BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE: IRANIAN JEWS AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE INTERNAL CRISIS IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE: IRANIAN JEWS AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE INTERNAL CRISIS IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC

Orly R. Rahimiyan*

While Iran is facing an accumulation of internal and external challenges – the upcoming presidential elections (14 June 2013); the ongoing discussions with the international community about its nuclear program, and the worsening economic crisis caused by the “biting sanctions” imposed since 2012 – the recent murders of two members of the Jewish community in the Islamic Republic raise concerns about the well-being and fate of Iranian Jewry. Over the past few months, several reports of unusual, though unrelated, offences against Jewish civilians shocked the community in the Islamic Republic, which is home to 15-20,000 Jews.

Since the arrest of 13 Jews in Shiraz accused of spying for Israel, on the eve of Passover in 1999, there have been no official accounts on offences committed specifically against Jews in Iran. There were a few unofficial reports though, such as the execution of a Jewish woman named Adiva Bat Yaqub and her husband at the infamous Evin prison on March 2011 (Balatarin, 29 March in 2011). The international media has shown occasional interest in the status of the Jewish community in Iran, especially since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s provocative statements against Israel and his denial of the Holocaust after his election in 2005. Recent years also witnessed a significant increase of anti-Semitic publications on official and semi-official websites of the Islamic Republic (see Iran Pulse no.40). Although these publications focus on the Jewish people in general and not on Iranian Jews in particular, in the past the local Jewish community was blamed for participation in the economic exploitation of Iran, and this might have ramifications on the country's general atmosphere.

Late in November 2012, Western media outlets reported the murder of a 57-year-old woman named Tuba (Tovah) N. in Isfahan, following a religiously-motivated property dispute (The Algemeiner, 28 November 2012; UPI, 29 November 2012). The woman’s relatives disclosed that her neighbors had attempted to force her from her house due to expansion plans of the local mosque. Reportedly, on 26 November 2012, after the victim filed a complaint for harassment and an attempt to take over her house, a group of thugs brutally killed her in front of her sisters, while her husband was away (see also Jewish News One on YouTube, 29 November 2012).

In response, Iranian state media published an exclusive interview with member of the Majles (Iranian parliament) and the representative of the Jewish community, Siamak Moreh-Sedeq. In the interview, he rejected the reports stating the woman “was murdered because she refused to vacate her house in order to expand the nearby mosque,” and called such reports “ridiculous.” He further added that he personally attended the victim’s funeral, and visited the home of the deceased, which is located “three blocks” away from the nearest mosque. He concluded the interview by labeling the murder as a criminal offence rather than religious, indicating the assailants stole some jewelry and cash (US dollars) and that the police had arrested several suspects so far. The Christian member of the Majles, Robert Baglarian, was also quoted saying no one has been murdered in Iran for their religious beliefs or values. He reportedly rejected claims by the foreign media that Tuba N. was killed for her religious affiliation, and claimed these reports were politically-motivated. At the same time, he urged the police to investigate the case thoroughly and bring the perpetrators to justice (Press-TV, 29 November 2012; IRIB, 29 November 2012).

About a month later, on 21 December 2012, another news item reported the murder of 24-year-old Daniel Mah-Gerefteh, the son of a wealthy Jewish businessman in Tehran. Sources from the local Jewish community disclosed that the young man had contacts with a Muslim woman whose father is member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Suspicions were raised that the relationship between the victim and the woman was the motive behind the murder. The reports also indicated the victim was shot in his house and the luxury car he owned was missing (The Jerusalem Post, 2 January 2013; Jewish News One, 4 January 2013).

In January 2013, a short video clip posted on YouTube captured an incident (claimed to take place on 6 January 2013), of a violent robbery of jewelry store in Shiraz. The store’s sign shown in that video clip reveals that it is owned by a family named “Cohen” (YouTube, 27 January 2013), although it is impossible to ascertain whether this incident was religiously motivated. In this respect, it is important to point out the difficulty involved in verifying specifics of such incidents, mainly because the details usually published in Iranian media are scarce and vague, especially concerning crime rates which seem to be on the rise recently (see Spotlight on Iran, 10 December  2012).

Nonetheless, the murder of two Jews in major Iranian cities in recent months evokes varied reactions among analysts about the state of the ancient Iranian Jewish community. Some consider these fatal incidents a series of attacks directed against Iran’s Jewish community, and raise serious concern for its fate. Despite being protected by the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, having a representative in parliament and enjoying certain religious freedom to practice their faith and customs, for many observers the current circumstances of the Jewish community in Iran reverberates with similarities the situation of Jews in Germany on the eve of the Second World War. Adherents of this approach claim that “Iranian Jews live in fear,” and they are placed under constant threats. Within this framework of analogies, the image of President Ahmadinejad was associated with Haman from the Book of Esther before Purim, and called “a modern Pharaoh” on the eve of Passover (Bloomberg, 27 February 2013; Ynet, 24 March 2013).

Another perspective places those recent incidents within the general context of the current economic crisis in the Islamic Republic, following the international sanctions and their implications, especially the growing economic and social distress. The cumulative daily difficulties and economic hardships faced by the general population rise to the surface, and these incidents might be a public release of steam, directed against minority groups. Actions against minorities in times of socio-economic and political crisis are not a new phenomenon in the Islamic Republic in particular and in the history of Iran in general. Harassment of Jews in Iran was prevalent in the aftermath of the Six Day War (1967), which was a watershed in Iran-Israel relations following the intensification of Iranian popular solidarity with the Palestinians. During the Iranian Revolution of 1979, numerous Jews were executed in Iran while many others suffered from damage inflicted upon their property.

 Press-TV reports the comfortable living conditions of the Jews in Iran, 27 December 2007  

Interestingly enough, while there are those who harass Jews in the Islamic Republic and thus challenge their affiliation with the Iranian nation, the authorities appear to be making an effort to maintain the socio-religious status quo. The reassuring statements by the two religious minority leaders cited above, aimed at minimizing the gravity of the crimes in order to allow for the continued inclusion of the Iranian Jews in the Iranian nation. Had they taken the opposite position,accusing the perpetrators of committing intentional hate-crimes against the Jewish community, they might have contributed to the “targeting” of the community and highlighting its “otherness”. Labeling the incidents of the past few months as criminal offences, allowed the Iranian Jewish leadership to turn the spotlight away from the religious factor and thus lessen the interest of the international media■

 *Orly R. Rahimiyan ( orly_r@ hotmail.com) is a PhD candidate in the Middle Eastern Department at Ben-Gurion University, Israel. Her doctoral dissertation is titled The Images of the Jews in 20th-century Iran.

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Iran Pulse No. 56 ● 11 April 2013 

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