Jewish deputy of Iranian parliament speaks up

www.payvand.com...

thanks for the links, but we like to encourage you to also share your thoughts and opinions on your find.

I found this part of the article linked above to be quite interesting:

"We distinguish between the Jewish community and the Zionists; the Jewish community and other communities which live in Iran belong to this nation and Islam treats them in the same manner which it treats others," the MP quoted Imam Khomeini as saying once.

I never knew they even made a distinction, so it was good to read and see that they do.

Worldwatcher,

Yes indeed they make a distinction between Jews and Zionists. The Jews of Iran have the longest history of all the Jews in the Middle East - 2700 years. There were around some 80,000 Jews in Iran prior to the revolution of 1979, and today an estimated 30,000 remain. The Jews have always enjoyed religious freedom throughout their long history in Iran. Synagogues have stood side by side with churches and mosques for thousands of years - Well, actually synagogues have stood on Iranian soil for much longer than mosques have since Islam was introduced to Iran in the 7th century AD. Iranian Jews are also known to be very patriotic towards Iran and many of the ones I have known are much more loyal towards Iran than towards the zionist state.

If you are surprised by the fact that Iran's ruling establishment distinguishes between Jews and zionists, then perhaps it would also surprise you that there have been many orthodox rabbies who have visited Tehran and met with Iranian Muslim clerics of the ruling establishment there. These rabbies were not supporters of zionism though.

Thanks so much for the insight, Siroos.

I never knew Iran had a large Jewish population.

Are they allowed to worship freely? What about Christians? Or others? Are they the targets of religious prejudice? Did Jews fight alongside Iran during the Iran-Iraq War? How do they feel about Israel?

Sorry to bombard you with so many questions, but you peaked my interest!

Thanks so much!

Check out my post in Predicitons. Has a little relation to what yall are talking about

www.abovetopsecret.com...

A lot of Jewish people dislike the "Zionist" movement.

Did you know Israel segregates schools between Arabs and Jewish people? It doesn't allow them to pray in certain places, does not allow any non-jewish person to move to Israel, list goes on.

It's like a step back to 1920's America and a large population of the Jewish Popultion of the World are against it. We have even had demonstrations in America and Europe against Zionism.

Also, Islam and Iran lets them practice free; it actually has that in the Qu'Ran and does not wish to "Kill them all" as people think but "Show them the light" which means to allow them to see Allah as the true god.

It's through ignorance that a majority of people have their view on Islam.

Erm, the term "alot" indicates what percentage of those of Jewish denomination, Odium?

Would that be like Republicans and Democrats in that there are "alot" of Jews who are for Zionism and "alot" that are not?




seekerof

Well, if Iran keeps on the nuclear path its on, Mr Bush and Sharon will make sure the Jew and Christian populations of Iran SIGNIFICANTLY increase soon, and they wont be flying Delta...

Are they allowed to worship freely? What about Christians? Or others? Are they the targets of religious prejudice? Did Jews fight alongside Iran during the Iran-Iraq War? How do they feel about Israel?

Nathraq - Yes indeed, Jews, Christians and zoroastrians are all free to worship freely. They also recieve quite generous funding from the state for their religious activites. Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians are also by the Iranian constitution reserved a certain number of seats in the Iranian parliament and senate. The only religious community which might have had some trouble with the authorities after the revolution in 1979 was the Bahai faith (An Iranian sect) But that was mostly in the years right after the revolution, and a lot of the accusations by the Bahai World Congress should also perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt. I'm not saying that the Bahais were not prosecuted, but the charges against the IRI in this respective have been very exaggerated.

Christians are totally free to worship freely as they have done for more than 2000 years in Iran.

Yes, there were many Jews who fought with their Iranian compatriots in the war against Iran.

I would say that most Iranian Jews are pro-Israeli, but the vast majority of them are more loyal to Iran. Iran is their homeland and they are no less Iranian then any other Iranians.

[
Also, Islam and Iran lets them practice free; it actually has that in the Qu'Ran and does not wish to "Kill them all" as people think but "Show them the light" which means to allow them to see Allah as the true god.

Actually, "Allah" is just the Arabic name for "God". In Farsi we Iranians do not use "Allah" so much, but instead we use the Persian name "Khodah" which comes from the Persian word "Khod" which means "Self" - You probably have heard "that in order to know God you must know your self."

So many people tend to think that "Allah" is the Jesus of Muslims or the special God of Muslims - No such thing! There is only one God in all of existence, and while Arabs call Him "Allah", Persians call Him "Khodah", the French "Dieu", in Latin "Theo", English "God", Swedish "Gud", and so on..... but it's the same God - the One and Only.

Originally posted by skippytjc
Well, if Iran keeps on the nuclear path its on, Mr Bush and Sharon will make sure the Jew and Christian populations of Iran SIGNIFICANTLY increase soon, and they wont be flying Delta...

Please, grow up! What are they going to do? Bomb us with Christians and Jews? Iran will have it nukes and there's nothing you can or will do about it! You better just get used to the idea. If the U.S. doesn't want others to have nukes, then it should set an example and begin to get rid of its own arsenal first. You're really under-estimating Iran and Iranians.

A very educational thread. I also wasn't aware of a Jewish and Christian population within Iran. The fact that they all get along is also great. I learnt something new today.

You have voted Siroos for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

nice topic
good to see something positive here apart from lets blow the **** out of these people

Originally posted by jra
A very educational thread. I also wasn't aware of a Jewish and Christian population within Iran. The fact that they all get along is also great. I learnt something new today.

The Jews have 2700 years of history in Iran. It was the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great who liberated the Jews from the Babylonians and gave them a free haven in Iran. The Christians have been there longer than in most other places. As a matter of fact the oldest first Christian church erected in the world is located in northern Iran and is a major site for mainly Armenian pilgrims.

Many Ultra Orthodox Rabbis are against Zionism because they believe that the Promised Land will be reborn anew by the Moshiach or messiah.

The Birth of Israel and the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland after nearly 2000 years looked like it was brought about by man and not the Messiah so those rabbis think the nation of Israel is illegitimate.

Also "Many" refers to a large number of Rabbis but certainly not a majority and not even a substantial minority.


hey Odium do you know Jews are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. If the police see you close your eyes or bow your head or even whisper you will be arrested. This is done to prevent offending the Muslims.

[edit on 4/16/2005 by verfed]