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.
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Read this article out loud to my bf. Boy is he PISSED! Well, we're both disturbed, and worried. The Jews get to wear yellow. Yellow, but the Holocaust never happened? Christians get red, Zoroastians(sp)get blue. Since it's looking like America is going to give illegal immigrants amnesty, would they offer the Iranian Jews, Christians, and Zoroastians asylum? How about the Canadians? Can they take some in?
That nutwad running Iran is going to start religious cleansing, just you watch. Kofi will just sit on his fat ass and do nothing.
First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out;
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out;
Then they came for the Jews but I was not Jewish so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."
Martin Niemoller, 1892-1984
Windows? Ah, Kristalnacht.
I agree. That was my first thought. The relative economic and military strength of Iran in the world today is, thankfully, not comparable to Germany in the thirties. They could be quickly crushed like an ugly mosquito were it not for their deeply cynical superpower enablers.
"With all due respect, because "Go ye therefore" doesn't end with "wherever it is comfortable".
That's why. God bless 'em. They're in my prayers."
Yeah, yeah. Like I said, I only want these folks to NOT go thru some sort of organized persection program and only want them to live in peace.
Personally, I'd move if I was ever in such a situation. But respectfully know that I only want these people to live in peace, which is quickly appearing to be an impossibility in the hellhole known as Iran.
Doesn't this guy have anything better? Once you start comparing your opponents to Nazis, you've lost the argument.
But really, the people of the West, including many in the US, seem incapable of learning anything from history. We should have been funding and supplying an Iranian revolution to overthrow the mullahs. The Iranian leader, Ahmadinejad, wants to start a nuclear war. Are we just going to wait till he has some ICBM's and then say nothing can be done?
The US and European countries did nothing because the people in those countries are stupid, fat, lazy, and immoral. They're addicted to their socialism, porn, and drugs and they vote for whichever politician(s) will pay the most for their votes.
Ahmadinejad wants a nuclear war because his religion tells him it will bring the Mahdi. Meanwhile, westerners wander around their rock concerts and say "I believe in peace, man. This is good weed, man. No war for oil! I wonder if I can score with one of those commune girls later. Peace out!"
You REALLY Should get with the program here.....
This is INSIGNIFICANT..
After all, It's ONLY Israel theat will be obliterated, and who needs Jews anyway??
It's FAR more important that you realize that Bush is Hitler, Cheney is Satan, and Rove is the Anti-Christ...
Nothing else matters, the Media has decreed it so, get with the program...
sarc.............. well, off(i guess).....
Gotta love sharia.
Story is getting legs:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1635006/posts
I saw the UPI story, too. Nothing at Reuters, AP, or any of the major network sites yet. I'm still looking.
I guess we are going to have to repeat history some more.
You can move to avoid shadows during the day -- but eventually the sun sets.
It is my belief that the darkness is coming. There will be no running from something so pervasive.
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.What about atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, etc?
This reminds me disturbingly of a fanatical hate-filled maniac in Germany. Before this monster was stopped he convinced his fellow countrymen to cooperate in the torture and anihilation of millions of Jews.
This is too similar!
Nah. Then he would have been found dead in Ft. Marcy Park.
What's persian for JUDENREIN?
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