January 1, 2009 | 3:00 pm

Exclusive Podcast Interview: U.S. Senator Arlen Specter

(left to right: U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R), Michelle Delrahim and Makan Delrahim, photo by Karmel Melamed)

Nearly two dozen local Jewish and non-Jewish supports of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R) attended a small fundraiser for the senior senator from Pennsylvania at the private home of Iranian Jewish couple Makan and Michelle Delrahim in Malibu on December 17th. Guests were personally welcomed at the door by Specter and enjoyed cocktails. Up for re-election in 2010, Specter who is also a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke briefly about a range of topics from the financial bailout for the U.S. automotive industry to dealing with the threat of Iran.

Our podcast program had a chance to chat briefly with Specter about how the new U.S. Congress and Obama Administration can best address the danger of Iran’s regime in 2009 and also with Delrahim about growing Iranian Jewish political activism in Southern California. Our program can be heard:

here

Specter who is also Jewish, said he was preparing for another trip to the Middle East to meet with officials in Israel and with Syria’s current President Bashar al-Assad. In the past Specter has met with controversial dictators around the world such as the Palestinian Authority’s Chairman Yassar Arafat; Syria’s former leader Hafez al-Assad, Iraq’s former President Saddam Hussein and even Cuba’s President Fidel Castro. Over the years Specter has not always voted along with the Republican party and has been considered one of the few moderate Republicans in the Senate. For this reason and others, many politicial anyalsts believe he may have an uphill battle in his re-election bid. Pennsylvania has previously voted for Democrat Bob Casey to the Senate and has voted for the democratic candidate in the last two presidential elections.

Delrahim is currently an attorney at the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in Orange County and among a growing number of local Iranian Jews who are becoming more politically active within the community. “There are many folks that support Israel, that may want more entrepreneurship or lower taxes,” said Delrahim. “So we as a community that have particular interests that may not be voiced by others—should be more engaged with government officials, support them and help shape their policy”. On an interesting note Delrahim is not a novice when it comes to U.S. politics and government. He was a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Justice Department and has in the past served as a policy advisor to former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

Along with a handful of young Iranian Jewish activists from the “30 Years After” organization, a surprise guest at hand was Fran Drescher, Jewish actress and former star of the popular sitcom “The Nanny”. Drescher briefly praised Specter for his efforts in the Senate to pass legislation for government funding of comprehensive stem cell research that would be used to fight cancer. Drescher who is a survivor of uterine cancer has in recent years advocated in Congress on behalf of funding for research to fight cancer and worked along side Specter who fought a successful battle himself with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer while he served in office.

* To advertise on our popular podcast program which reaches thousands of listeners online and worldwide, send us an e-mail us at :

(left to right; Shirley Pakdman, Lisa Daftari, Fran Drescher and Rona Rama, photo by Karmel Melamed)

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, photo by Karmel Melamed

Posted by Karmel Melamed in Multimedia | 0 Comments — Leave your comment

December 31, 2008 | 4:40 pm

Nessah’s young professionals gave IDF warm heros welcome

(From left) Nessah board member Simon Etehad, Rabbi Hillel Benchimol, Nessah board Member Bobby Zoleikhaeian. Photo by Karmel Melamed

On December 13th more than 300 Southern California Jews packed the Nessah Synagogue to pray and also to show their deepest gratitude to nearly 30 members of the Israel Defense Forces who were visiting Los Angeles courtesy of the F.I.D.F. I was present at the gathering and touched to see members of the local Iranian Jewish community not only giving these proud defenders of the State of Israel standing ovations but also personally thanking them for their service to protecting the Jewish people worldwide. The members of Nessah’s Young Professionals organized the event which was followed by a luncheon which honored the soldiers present and had the audience singing Israeli songs. “What makes these soldiers even more special is that in order to serve in their combat unit, each soldier had to obtain the express permission of each parent to sign up for the combat unit, said Simon Etehad, one of Nessah’s young professionals. “Even more compelling is the reason for which they had to obtain such express permission—each of these 28 soldiers had lost an immediate family member in the line of duty, while defending our Homeland”. Flags of Israel were draped in the luncheon area and an IDF solider sat at each table to chat with those in attendance about his or her experience on the front lines in Israel.

What truly warms my heart is the fact that both young and old Iranian American Jews many of whom suffered directly or indirectly at the hands of Iran’s current radical Islamic regime since 1979, now understand the importance of showing their appreciation for Israel’s military forces. These young members of the IDF not only protect our Jewish homeland but more importantly protect the rights of Jews living anywhere in the world to live in peace and free from genocide—including those near 20,000 Jews still living in Iran. We as Iranian American Jews know very well what the regime of the ayatollahs in Teheran could have done to our community had there been no State of Israel. We as Iranian American Jews owe a great deal of gratitude to both members of the IDF and U.S. military for protecting our freedoms in this chaotic world where radical Islamic extremists want to destroy our peaceful Judeo-Christian society of tolerance.

So kudos to Nessah Synagogue’s young professionals for organizing this special event and showing that we too Iranian Jews living in America understand the significance of supporting the Israel and its soldiers. No doubt those members of the IDF that were visiting Nessah and who have now returned to active duty in Gaza today know very well that the Iranian Jewish community in Southern California supports their efforts to bravely defend our rights as Jews live in peace in this world.

Posted by Karmel Melamed in 0 Comments — Leave your comment

December 15, 2008 | 2:22 pm

Bringing down Iran’s regime…it’s their economy stupid!

For the past several years, critics of this blog have discounted my suggestions that the Achilles heel of Iran’s current fundamentalist Islamic regime is its poor economy. Yet the recent events of the past few weeks with oil hovering at around $40 a barrel (and Iran’s lower-quality crude selling even cheaper) have proven that the Iranian government can potentially be brought down through peaceful economic means.

This past Thursday the Bush administration ratcheted up the financial pressure on Iran by revoking an exemption that gave Iranian banks access to the U.S. financial system, but it stopped short of blacklisting the Islamic Republic’s central bank. The move against Iran’s banks puts additional financial pressure on Iran’s economy that is already hurting because of oil prices that have dropped by $100 a barrel since this past July—a move that has substantially reduced the regime’s revenue lifeline. Iran’s dependence on oil money is staggering. Oil funds 60 percent of the government budget, economists say, supporting billions in public subsidies of goods such as gasoline, sugar and bread. A research center affiliated with Iran’s parliament reported last week that the government depends on oil to remain at $80 a barrel in order to keep its accounts balanced. Iran’s oil income has dropped from $300 million to $100 million a day, and if oil prices stay in the $30-$40 a barrel range, the country could see more than $70 billion in expected funds evaporate—and with it a significant chunk of Iran’s gross domestic product. Some economist have said that the Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s massive domestic spending projects has fueled more inflation and waste. Likewise Ahmadinejad’s foolish decision to convert Iran’s foreign exchange reserves from dollars to euros to evade sanctions earlier this year has cost the country as much as $5 billion as the dollar has strengthened. The regime has also poured billions of dollars over the past 29 years into funding external terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and other Shiite militias in Iraq—a decision that has been quite costly for the country. None of this bad economic news comes at a good time when Iran’s inflation and unemployment are currently in double digits as well as widespread strikes that have crippled some industries in the country.

Undoubtedly if the Iranian regime can’t pay its bills and can’t pay government workers, then the entire country may come to a screeching halt! The regime’s days will be numbered if its economy continues in the current path and in the end it maybe be unable to continue its lofty goals to acquire nuclear weapons. So it seems that while U.S. and U.N. sanctions may be ineffective in bringing an end to the government in Tehran, squeezing the regime through low oil prices and other financial means may be the ultimate key to destroying this growing cancer in the Middle East. Perhaps the next U.S. administration’s officials should pay attention to using their economic means of bringing down Iran’s government before empowering the regime through negotiations and financial rewards. Now that the Iranian government is on the ropes, we cannot afford to give it time to get back on its feet, but instead we must deliver some knock out economic punches.

No doubt the people of Iran are suffering now and will continue to suffer while the regime’s economy is in shambles, but this may be a sacrifice they will have to endure short term if they would like to see regime change in their country. On a sad note over the past 10 years countless news outlets in Persian language media outside of Iran have reported stories of many average Iranians in Iran selling their kidneys on the open market to make ends met and even some women desperate for funds that they have gotten involved with prostitution. The current government in Iran run by Islamic clerics does not really give a damn about the suffering of the Iranian people as long as they can fill their own pockets with oil revenues. But with empty pockets the regime’s ayatollahs will not be able to hold onto power for very long.

Posted by Karmel Melamed in 2 Comments — Leave your comment

December 11, 2008 | 6:06 pm

Why I continue to write about L.A.‘s Iranian Jews

My article in The Jewish Journal last week has sparked some interesting reactions from Los Angeles Iranian Jews who were not happy with the fact that I was giving coverage to an incident in the community which was a topic of controversy surrounding the Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF).

There are many in the community who support the IAJF and many who do not like the organization for whatever reason. As an unbias journalist from the community, I have no personal opinions of the IAJF either way but I find the overall reaction of the local Iranian Jewish community to my coverage of this unique story quite interesting. As a younger member of the community I often have to explain the importance of openness, free speech and accountability to the older generation of Jews who lived their entire lives often in fear as a religious minority under a less democratic monarchy in Iran. In opinion, it is a delicate balancing act

Some of the Iranian Jewish readers of the article asked me “why do you stir the pot when it comes to sensitive issues in the community?“ and also “Why do you always have to air our dirty laundry to the rest of the world? Why do you portray us in a poor light and that make us embarrassed!“

My explanation has been simple—we as Iranian Jews living in Southern California and America do not live in a bubble unto ourselves! During the past several years the community has been going through a dramatic transformation and growth—with such changes often come conflicts and differences of opinions. We no longer live in fear in Iran where the authorities would come after us for speaking out about a whole host of topics. My journalistic work has been to give all sides of each story and allow the reader to make his or her decision. Has there been infighting among local Iranian Jewish groups as to leadership and religious issues? Yes. Is there a serious problem with drugs and violence among some local Iranian Jews? Yes. Are there some unscrupulous individuals in our community? Of course. But not openly discussing these hot button topics in a public forum or in the media will not make these problems go away. My goals as a journalist reporting on Iranian American Jews has been to act as a mirror onto the community and let them decide if and how they wish to make changes to what is going on around them. Someone needs to spark the conversation on these controversial topics—often times that person is the responsible journalist. How else will our community members realize that they need to address certain pressing issues?

So why do I continue my work as a journalist covering L.A.‘s Iranian Jews even though many of them do not want to hear the news which is often unpleasant? Well it’s because I feel a sense of responsibility to accurately share the views of many of my community members who do not speak English fluently, have a different culture and are still after 30 years trying to adapt to a new environment in the most dynamic democratic society in the world. I also delight in sharing the beauty of our traditions and success of our ancient Jewish community which is thriving as one of the most successful immigrant communities to America. Likewise in recent years I’ve found that other Jewish communities and groups in the U.S. have approached our insular community after learning about us through my articles! So it gives me pride and joy in seeing overall Jewish unity being advanced through my journalism. So yes, it is often very difficult to report on a community which does want to face the reality that they are changing and all the while live among them—but the rewards of writing about them are equally great.

To the younger generation of L.A.‘s Iranian Jews I only ask that you step up and participate in the community. Changes are coming gradually to us but without your productive involvement those changes will not be for the better.

Posted by Karmel Melamed in 1 Comments — Leave your comment

December 4, 2008 | 11:03 pm

Exclusive Podcast Interview: Iranian Jewish Entrepenuer Sam Nazarian

Nearly 200 local Iranian Jews, academic scholars and community members packed a banquet hall at Sinai Temple in West Los Angeles on November 17th to hear a panel of experts discuss the dynamic growth of Southern California’s Iranian Jewry during the last 30 years. The gathering was one of nearly a dozen during a three-day academic conference that focused on the current state of Sephardic Studies and was organized by the Hebrew Union College. Moderated by Sinai’s Rabbi David Wolpe, the gathering’s panelist included Iranian Jewish author Gina Nahai, UCLA professor of Judeo-Persian Studies Nahid Pirnazar, Iranian Jewish Beverly Hills City Councilmember Jimmy Delshad and Iranian Jewish film producer, hotelier and night club entrepreneur Sam Nazarian.

The panelists delved into sensitive topics such as gossip, different forms of religiosity and difficulties with money and marriage that many Iranian American Jews deal with today but rarely discuss in public. “We were incredibly pleased with the type response we received from the community and I don’t think we quite expected it to hit the nerve it hit, said Mark Kligman, the Conference Director. “One reason we had this conference in Los Angeles was to feature a living Sephardic community like the Iranian Jewish community”. Many of those in attendance said they came to hear Nazarian, the 33-year-old successful businessman share his views about the changes among the generation of younger Iranian Jews living in Los Angeles since he has not typically spoken at community events. In addition to hearing him speak the gathering, I had a chance to chat with him for our blog’s podcast and found him to be quite down to earth and friendly.

Listen to our podcast program’s exclusive interview with Sam Nazarian here.

Nazarian is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of SBE which includes hotel, restaurant, nightlife, and real estate divisions; as well as Bolthouse Productions and Element Films. As a film producer, real estate financier, hotelier, and restaurateur, Nazarian has produced numerous major motion picture releases including the 2007 thriller “Mr. Brooks” with Demi Moore and Kevin Costner and owns several Southern California nightclubs and restaurants, as well as SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, The Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and the Ritz Plaza in Miami. In 2006, Nazarian was the youngest executive to be named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful People in Southern California” by West, the Los Angeles Times’ Magazine and was named among “The Influentials” in Los Angeles magazine. Nazarian’s first entrepreneurial venture was in 1998, when he founded Platinum Wireless, a telecommunications business specializing in the distribution of Nextel software. Within one year of its founding, Platinum Wireless was the number one Nextel distributor in Southern California. Nazarian then entered the world of real estate by diversifying his family’s assets into real estate holdings, beginning with the establishment of 3Wall Development in 1999 which has become one of Southern California’s largest owners of multi-family housing.

Scores of young Iranian American Jews in Southern California often bring Sam Nazarian’s name up in conversations they have with me. They admire him not just because of his obvious financial success in different areas of business that Iranian Jews haven’t yet ventured into, but also because he has remained in touch with the community and given back. During the past few years he has opened up his various nightclubs including “Privilege” on the Sunset Strip for several party fundraisers on behalf of Israeli victims of Hezbollah rocket attacks in 2006 and the Friends of the I.D.F. At the same time he has also made his venues available for political related activities and in August of 2007 his company’s venues were made available for a events after a democratic presidential forum in Los Angeles for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Sam Nazarian speaking at Hebrew Union symposium on Iranian American Jews at Sinai Temple on Nov. 17th, photo by Jon Vidar

For more photos of the Hebrew Union College’s panel on Iranian Jews, visit photographer Jon Vidar’s website: here

For more information on the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion visit there website: here

Posted by Karmel Melamed in Favorites | Multimedia | 0 Comments — Leave your comment

November 17, 2008 | 11:22 pm

Wiesenthal Center and L.A.‘s Iranian Jews help fight Holocaust denial propaganda

On November 10th more a dozen Southern California based Persian language news media outlets owned by Iranian Muslims gathered at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in West Los Angeles for the launching of a newly translated Persian language version of the book “Night” by Nobel Prize winning Jewish author Elie Wiesel.

His famous memoir that describes his imprisonment in several concentration camps during the Holocaust was translated and published under the auspices of the L.A.-based Iranian Jewish organization Graduate Society Foundation. The group published the book in Persian an effort to combat Holocaust denial campaign put out by Iran’s current fundamentalist Islamic regime.

“These days where the Iranian government is the only one in the world that has “Holocaust denial” as their stated official policy, it is significant that such a book is being presented for the Persian speaking world to read and understand first hand the truth about the horrors of Holocaust,’ said George Haroonian, a local Iranian activist involved with the event.

Timing for the release of the Persian language translation of “Night” was also significant as it was on the day after the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the first state-sponsored pogrom by the Nazis against Jews in Europe. Since 2004 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian government officials have launched an international propaganda war denying the Holocaust in an efforts to discredit the existence for the State of Israel.

During the past few years the Wiesenthal Center, with the help of local Iranian Jews, has been outreaching to Southern California based Iranian Muslim news media that broadcast programming into Iran via satellite in order to response to the Iranian governments’ continued attacks on the reality of the Holocaust.

“The vast majority of Iran’s population is under 30 years old and they lack the knowledge to counter the state’s campaign to deny the Nazi Genocide against the Jewish people,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center. “As the regime in Tehran continues to threaten Israel it is vital that the citizens of that country are armed with the truth.” Last year the center provided “10 facts about the Holocaust” in Persian language on their website for Iranian visitors and in 2006 welcomed members of the local Iranian media to tour the Museum of Tolerance in order to educate them about the Holocaust.

Kudos to the Wiesenthal Center for collaborating with local Iranian Jews to bring to light the anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial propaganda put out by Iran’s government.

Over the past three years I have covered a number of events where the Wiesenthal Center has reached out to local Iranian (non-Jews) and their media outlets to educate Persian language speakers about the real horrors of the Holocaust.

Perhaps the best explanation for the Iranian government’s decision to attack the validity of the Holocaust was made by Yigal Carmon, president of the Washington, D.C., Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which translates anti-Semitic and anti-American media reports from various Arab and Islamic countries, including Iran. In many of his speeches Carmon explains that Iran’s Holocaust revisionism is based on their ultimate goal to delegitimize Israel’s existence. For the Iranian regime’s officials the Holocaust lends moral justification to the creation and continued existence of the State of Israel. Now if the Iranian government could only deny the Holocaust and prove it was a mere “Jewish fabrication”, then they could more easily justify to their desires to eliminate the Jewish state of Israel.

The Iranian government’s organized propaganda war on the validity of the Holocaust has in some areas of the world backfired as INTELLIGENT and logical people have come to realize the true absurdity of the current leaders of Iran. Yet some in the Islamic world and elsewhere who are not familiar with the truth about the Shoah are being influenced by the Iranian government’s propaganda machine which broadcasts television programs in different languages and publishes articles in different languages to carry their message of hate to the four corners of the world. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi government’s propaganda minister would be quite proud of the current Iranian government’s media tactics in attacking the Jews and the Nazi atrocities!

Those working at the Wiesenthal Center said translations of “Night” will also be made available on their multi-lingual website “AskMusa.org”, which allows Muslims to learn about and ask questions via the internet from experts about Judaism and Jewish culture.

My article last year about the roots of Ahmadinejad’s anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial statements can be read here.

My 2006 article about Iranian Jews and Muslims joining together in Beverly Hills to acknowledge the tragedy of the Holocaust can be found here.

Posted by Karmel Melamed in 1 Comments — Leave your comment

November 10, 2008 | 8:23 pm

Young Iranian Jews react to 2008 election results

Nearly 200 young local Iranian Jews from the “30 Years After” organization gathered at the Parlor sports bar in Santa Monica on November 4th to mingle and watch the results of the 2008 Presidential election. While a substantial segment of Southern California Iranian Jews were supporting Republican Presidential candidate John McCain, some younger members of the community backed Democratic nominee Barack Obama and this was evident during some cheering that occurred at the announcement of Obama’s victory during the night’s television newscasts. Those in attendance enjoyed drinks while talking politics and the direction of the new Obama administration visa vie Iran and Israel.

During the past year many L.A. area Jews and non-Jews have asked me why Iranian Jews were so vehemently opposed to Obama—but this assessment is not accurate. For the most part, through my reporting I found that a large segment of L.A.‘s Iranian Jews were turned off by Obama’s calls for direct negotiations with Iran’s current radical Islamic regime without any pre-conditions. As a result many backed McCain who encouraged a tougher stance on the Iranian government. Nevertheless there were and still are many younger Iranian Jews who support Obama because of his stances on a whole host of domestic issues—including the economy. While there was no massive jubilation at the election watch party for Obama, young Iranian Jews in attendance were upbeat that the new president-elect would maintain strong ties with Israel and closer alliances with his Jewish advisers.

During the past year, “30 Years After” board members have organized various events to increase Iranian Jewish participation and education in the political process and said they were pleased with the turnout at their election night event. “Regardless of one’s political affiliation, no one can deny that this election represents a historic moment for our country and reminds us that our democracy is our most treasured asset,” said Jon Yagoubzadeh, a 30 Years After board member. “By hosting an Election Watch event, we wanted to provide our community the opportunity to witness this moment together and to discuss the outcome of the election”. Other 30 Years After organizers said they were planning post-election informational seminars on the expected directions and policies of the new Obama administration. Again I applaud their efforts in trying to mobilize the local Iranian Jewish community which has traditionally stayed away from politics as Iranian Jews were prohibited from being politically active in Iran for centuries. Who knows, may be one day soon we may even have Iranian Jews running for state and congressional offices?

Here are some sights I captured from 30 Years After election watch event…

Young Iranian Jews watch John McCain’s concession speech

30 Years After board members

Posted by Karmel Melamed in 2 Comments — Leave your comment