Newshoggers Comments
Thank you for this wonderful find.
Lets not forget that outside of Israel, Iran has the largest Jewish population in the MidEast. Jews are gone from our allies in Egypt, Saudis Arabia and Jordan.
You're welcome Py. Glad you liked it.
I didn't know that Rudi. Very interesting.
Happy holidays to you both.
Go to Amnesty International and do a search on Iran.
Hate the neo-cons all you want, but do not gloss over the human rights abuses that take place in Iran every day.
One can be critical of the Bush administration and the opression of women, minorities, and homosexuals that takes place in Iran.
Libby,
Here's a link to a Jewish site that states this as a solid estimate. What's interesting is that it's at the bottom of the article, most of the article is an attack at Islamic Iran.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary....m/
iranjews.html
The Jewish community of Persia, modern-day Iran, is one of the oldest in the Diaspora, and its historical roots reach back to the 6th century B.C.E., the time of the First Temple. Their history in the pre-Islamic period is intertwined with that of the Jews of neighboring Babylon. Cyrus, the first of the Archemid dynasty, conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.E. and permitted the Jewish exiles to return to the Land of Israel, bringing the First Exile to an end. The Jewish colonies were scattered from centers in Babylon to Persian provinces and cities such as Hamadan and Susa. The books of Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel give a favorable description of the relationship of the Jews to the court of the Achaemids at Susa.
Under the Sassanid dynasty (226-642 C.E.), the Jewish population in Persia grew considerably and spread throughout the region; nevertheless, Jews suffered intermittent oppression and persecution. The invasion by Arab Muslims in 642 C.E. terminated the independence of Persia, installed Islam as the state religion, and made a deep impact on the Jews by changing their sociopolitical status.
(snip)
Today, Iran's Jewish population is the second largest in the Middle East, after Israel. Reports vary as to the condition and treatment of the small, tight-knit community, and the population of Iranian Jews can only be estimated due to the community’s isolation from world Jewry.
Wiki and other sources back up this estimate. The Iranian Jews are like the Bahai, Persians first and religious next. What many in the West ignore is that Israel's growth has come from Eastern Europe and primarily the old USSR, because of wide spread anti-semitism in the old USSR.
CF, I don't HATE anyone, much as I disagree with the neo-con philosophy and loathe what they have done to our country. I'm not unaware that human rights violations occur in Iran, but the same could be said for the US as well. The point is that you can't judge an entire population by the actions of corrupt leaders.
Rudi, thanks for the link.
"We distinguish between the American people and the American government." Cliche uttered hundreds of thousands of times from the 1920's onwards to Western leftists visiting the USSR, PRC, Sandinista Nicaragua, Fidel's Cuba, the lovely DPRK of Kim Il Sung.
One never hears the same Western leftists who accept as gospel any damn Stalinist agitprop, say a critical word about the Iranian regime. When they do, perchance, they get slammed as, "Islamophobes, " or, "anti-Iranian, " or, "Pro-Imperialists, " pushing to bomb Iranians.
You know if you visit Iranian feminist websites you will find tons of photos of women being arrested in Teheran for dressing w/o a veil. Misogyny in the third world, a.o.k.?
What about our allies like SA, Egypt and Jordan. The SA are OK, they pardoned the rape victim.
What abour "our" allies, the KSA, Egypt, etc.I have a Single standard, unlike the Left which is for human rights abuses if they are in "anti-imperialist" regimes, only against those in "friendly" regimes.
How about these lovely death squads in Iran? Human Rights and Labor
* The Human Rights Organization of Ahwaz reports that several bodies have been dumped in the streets of Ahwaz and in Karoun River which have been identified as ethnic Arab Iranian citizens who were arrested during the October 2007 demonstrations in Ahwaz.
>...Jews are gone from our allies in Egypt, Saudis Arabia and Jordan.
Something like 800-900 thousand Jews were expelled from Arab countries after '48. Right of return for the Jews?
Hey it's Christmas and I have to go do the family thing so all I'll going to say is we should fight the oppression wherever it is, not the people who suffer from it.
Thanks Libby, and happy holidays to you.
Hey Libby, you've made it to the big time! You've got michael pugliese - serial troll, "amateur redbaiter" and apologist for Israel - in your comments.
You must've hit a nerve with this post 
Regards, C
Pugsy doesn't like the idea of thinking of Iranians as human, I guess. Makes it harder to justify killing them.
Actually the Iranian Jews who are in Israel prefer to return to Iran rather than stay in Israel. Indeed, Jewish immigration to Israel as a whole is reportedly at a 20-year low.
http://www.iranaffairs.com/
As everything else, the social situation in Iran is not so simple, and cannot easily be categorized as pro or against democracy.
Iran has a mixture of rather advanced democratic laws and practices, that protect e.g. religious minorities and foreigners, and as well some despisable history of repression.
In general, I'd say that people who don't think exactly like the regime are much better off here in Tehran than in other countries in the Middle East.
I'm hanging with my sis who I haven't seen in years so all I'll say right now is thanks for the comments and links everybody.
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