Zionists”.

Announcing that the Iranian government supposedly “loves the Jews” by publicizing their plans earlier this month to build a new 73,000 square foot cultural and sports complex for the Jewish community in central Tehran.

Putting out press releases and sending their lackeys in the Western media to say that Ahmadinejad’s comments about Israel being wiped off the map were “incorrectly translated”. What a bunch of horse manure! We all know very well what Ahmadinejad said and what he meant, there’s no way to back track on it.

Sorry Mahmoud, you can’t place a wreath at ground zero because we all know your motives are disingenuous and your goals are genocidal!