In the tradition of this blog, I think that the time has come for us to examine why we see so much hatred and paranoia toward Jews on this site. Day in and day out, we see blog posters and commenters who use the all encompassing code word of “Zionist” to relate all ills of the world, and atrocities committed by the IRI, to the “Jewish conspiracy” to colonize the whole world. Some don’t even use code words. Just in the past couple of weeks I have noticed the following derogatory words used to refer to Jews on this site: “yaghoobi”, “bani yahood” and “al yahood”. And this is when we have a completely polite word in the Persian language to refer to our fellow Jewish Iranians: Kalimi. Astonishingly, we even had a blog not too long ago which was comprised of a single sentence which questioned the loyalty of Iranian Jews to their homeland simply because of their religious beliefs.
I wonder, what is causing this anti-Semitism in the Iranian community? After all, modern anti-Semitism is not an Iranian, Middle Eastern or even much of a Muslim concept. It is a European invention, coming to prominence in the 18th and 19th century Europe. So, why is anti-Semitism so prominent in the ex-pat Iranian community? In my opinion, there are two main reasons. First, I blame it on cultural isolation and IRI propaganda. Many Iranian ex-pats see themselves isolated from their adopted homeland and its culture. The IRI is well aware of this concept and targets them with all kinds of overt and covert propaganda, which they inevitably succumb to, or at least partially believe.
The second, and the ironic reason, is that despite these bunch’s dislike and criticism of everything “western”, they have actually adapted and accepted the most disgusting of the western cultural habits: anti-Semitism. As much as these people lament everything that is wrong with the West, they, in a bold display of irony, they do not hesitate for a minute in believing the western created myth of “Protocols of Elders of Zion” and / or the “Jewish conspiracy for world dominance” theory that is the modified version of that myth.
But, whatever the reason is, this is not the way forward for Iran and Iranians, and is certainly is not the way to create a secular democracy in our homeland where everyone’s rights are respected. Importing these vile foreign concepts into our culture will have a domino effect. It starts with the Jews, but it can carry on to Christians, Azeris, Beluchis, Arabs, etc.
So, next time you want to criticize the “West”, take a look in the mirror and ponder about what you have done and said about another group of people. If you cannot come to terms with your actions, then I suggest that you spare us your racist rants and kindly visit, and comment on, this site.
