fbpx

WATCH: Persian Jews Speak Out Against Iranian Gov’t

[additional-authors]
February 12, 2021
screenshot from video

Several Persian Jews in the United States spoke out against the Iranian government in a February 10 video.

A newly formed group called Iranian Americans for Liberty produced the video; the group aims to bring human rights and freedom to Iran. The video begins with a man named Simon in Beverly Hills stating, “I am a proud Persian Jewish American who loves the United States of America, the State of Israel and the Iranian people. I hope that one day the Iranian people will be free.”

A California woman named Romi then says, “I’m a Persian Jewish American who wishes that the Iranian people were able to enjoy the same freedoms we do here in the United States of America.” Others in the video gave similar messages voicing support for Israel and calling for the Iranian people to be free from their current government.

The video also states that there were 80,000 Jews in Iran just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution occurred; today there are less than 8,000 Jews in the country.

Jewish activists praised the video. “Proud and supportive of my many Iranian-American friends fighting for Freedom and Liberty for their brothers, sisters and extended family in occupied (by the Mullahs in) Iran,” philanthropist Adam Milstein tweeted.

https://twitter.com/AdamMilstein/status/1359680368488628224?s=20

 

Journalist Karmel Melamad similarly tweeted, “Our voices as Iranian Jews have been silenced in the past… but NOT anymore! Thank you @LibertyIranian for this!”

Former Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Ellie Cohanim also tweeted, “Watch as Iranian Jewish Americans support their brothers & sisters in Iran in their quest for freedom.”

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

The Shoah Is Not a Parable

To remember the Shoah is not to pound it into a cluster of words that can be used to describe every injustice, but to preserve the weight and meaning of its singularity.

Trivializing the Shoah

We must continue to teach the lessons of the Holocaust toward a goal of such collective understanding and bridge-building. But weaponizing the tragedy as a political cudgel for partisan gain is unacceptable.

Hijacking the Holocaust

International Holocaust Remembrance Day was not created as kitsch—a tawdry symbol of man’s inhumanity to man, a mere token for Jews and a talisman for everyone else.

The Sinai Story: 120 Years in One Night

If we’re a people of stories, and stories bond our community, it feels right to include those stories that are closest to us. Sinai Temple has given us a model.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.