(From the Canadian National Post🙂 A Jewish colleague returned to his desk at the United Nations to discover someone had anonymously dropped off a full-colour map showing Nazi-controlled Europe in 1942.

An Israeli, he had days earlier been among journalists Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the anti-Israel Iranian President, had approached after giving a press conference.

Ahmadinejad had no idea who any of the journalists were as he sought to charm them with a handshake, and quickly withdrew his hand when my colleague announced he was a “proud Zionist.”

The colleague could have made all sorts of fuss about the appearance of the Nazi map, suggesting there had been a connection between that occurrence and the handshake with Ahmadinejad, or even other anti-Israel sentiment at the UN, of which there is much.

To my surprise, he did not dwell on the incident, saying only he wouldn’t mind knowing who exactly left the map and why.

It seems likely the map depositor was trying to make some sort of negative — even threatening — point. My colleague’s reaction disempowered that person.

Which raises the question: Are there times when displays of intolerance should be ignored — or at least not amplified — in order to deny the perpetrator the “reward” of sparking outrage and possible fear?