The paper falsely said the synagogues were in Iran - even describing one as the Yusufabad synagogue in Tehran and locating another in Shiraz.
#IRAN PROUD FULL#
Mr Hammami says state-run television confuses Zionism and Judaism so that "ordinary people may think that whatever the Israelis do is supported by all Jews".ĭuring the fighting in Lebanon a hardline weekly newspaper, Yalesarat, published two photographs of synagogues on its front page full of people waving Israeli flags celebrating Israeli independence day. These days anti-Jewish feeling is periodically stirred by the media. Over the centuries there have been sporadic purges, pogroms and forced conversions to Islam as well as periods of peaceful co-existence. Jews have lived in Persia for nearly 3,000 years - the descendants of slaves from Babylon saved by Cyrus the Great. In the Yusufabad synagogue the announcements are made in Persian - most Iranian Jews don't really speak Hebrew well. "Imam Khomeini made a distinction between Jews and Zionists and he supported us," says Mr Hammami. He says the father of Iran's revolution, Imam Khomeini, recognised Jews as a religious minority that should be protected.Īs a result Jews have one representative in the Iranian parliament. "Because of our long history here we are tolerated," says Jewish community leader Unees Hammami, who organised the prayers. It is not a sight you would expect in a revolutionary Islamic state, but there are synagogues dotted all over Iran where Jews discreetly practise their religion. It is dawn in the Yusufabad synagogue in Tehran and Iranian Jews bring out the Torah and read the ancient text before making their way to work. The Jewish presence dates back nearly 3,000 years.Īlthough Iran and Israel are bitter enemies, few know that Iran is home to the largest number of Jews anywhere in the Middle East outside Israel.Ībout 25,000 Jews live in Iran and most are determined to remain no matter what the pressures - as proud of their Iranian culture as of their Jewish roots.
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