International Holocaust Cartoon Competition
This was done under the notion that those who supported the Jyllands-Posten's right to free anti-Islamic speech would be placed in a precarious position were they to condemn the antisemitic cartoons targeted at one of the most sensitive of Jewish topics.
In that introductory message for the contest, Hamshahri denounced what it called Western hypocrisy on freedom of speech, alleging that "it is impossible in the West to joke upon or even discuss certain topics related to Judaism, such as the Holocaust, and the pretexts for the creation of Israel".
[5] On 14 February 2006, the editor in chief of Hamshahri commented in Persian that "the purpose of establishing such a competition is not to offend or ridicule anyone, but to do a discussion about the realities of the Holocaust".
He also indicated that Hamshahri tries really hard not to cause pain for anyone and also added that the newspaper has no contention with the Jews in Iran or any other place, but that it has problems with Zionism.
[9] Conservative newspapers such as Kayhan and Jomhouri Eslami hailed the decision by Hamshahri for the contest, and their cartoonists, such as Maziyar Bizhani, actively entered the competition.
Emadeddin Baghi, a member of the religious-intellectuals circle, Ebrahim Yazdi, the head of Nehzat Azadi Party, Hamid Reza Jalaeipour, a prominent figure of Islamic Iran Participation Front and Sadeq Zibakalam, a prominent political analyst of the Kargozaran party criticized these new policies by calling them "useless, scientifically-baseless and purely political actions which originates from the authorities' lack of historical knowledge".
[14] The event was also criticised by the then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan,[2] the U.S. State Department,[2] the Israeli foreign ministry, Reporters Without Borders, the Anti-Defamation League[15] and other parties.
On 1 November 2006, the political cartoonist Abdellah Derkaoui (Arabic: عبدالله درقاوي), a Moroccan, was announced as the winner and received the first prize of US$12,000.
Zarif was questioned in the Iranian parliament about his negative position on the Holocaust cartoon contest and exhibition three months after its closing.
He maintained his belief that Holocaust denial does not benefit the Islamic Republic of Iran and he repeated the claim that the contest was the work of an NGO and not any government agency.
[23] Irina Bokova, the director-general of UNESCO, condemned the holding of it: "Such an initiative which aims at a mockery of the genocide of the Jewish people, a tragic page of humanity's history, can only foster hatred and incite to violence, racism and anger.
This contest goes against the universal values of tolerance and respect, and runs counter to the action led by UNESCO to promote Holocaust education, to fight anti-Semitism and denial.
[28][29] After the contest, the Iranian House of Cartoon and the Sarcheshmeh Cultural Complex announced another similar contest, this time calling for cartoon submissions on the "Zionist Caliphate" that would focus on "Zionism, terrorism and racism" and "ISIL terrorism and genocide in the name of religion and to the benefit of the Zionists".
