:41111.111.00.101MOW11~1..... • Living In Fear Officially "tolerated," Iranian Jews keep to themselves out of fear. Jews may drink alcohol in private — unlike Muslims, for whom liquor Jewish Telegraphic Agency is prohibited — but Jewish women must cover their heads in accordance he Persian King Cyrus con- with the Islamic dress code. Jewish quered Babylonia in 538 merchants are permitted to close their B.C.E.,-freed the Jews from businesses on Saturday, but one of the captivity and provided the explanations for the recent arrests is resources to rebuild the Temple in that some of the religious Jews refused Jerusalem. to open their stores on Shabbat. Today, contemporary Persia — Iran Jewish religious education is encour- — is one of the most virulently anti- aged and taught by Jewish teachers, Zionist countries, from which even a although the schools are run by the phone call to Israel is impossible. Muslim state. Hebrew is taught only in So when 13 Jews arrested earlier private and is popularly associated with this year were recently charged with Israel, and thus Zionism. Nasrin spying for America and Israel, the Jahaverian, whose brother, Nasser • "Zionist regime," their situation Levihaim, is one of the men in custody, became unquestionably bleak. told JTA that Iranian authorities might According to the Anti-Defamation have targeted Levihaim because he fre- League, at least 17 Jews, including quently volunteered as a Hebrew teacher. Jewish community leaders, have been Most Iranian Jews live in the capi- executed since the 1979 Islamic tal, Tehran; only a few thousand live Revolution in Iran — many of whom in the regional centers of Isfahan and were accused of spying for Israel and Shiraz, where the Jews in custody the United States. were arrested. Of these executions, the ADL said Despite Jews' official status, several the most highly publicized was the Iranian Jews living in America attested 1979 death of Habib Alqanayan, a head to popular, even "rampant," anti- of the Jewish community. Israel and the Semitism in Iran in the form of job United States have publicly denied the discrimination and destruction of per- charges against the 13 men in Iran. sonal property. Those held include a rabbi, religious Jews in Iran try to "minimize con- teachers and Jewish community leaders. tact" with their Muslim neighbors While Iranian Jews and their family out of fear of exactly these kinds of members living abroad have been incidents," said one Tehran native, reluctant to talk about their daily lives referring to the arrests. The communal — fearing retribution from Iranian philosophy is: "You don't bother them; authorities — some information is they don't bother us." known about the community. In 1998, Iran executed a 60-year- Iran's 2,500-year-old Jewish popu- old Iranian businessman for allegedly lation is the largest diaspora commu- spying for Israel, according to Human nity in the Middle East, with an esti- Rights Watch. The year before, two mated 25,000 to 35,000 Jews. A people were hanged after they were recent report by the Israeli daily convicted of espionage charges, Hdaretz put the number at 27,000, according to the human rights organi- citing Iranian-Jewish sources. zation Amnesty International. Iran's pre-Revolution Jewish popula- An anonymous Iranian Jew who had tion is estimated to have been 100,000, been imprisoned for more than two but most left for the United States and years on suspicion of spying for Israel, Israel as anti-Zionism and anti-capital- testified in 1996 before a U.S. House ism heated up under the Islamic regime. of Representatives subcommittee. Jews are considered a "tolerated The man reportedly said he was minority" in Iran, a state that is ruled released "suddenly, with no explana- by Islamic law. tion," but remained "under constant In 1997, accc,rcling to one news surveillance" and told to leave Tehran. report, there were 11 functioning syn- His case, he told the committee, agogues, two kosher restaurants, a exemplified the "constant state of fear " Jewish hospital, an old-age home and in which Iranian Jews live. pi a cemetery in Tehran alone. "What price can be put on a child's being taught to read better and understand; to concentrate and remember; to start a task and complete it? These are the building blocks of self-respect and success." Peg, mother of 11-year-old graduate JULIA GOLDNIAN We've helped create bright new futures for kids who thought they just didn't have what it takes to succeed in school. By unlocking talent and enthusiasm, they do have what it takes. 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