Language:
English
Year of publication:
2006
Titel der Quelle:
Moment
Angaben zur Quelle:
(December 2006) 44-53, 74, 78, 80-82
Keywords:
Antisemitism
;
Jews History
Abstract:
Traces the history of attitudes toward Jews from the ancient "Zionist" King Cyrus and the pre-Muslim "golden age" to the "dhimmi" status of Jews under Islam and the worsening of Persian-Jewish relations under the Safavids, who viewed the Jews as polluting and whose outlook led to contemporary and later anti-Jewish violence. Highlights the positive attitude of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was close to Israel. The Islamic Revolution in 1979 introduced Islamic fundamentalism. The new leader, Ayatollah Homeini, allowed Iranian Jews to live their lives, go to synagogue, etc. on condition that they reject Zionism. Some local Jews were tried and punished following accusations of ties with Israel. Three-quarters of the Jewish community fled the country. Those remaining constituted the largest number in a Muslim country and were, in some sense, held hostage. The media and educational institutions became anti-Zionist, which particularly affected young people. Discusses the Holocaust denial remarks made by President Ahmadinejad, whom some consider a real antisemite, while others view him as a political pragmatist whose outspoken remarks, including the need to destroy the Jewish state, are being used to cover his flanks from the ultra-conservative religious leaders. Discusses, also, the lack of a monument in Iran to the diplomat Abdol Hossein Sardari, who rescued Jews in Paris during the Holocaust by providing them with blank visas.
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