1 , 1
2 Friday, January 26, 1919
Trr .
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Iranian MuMim's Consistency:
Appeal for Christian Love on One
Page, Hatred for Jews on Another
In the same breath in which he advocated an alliance
with Israel's enemies for Israel's destruction, Ayatollah
Khomeini, who is propagating Muslim control of Iran
inserted an advertisement in the New York Times appeal-
ing for the cooperation of Christians.
He did not mention Israel in the advertisement, but his
anti-Israel commitment appeared in the same issue in
which he proposed an alliance with Christians.
The curious may well ask: how will Christianity re-
spond to such an appeal?
Khomeini's must have been a $6,000 or $7,000 ad, and
the free space given it here is in anticipation that those who
see through a scheme of religious hypocrisy to resort to the
confessional needed for religious honesty.
Here is the Khomeini appeal to Christianity:
THE MESSAGE OF AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI
THE LEADER OF THE MUSLIM PEOPLE OF
IRAN TO THE CHRISTIANS OF THE WORLD.
In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
The blessings and greetings of Almighty God to
the Blessed Jesus, the son of Mary, the spirit of
God, and the glorious messenger who gave life to
the dead, and awakened those who were asleep.
The blessings and greetings of Almighty God to
his glorious mother, the Virgin Mary, the truthful
and heavenly woman, who, by divine spirit, sub-
mitted such a great son to those who are thirsty
for the heavenly blessings.
Greetings to the clergy, priests and monks, who
invite the souls of the unruly to calmness by the
teachings of Jesus Christ. Greetings to the
freedom-loving Christians, those who benefit
from the divine teachings of Jesus, the spirit of
God.
I, in the name of the oppressed people of Iran,
request you the Christian nations to pray during
your holy days for our nation which is
encumbered by a tyrant king, and to pray to the
Almighty God for their deliverance. I request you
the great nation to warn the leaders of some of the
Christian countries who are supporting the tyr-
ant shah with their Satanic power and crushing a
nation under repression and tyranny, and make
them aware of the teachings of Blessed Jesus. I
request the Christian clergy to advise the leaders
of some of the powerful countries, and to con-
demn their support for the one who has turned
away from the divine teachings.
The Holy Quran has mentioned Blessed Christ
with greatness and holy Mary with purity. It is the
obligation of the Christians to fulfill their duty to
the Muslim nation.
In peace,
Rouhollah Mussavi Khomeini
For the historically-informed Christian there is noth-
ing new in the knowledge that the Koran, that the Muslim
faith, leans a great deal on Judaism and Christianity, that
Moses and Jesus are acknowledged as factors in human
faith.
It is when the fanatic utilizes these names as appeals to
hatred that their motivations become subject to challenge.
Ayatollah Khomeini's message was addressed to
Christians. There is another text in which he spoke as the
Muslim anti-Jewish advocate of genocide. In "Islamic Gov-
ernment," Khomeini's book which was based on lectures he
gave in Iraq in 1970, he states:
Today, at a time when imperialism and its
agents among the traitorous rulers together with
Zionism and atheistic materialism are joining
forces to pervert and mutilate Islam, our respon-
siblity is greater than at any time in the past. Be-
fore us we see the Jews making a mockery of the
Koran, and distorting its text in the new editions
printed in the occupied lands and elsewhere.
It is our duty to reveal this treachery and to
shout at the top of our voices until people under-
stand that the Jews and their foreign masters are
plotting against Islam and are preparing the way
for the Jews to rule over the entire planet. I
greatly fear that, by their own special methods,
they will indeed realize their desired aims.
It is because of our own weakness that we may
wake up one morning and find a Jewish ruler
dominating our country — God forbid! . . . In
Teheran, Christian, Zionist and Bahai missionary
centers issue their publications in order to mis-
lead people and to alienate them from the teach-
ings and principles of religion. Is it not our duty to
demolish these centers?
The terror to be anticipated from the "Khomeini Vi-
sion" was summarized in excerpts from the Iranian Muslim
spokesman's policies which include these gifts for Jews:
The 'Consistency and Appeals for Ecumenical Support
for a Muslim Religious Fanatic Are in Question . . .
Concern Intensifies for the Iranian Jewish Community
•
. .. There is no room for opinions or feelings in
the system of Islamic government; rather, the
Prophet and the Imams (Muslim leaders) and the
people all follow the wish of God and his laws.
•
In our day . . . the government authority and
management over the people, as well as the collec-
tion and expenditure of revenues, has been
entrusted to the religious experts. Verily, God will
punish and call to account anyone who takes
issue with their authority.
•
We want a ruler who-would cut off the hand of
his own son if he steals, and would flog and stone
his near relative if he fornicates.
It is for Christians to judge whether they are secure
under fanatical Muslim domination. Look to Lebanon for
an answer! The very appeal for love is in all evidence
shrouded in dangers. One can't appeal for help from Chris-
tians without naming all elements in a country's popula-
tion as objects for security. Therefore, there is suspicion
amid the invitation to those reading a terror-inciting Mus-
lim's appeal for love, found in another section of the paper
in which the paid-for appeal is sensationalized. One can't
preach love on one page and advocate hatred on another.
Iran's 80,000 Jews Endangered
by Muslim Fundamentalism
Iran's 80,000 Jews — ORT gives the number as 90,000,
but the 80,000 quoted by other sources seems more correct
— are in danger. Muslim fundamentalists are on the road
to assuming power there and their animosity to Jews is
becoming more apparent daily.
Only 1,000 Jews have left Iran in recent weeks, since
the situation became more ominous. Since the rebirth of the
state of Israel about 62,000 Iranian Jews settled in Israel
and the present Jewish population has become so secure
economically that emigration has come to a standstill.
In behalf of the American Jewish Committee, an impor-
tant memo has been prepared on Iran by Abraham S. Kar-
likow and George E. Gruen. The background they have
traced and the analysis of the current conditions in Iranian
Jewry serve to define this critical period. Here is a major
portion -of their analytical memorandum:
By far the great majority of Iran's 80,000 Jews
. . . seek to- go about their daily business, even
while keeping a very low profile, apparently fear-
ful that the anti-Shah hostility be turned against
them and other non-Moslem minorities. In keep-
ing with this, there has been some internal move-
ment, from the smaller and more remote Jewish
communities, where approximately 6,000 Jews
had been living, into the large centers where they
feel less isolated.
Jewish cultural and welfare institutions such as
the Alliance Israelite Universelle, the ORT, the
Joint Distribution Committee and Ozar Hatorah
have stood firm, trying to operate when possible
and at the very least to maintain presence, as they
wait for the situation to clarify.
While several recent Jewish deaths have been
reported, along with the burning down of a hotel
and of some houses belonging to Jews, attacks
twice against the El Al office in Teheran, and the
invasion of the offices of one Jewish welfare in-
stitution, this all seems to have been part of much
larger anti-regime demonstrations and incidental
to them rather than directed against Jews per se.
What have abounded, though, are anti-Jewish
threats and anti-Israel expressions. Several Jews
received letters warning death, as did foreigners.
A group known as the Moslem Youth League
demonstrates to the rhythm of anti-Jewish chants
and slogans. Religious leaders like the Ayatollah
Shariat-Maderi of Qum have warned that Jews
had better not become the defenders of "Zionist
aggression."
Increasingly the distinction between Israel and
native Jews has become blurred in the popular
mind as extremist groups use "Zionist" as a
synonym for "Jew." For example, one pamphlet
sent to Iranian Jewish homes threatens: "Filthy
Zionist, you sucked the blood of this poor nation.
Soon, together with all your brothers, we will
make ground meat out of you." The pamphlet was
emblazoned with swastikas and signed, "The
Nazis of Iran." In response to the resurgence of
such anti-Semitic threats, the government has
found it necessary to guard synagogues with
troops.
The key figure sparking the revolt against the
Shah, the religious leader Ayatollah Rouhollah
Khomeini, has lashed out in his writings against
Zionism as seeking, together with imperialism, to
"pervert and multilate Iran." He has charged
Jews with "making a mockery of the Koran" as
By Philip
Slornovitz
"the Jews and their foreign masters are plotting
against Iran and are preparing the way for Jews
to rule over the entire planet . ." And more than
one placard carried through streets in marches
has read, "The Shah is a Jew."
Yasir Arafat, the head of the. Palestine Libera-
tion Organization, announced in Beirut on Jan. 7
,
that the PLO had formed an alliance with Ayatol-
lah Khomeini. This confirmed earlier reports that
Arafat had sent an envoy to Khomeini in France
offering all the assistance "within the PLO's
capacity" to help depose the Shah. The Ayatollah
expressed appreciation of the PLO offer and in
turn assured the Palestinians of his support. In an
interview with Le Monde (Paris), May 6, 1978,
Khomeini had already cited the Shah's policy of
support for Israel as one of the reasons for his
opposition to the regime. "By maintaining dip-
lomatic relations with Israel and granting eco-
nomic aid to that country, the Shah is going
against the interests of Islam and the Moslems,"
the Ayatollah said, "because Israel has usurped a
Moslem people's land . ." He went on to strongly
urge "Moslems throughout the world to unite and
fight their enemies, including Israel."
The statement by Premier Bakhtiar that he
thought his government would cut off the- Iranian
oil supply to Israel is seen as a clear signal por-
tending shifts away from what had been effective
though quiet Iranian relations with Israel in eco-
nomic and other fields. Israel has been getting
about 60 percent of its oil from Iran, and its an-
nual exports to Iran have reached $200 million. -
Iranian Jews are quite mindful that theirs is
virtually the only Jewish community of any size
still to be found in any Moslem land, apart from
the 20,000 or so living in tranquility in Morocco
and the somewhat larger number in Turkey. The
last three decades have seen nearly one million
Jews forced to quit Middle East Moslem lands,
either because of active persecution, as in Iraq, or
because of psychological and economic pressures
upon them.
Up to now, the situation of Iranian Jews has
been a shining exception. These same three de-
cades had seen Iranian Jews substantially im-
prove their condition as they moved out of truly
horrible ghetto quarters, sharing in Iran's eco-
nomic progress and "white revolution," and gain-
ing both general and Jewish education. Jewish
religious and cultural life has gone on unimpeded.
While some 62,000 of Iran's Jews emigrated to
Israel, outward movement fell to a trickle as life
bettered significantly in recent years.
Israel's unofficial but effective presence in the
country, including regular service by its airline,
and knowledge that there was full freedom of
movement all contributed to the Iranian Jews'
sense of well-being in Iran.
The dramatic events of the past few months
have shattered this. The thrust of Moslem fun-
damentalism is certain to cut Jews and other
non-Moslem minorities out of the mainstream of
Iranian society and deprive them of opportunities
which in recent years had increasingly become
open to them. Moreover, Iranian Jews are fearful
that the flames of Islamic fanaticism may again
threaten their very existence as Jews, recalling
the fate of the Jewish community of Meshed, in
northeastern Iran, all of whom were forcibly con-
verted to Islam in 1839 after an enraged mob had
poured into the Jewish -quarter, burned the
synagogue and destroyed the Torah scrolls.
While many Iranian Jews are now seriously
considering leaving the country that has been
their home for some 2,500 years, departure today
is made difficult by the new restrictions on the
transfer of money out of the country and the fact
that for most Iranian Jews, their assets are tied up
in their homes and businesses. Moslem neighbors
now taunt them that they will soon be forced to
sell their property for a song or abandon it al-
together.
Yet Iran's Jews hold on, wondering whether the ,
new government, despite all, may still bring a
measure of greater calm to the country and some
semblance of the harmony that they knew until
but a few months ago.
Dangers loom for Iran's Jews. Will Iran become part of
the hate-festering Arab world? Are 80,000 more Jews con-
fronting disaster? How much can world Jewry provide, via
Israel? Is there to be a repetition, first of Munich and then of
another Holocaust?
Israeli and world Jewish leaders are not sitting idly by.
They are concerned. Their anxieties are fed by a major
problem. Once again there is the outcry — whence cometh
help?