Iran to make Jews wear yellow badges
By Haaretz Service
Iranian expatriates living in Canada have confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament passed a law this week that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear colored badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims, Canada's National Post reported Friday.
The expatriates also said that the law sets a dress code for all Iranians requiring them to wear "standard Islamic garments."
According to the Post, Iran's 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on their clothes. Christians would have to adorn red badges and Zoroastrians would be have to wear blue strips of cloth.
The report states that the law was drafted two years ago and was revived recently by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In recent months, Ahmadinejad has expressed doubt that the Holocaust took place and said Israel should be wiped off the map.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has written to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urging the international community to pressure Iran to drop the measure, the Post reported. "This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis.
"There's no reason to believe they won't pass this," said Rabbi Hier. "It will certainly pass unless there's some sort of international outcry over this."
Bernie Farber, the chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, told the Post he was "stunned" by the measure. "We thought this had gone the way of the dodo bird, but clearly in Iran everything old and bad is new again," he said. "It's state-sponsored religious discrimination."
Leonid Nevzlin, chairman of the board of trustees of Beth Hatefutsoth, the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora in Tel Aviv, called on Jews of the world to wear yellow badges to identify themselves with Iranian Jews.
"Iran is implementing Hitler's methods and constitutes a threat to the free world," Nevzlin said.
To go into effect, the law must be approved by Iran's supreme leader and highest authority, Ali Khamenei.
Some Israeli commentators suggested the story still needed to be fully verified, pointing to the fact that the source of the story was Iranian exiles strongly opposed to the regime ruling their country.
By Haaretz Service
Iranian expatriates living in Canada have confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament passed a law this week that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear colored badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims, Canada's National Post reported Friday.
The expatriates also said that the law sets a dress code for all Iranians requiring them to wear "standard Islamic garments."
According to the Post, Iran's 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on their clothes. Christians would have to adorn red badges and Zoroastrians would be have to wear blue strips of cloth.
The report states that the law was drafted two years ago and was revived recently by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In recent months, Ahmadinejad has expressed doubt that the Holocaust took place and said Israel should be wiped off the map.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has written to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urging the international community to pressure Iran to drop the measure, the Post reported. "This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis.
"There's no reason to believe they won't pass this," said Rabbi Hier. "It will certainly pass unless there's some sort of international outcry over this."
Bernie Farber, the chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, told the Post he was "stunned" by the measure. "We thought this had gone the way of the dodo bird, but clearly in Iran everything old and bad is new again," he said. "It's state-sponsored religious discrimination."
Leonid Nevzlin, chairman of the board of trustees of Beth Hatefutsoth, the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora in Tel Aviv, called on Jews of the world to wear yellow badges to identify themselves with Iranian Jews.
"Iran is implementing Hitler's methods and constitutes a threat to the free world," Nevzlin said.
To go into effect, the law must be approved by Iran's supreme leader and highest authority, Ali Khamenei.
Some Israeli commentators suggested the story still needed to be fully verified, pointing to the fact that the source of the story was Iranian exiles strongly opposed to the regime ruling their country.
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