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.
No doubt about that, but this is not the point. The original question was, if the nations of Europe care about such barbarian phenomenons like the Taliban or not. They definitly do, since they deployed roundabout 9.000 soldiers in this godforsaken country. Because the Afghanis soley produce some opium we Europeans have no reasonable stategical interest in this area except of supporting the WOT.
The US have -of course- much bigger millitary resources than the European nations that focus on the defense of their territory and do not have any interests to be a millitary superpower (except of some weird frogs of course ;-) ). Therefore our contribution must be smaller since we do not have the means to wage a full-scale war over such long distances from our mother countries. Anyway I think 9.000 men are not bad. The situation would be much more difficult if they weren't there.
It is possible that the stance of western Europe towards the Iraq-war does not fit into the wishes of some Americans. Nevertheless you should concede that Europe is quite helpful in Afghanistan. Besides - if America does not wish our help there anymore - President Bush just has to postulate it. Buhuhaha! - It is quite probable that our gouvernments would accept such a wish in a breathtaking speed. I am sure that in this case our troops would be happy to come home within a few hours.
Seriously - I think it is helpful if we focus on the existing problems instead of boiling up old animosities. Schroeder is a traitorous and corrupt Gasprom-a**-licker in the meantime and Chirac a phase-out model. The political leadership of western Europe is changing into a positive direction. Merkel and Sarkozy are different. You guys over there have a good hym of John Dickinson: United we stand, divided we fall. This is not only the case in national interest. The western world on the whole has to deal with this danger (no matter if in Afghanistan, Irak or Iran) and we need a new an positive start.
Oh I agree that Europe is slowly coming around and the help is greatly appreciated. We are facing barbarians and our actions now will dictate the rest of the century.
If it doesn't dictate it, it encourages it. I believe the Koran explicitly defines the status of "Dihimini"; a diminihed status to be forced upon to "non-believers" and infidels.
We need to put a price on Amadinejad's head!
HELLOOOO!!! HAS IT NOT BEEN LOST THAT THE ARAB WORLD SEES "MEIN KAMF" AS A TEXT BOOK FOR THE MODERN ARAB WORLD?!
The arab leaders ADMIRE hitler as a politican and a TEACHER.
It is no surprise they immitate him directly.
I agree with you 100%, Iranian Jews need badges in MARKSMANSHIP, and stay locked and loaded!!!
To which I replied:
Where could I obtain reliable information that the story has been retracted?
Of which, Amnesty replied:
I just learned of this yesterday -- I was told the story came out, and the next day it was retracted as not correct. I'll email the person who wrote me about it, and get back to you once I get an answer.
The National Post published a wholesale retraction of the story yesterday. Over the weekend, other publications (e.g., the Globe and Mail) spoke to sources in Iran, including a Jewish member of parliament, who categorically denied the claims in the original articles (by Wattie and Taheri).
Thorough, independent fact-checking can be a tedious enterprise, especially when the facts threaten to disconfirm stories that tend to reinforce pre-existing beliefs. But abandoning a quest for the truth imperills not just the credibility of the press, but also the ability of the public to arrive at informed perspectives--surely a prerequisite to a fully functional democracy.
The retraction is accessible at this link: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=6df3e493-f350-4b53-bc16-53262b49a4f7
Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Truthful lips endure for ever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace.
(Proverbs 12:18-20
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