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Iran eyes badges for Jews
Law would require non-Muslim insignia
Chris Wattie, National Post
Published: Friday, May 19, 2006
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=11fbf4a8-282a-4d18-954f-546709b1240f&k=32073
Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law
passed by the Iranian parliament that would require
the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured
badges to identify them and other religious minorities
as non-Muslims.
"This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi
Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center
in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to
the ideology of the Nazis."
Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday
confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called
the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a
dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear
almost identical "standard Islamic garments."
The law, which must still be approved by Iran's
"Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into
effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn
by non-Muslims.
Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow
strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while
Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians
would be forced to wear blue cloth.
"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, said 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."
Ali Behroozian, an Iranian exile living in Toronto,
said the law could come into force as early as next
year.
It would make religious minorities immediately
identifiable and allow Muslims to avoid contact with
non-Muslims.
Mr. Behroozian said it will make life even more
difficult for Iran's small pockets of Jewish,
Christian and other religious minorities -- the
country is overwhelmingly Shi'ite Muslim. "They have
all been persecuted for a while, but these new dress
rules are going to make things worse for them," he
said.
The new law was drafted two years ago, but was stuck
in the Iranian parliament until recently when it was
revived at the behest of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.
A spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa refused
to comment on the measures. "This is nothing to do
with anything here," said a press secretary who
identified himself as Mr. Gharmani.
"We are not here to answer such questions."
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has written to Kofi Annan,
the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
protesting the Iranian law and calling on the
international community to bring pressure on Iran to
drop the measure.
"The world should not ignore this," said Rabbi Hier.
"The world ignored Hitler for many years -- he was
dismissed as a demagogue, they said he'd never come to
power -- and we were all wrong."
Mr. Farber said Canada and other nations should take
action to isolate Mr. Ahmadinejad in light of the new
law, which he called "chilling," and his previous
string of anti-Semitic statements.
"There are some very frightening parallels here," he
said. "It's time to start considering how we're going
to deal with this person."
Mr. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly described the Holocaust
as a myth and earlier this year announced Iran would
host a conference to re-examine the history of the
Nazis' "Final Solution."
He has caused international outrage by publicly
calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons, but Tehran
believed by Western nations to be developing its own
nuclear military capability, in defiance of
international protocols and peace treaties.
The United States, France and Israel accuse Iran of
using a civilian nuclear program to secretly build a
weapon. Iran denies this, saying its program is
confined to generating electricity
Law would require non-Muslim insignia
Chris Wattie, National Post
Published: Friday, May 19, 2006
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=11fbf4a8-282a-4d18-954f-546709b1240f&k=32073
Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law
passed by the Iranian parliament that would require
the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured
badges to identify them and other religious minorities
as non-Muslims.
"This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi
Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center
in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to
the ideology of the Nazis."
Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday
confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called
the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a
dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear
almost identical "standard Islamic garments."
The law, which must still be approved by Iran's
"Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into
effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn
by non-Muslims.
Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow
strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while
Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians
would be forced to wear blue cloth.
"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, said 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."
Ali Behroozian, an Iranian exile living in Toronto,
said the law could come into force as early as next
year.
It would make religious minorities immediately
identifiable and allow Muslims to avoid contact with
non-Muslims.
Mr. Behroozian said it will make life even more
difficult for Iran's small pockets of Jewish,
Christian and other religious minorities -- the
country is overwhelmingly Shi'ite Muslim. "They have
all been persecuted for a while, but these new dress
rules are going to make things worse for them," he
said.
The new law was drafted two years ago, but was stuck
in the Iranian parliament until recently when it was
revived at the behest of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.
A spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa refused
to comment on the measures. "This is nothing to do
with anything here," said a press secretary who
identified himself as Mr. Gharmani.
"We are not here to answer such questions."
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has written to Kofi Annan,
the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
protesting the Iranian law and calling on the
international community to bring pressure on Iran to
drop the measure.
"The world should not ignore this," said Rabbi Hier.
"The world ignored Hitler for many years -- he was
dismissed as a demagogue, they said he'd never come to
power -- and we were all wrong."
Mr. Farber said Canada and other nations should take
action to isolate Mr. Ahmadinejad in light of the new
law, which he called "chilling," and his previous
string of anti-Semitic statements.
"There are some very frightening parallels here," he
said. "It's time to start considering how we're going
to deal with this person."
Mr. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly described the Holocaust
as a myth and earlier this year announced Iran would
host a conference to re-examine the history of the
Nazis' "Final Solution."
He has caused international outrage by publicly
calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons, but Tehran
believed by Western nations to be developing its own
nuclear military capability, in defiance of
international protocols and peace treaties.
The United States, France and Israel accuse Iran of
using a civilian nuclear program to secretly build a
weapon. Iran denies this, saying its program is
confined to generating electricity