Re: [Marxism] Israel's Jewish Problem in Tehran

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dbachmozart@xxxxxxx wrote:
> _http://counterpunch.org/cook08032007.html_ 
> (http://counterpunch.org/cook08032007.html) 
> 

110,000 Jews left Iran after Khomeini took power, leaving mostly 30,000 
elderly behind. Those who remain tend to be very careful about what they 
  say and do. In 1999 13 Jews from Shiraz were charged with spying for 
Israel. The first two were charged with selling alcohol to Muslims and 
then "confessed" that eleven others were involved with them in 
espionage. This action accelerated the flight from Iran.

While it is true that Jews were never the victims of systematic pogroms, 
another religious minority was. The Bahais were jailed and killed 
mercilessly in years past and still live in intimidation. I got to know 
the Bahais about 25 years ago when I went to their services in NYC out 
of curiosity. The woman who used to cut my hair was a Bahai who had fled 
Iran and I got to know her. It is a completely harmless if not benign 
religious sect. Dizzy Gillespie was its most famous member.

In a 1979 interview with James Cockcroft, a leftist journalist, 
Ayatollah Khomeini had the following to say:

Cockroft: Will there be either religious or political freedom for the 
Bahá'ís under the Islamic government?

Khomeini: They are a political faction; they are harmful. They will not 
be accepted.

Cockroft: How about their freedom of religion – religious practice?

Khomeini: No.


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