Ahmadinejad, good for the Jews?
Iranian Jews from the city of Mashad, now living in Israel, have made the case that Ahmadinejad is good for Iran’s Jews.
At a conference of Iranian Jews in Jerusalem on Monday, leaders of the Mashadi Jewish community said that despite Ahmadinejad’s blustery rhetoric against Israel, Iran is a safe place for Jews to practice their religion.
Not much of a surprise there, really. Jews have lived peacefully in Iran/Persia for thousands of years under all kinds of rulers, from the benevolent Cyrus to the anti-Jewish Sassanids to the dictatorial Shah right through to the complex Islamic theocracy that is now Iran.
“Ahmadinejad speaks badly about Jews, but he is preferable to Mousavi,” said Shlomo Zabihi, a Mashadi rabbi. The current government is relatively stable and provides a safe environment for Jews, he said.
This is what I certainly noticed during my visit to Iran in the spring of 2008, during Israel’s 60th Anniversary celebrations. Jews worshiped quite openly, lived as freely as any other Iranian (which is to say, with severe limitations), and took care not to run afoul of the authorities. In exchange, they recieved support for the institutions and initiatives. There is even a rumor, not spread as a compliment, however, that Ahmadinejad has Jewish ancestry (a blogger who has made those “accusations” has, it appears, been arrested).
It is worth noting that some of those in whom we now place our hopes for a more moderate Iran, might not be so eager to protect the Jews. Rafsanjani has been implicated in the bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Argentina and Mousavi has some hardline roots, though they say he’s mellowed over the years. The old ‘devil you know’ saying comes to mind, but one thing is certain: The Jews of Iran, in Iran, are Iranian citizens, and, like all Iranian citizens, their government is in the process of destroying itself, ruining any legitimacy it had, and attacking its own people.
Good or bad for the Jews is not the question here, not now. Right now the question is good or bad for Iranians, Jewish or not. And to that end, it is quite clear, Ahmadinejad does not have their best interests at heart.
