Posted on 05/19/2006 2:55:11 AM PDT by Squawk 8888
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.
The mullahs use "Mein Quran" as their guide..
I'm thinking laser guided. Can we say "Lake Iran"?
Seriously, though, this guy is beyond scary. This guy makes this old, fat mom want to enlist.
They are without shame and must be totally defeated. Plain and simple..
Once again, the words "Never Again" ring hollow.
I never thought about it before, but I think you're dead right. BTW, there's an excellent book about Islam being the apostate religion of Revelation. The book came out in 2002, but the authors had been working on it prior to 9-11.
The title is "Mystery Babylon Revealed: Islam" by R.L. Black and M.A.H. Black. It is very, very well written, the arguments are backed up with Scripture and overall it is a very interesting book.
Vote Yes:... "Lake Iran"
I don't see this as a political issue. But a Democrat posting on the thread would point out the the groups protesting this, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Canadian Jewish Congress, the ADL, are routinely bashed by many conservatives.
"I doubt this will even make the MSM news."
I bet they'd be all over it if the Jews so much as suggested this for the Palestinians.
With all due respect, The National Post and Drudge Report are the main stream media.
I don't know about that. Weren't the Nazis more fixated on the "master race" and not the "master religion"?
Their master race had become their religion.
Hmmm... badges that Jews and Christians are required to wear to make them identifiable to everyone who is not. Where have I heard this before?
The world should not even entertain this thought. Bombing needs to begin soon.
The Iranian leaders are just as fanatical as the Japanese and Germans in WWII. The difference is, their support was confined to one nation for the most part. But many Muslims all over the world would support Iran in a conflict with the West. Imagine if Hitler or Tojo had wide support outside of their own countries, that is what we are potentially facing.
Begins? More like again!
I cannot understand why some Jew's are still living in Iran
It is not as if they ad nowhere to go Israel as made it a policy that every Jew is welcome in the country
The last Hitler and his supporters didn't die til after millions upon millions were killed...
We need to kill this hitler and his supporters BEFORE any are killed for being Jew or Christian...
Their master race had become their religion.
You dont think that Hitler and others wouldn't have spread their master race theology given the chance?
Evil wants to spread. The fact that it didnt spread was because enough people fought and died. Enough people recognized evil.
We won't be so lucky this time. Evil no longer exists in the Western mind.
Not bizarre at all. That is the typical path extremist organizations follow. The only way to show your loyalty within the group is to be more "pure" than the next guy, and on and on it goes.
Interesting to note that there are still 25,000 Jews in Iran. The only reason for that of course is because the "tyrant" Shaw that the left loves to hate did not persecute and drive the Jews out of Iran in the 1950s and 60s as happened in nearly every other Muslim dominated country. In fact, aside from Soviet KGB supported commies operating in Iran, the only people the Shaw really cracked down on were the very religious fanatics who run the show now.
Turning our back on the Shaw was the greatest strategic blunder of the last 50 years and the blood that has been and yet to be spilled fighting this extremism is on the hands of Carter and his minions who allowed these maniacs to gain power.
Yet our Lib friends say he's no threat, because BUSH is the REAL Hitler.......
I've just spent an HOUR with one dumbass who is CONVINCED that the only threat to world peace is BUSH, and that if Clinton were President again, all would be good in the world......
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