“Israel must be wiped off the map”

This is a famous quote of Iran’s President Ahmadinejad that is used over and over to show how dangerous Iran allegedly is. Considering the publicity of this quote, it is quite surprising that almost noone knows that this is a mistranslation and crudely taken out of context.

In an article titles “WIPED OFF THE MAP” – The Rumor of the Century, Arash Norouzi shows the errors in the translation, and the history of this twisted quote.

The correct translation would be:

The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time.

Arash also explains the context of this quote in great detail, so make sure you take a look at his article if you really want to understand what Ahmadinejad was saying, read the linked article. Here’s a very short excerpt describing a part of the quote’s context.

Ahmadinejad acknowledges that the removal of America’s powerful grip on the region via the Zionists may seem unimaginable to some, but reminds the audience that, as Khomeini predicted, other seemingly invincible empires have disappeared and now only exist in history books.

Note that the speech also does not contain any announcement to actively cause this “vanishing” of the regime. Another article (Putting Words in Ahmadinejad’s Mouth) nicely concludes the meaning of the quoted phrase: