Ami Magazine, an Orthodox Jewish magazine, has been criticized on social media for depicting the Jewish community in Iran as “blossoming” in its profile of Iranian Chief Rabbi Yehuda Gerami.
On November 9, Ami Magazine’s Twitter account wrote: “Few people realize that there’s a blossoming Jewish community in #Iran” and shared a cover of the week’s magazine featuring Gerami and how “his community is thriving in the Islamic Republic.” The article itself quotes Gerami stating that more than 20,000 Jews live in Iran and that antisemitism “is the exception rather than the rule” in the country.
Few people realize that there’s a blossoming Jewish community in #Iran. An exclusive interview in this week’s issue of @Ami_Magazine with Iranian Chief Rabbi Yehuda Gerami. pic.twitter.com/6WHBiNNCt1
— Ami Magazine (@Ami_Magazine) November 9, 2021
Rabbi Gerami @Ami_Magazine photo shoot. pic.twitter.com/ELfxPNrj0b
— Ami Magazine (@Ami_Magazine) November 10, 2021
@HaravGerami teaching Torah to Jewish boys in Tehran. pic.twitter.com/0Jtd1rZp6W
— Ami Magazine (@Ami_Magazine) November 10, 2021
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “Regardless of Rabbi Gerami’s personal character, his US visit is sanctioned by the Iranian regime. @Ami_Magazine’s decision to positively profile him and to falsely portray Iran’s Jewish community as ‘thriving’ is deeply troubling.”
As I previously stated, regardless of Rabbi Gerami’s personal character, his US visit is sanctioned by the Iranian regime. @Ami_Magazine’s decision to positively profile him and to falsely portray Iran’s Jewish community as “thriving” is deeply troubling. https://t.co/nEhp4Fcfii
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 11, 2021
Ami Magazine replied to Greenblatt, “Because his visit is sanctioned by Iran does not alter the fact that @HaravGerami’s work is vital for the continued growth of Jewish life in that Muslim state. There is much the average person doesn’t know!”
Thanks for sharing your perspective, although we strongly beg to differ. Because his visit is sanctioned by Iran does not alter the fact that @HaravGerami’s work is vital for the continued growth of Jewish life in that Muslim state. There is much the average person doesn’t know! pic.twitter.com/65N0j9pG3t
— Ami Magazine (@Ami_Magazine) November 11, 2021
Bryan Leib, who heads Iranian Americans for Liberty, tweeted, “I’m really at a loss for words as to why they would give a cover to someone who is part of the propaganda machine in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). Jews are not thriving inside the IRI. That’s regime propaganda.”
I have a tremendous amount of respect for @Ami_Magazine but I'm really at a loss for words as to why they would give a cover to someone who is part of the propaganda machine in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI).
Jews are not thriving inside the IRI. That's regime propaganda. https://t.co/rWufmMEDWw
— Bryan E. Leib (@BryanLeibFL) November 10, 2021
Ami Magazine replied that Gerami “is a very good Jew who is doing very good things for the Iranian Jewish community. You may do your own research if you don’t trust ours.” Leib tweeted in response that Ami Mag’s Instagram “posted an IRI propaganda picture with the text: ‘The Iranians have agreed to come back to the nuclear negotiating table but nobody trusts them.’ Nobody trusts them because they are terrorists whose core ideology is ‘Death to America.’”
Bryan, the respect is mutual. @HaravGerami is a very good Jew who is doing very good things for the Iranian Jewish community. You may do your own research if you don’t trust ours. Thanks.
— Ami Magazine (@Ami_Magazine) November 10, 2021
I'm looking at your Instagram. You posted an IRI propaganda picture with the text: "The Iranians have agreed to come back to the nuclear negotiating table but nobody trusts them".
Nobody trusts them because they are terrorists whose core ideology is "Death to America"… pic.twitter.com/FbhVWRxlNG
— Bryan E. Leib (@BryanLeibFL) November 10, 2021
Siamak Kordestani, West Coast Director of the European Leadership Network and board member of Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, tweeted out his letter to Ami Mag criticizing their cover story on Gerami. Kordestani, who was born in Iran, asked in the letter why the article made no mention of the scores of Jews who have fled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He also asked why the article omitted the fact that Jews have been wrongly arrested and executed in Iran as well as the fact that the Iranian government promulgates antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
“Ami Magazine should publicly apologize and post a new article about the harm the Islamic Republic has done to Jews in Iran and globally for more than four decades,” Kordestani wrote.
My letter to @Ami_Magazine on their irresponsible, misleading cover story that is totally devoid of context.
Their article had some false information as well.
It's not the Rabbi who failed… he has to deal with the regime in Iran. This is about Ami Magazine's failure. pic.twitter.com/CGPSaNoTkQ
— Sia Kordestani (@SiaKordestani) November 10, 2021
Others weighed in.
“The Iranian regime sends ‘Chief Rabbi’ Gerami to the US on a charm offensive,” Ellie Cohanim, former Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, tweeted. “How charming.”
The Iranian regime sends “Chief Rabbi” Gerami to the US on a charm offensive. How charming. https://t.co/WsI8DCnkA8
— Ellie Cohanim (@EllieCohanim) November 10, 2021
Jerusalem Post Senior Contributing Editor Lahov Harkov tweeted, “Rabbi Gerami lives under an antisemitic, authoritarian regime, so he can’t say anything bad about it. But what’s Ami’s excuse for uncritically amplifying his whitewash of a regime that openly threatens genocide of the Jewish people?”
Rabbi Gerami lives under an antisemitic, authoritarian regime, so he can’t say anything bad about it. But what’s Ami’s excuse for uncritically amplifying his whitewash of a regime that openly threatens genocide of the Jewish people? https://t.co/K0JKOeHXUp
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) November 10, 2021
Mediaite writer Jackson Richman similarly tweeted: “A Jewish publication regurgitating Iranian talking points — talking points of the enemy — is inexplicable and disgusting. Shame on @Ami_Magazine.”
A Jewish publication regurgitating Iranian talking points — talking points of the enemy — is inexplicable and disgusting. Shame on @Ami_Magazine.
Background on Gerami: https://t.co/3rBJmOvt1I https://t.co/EPEfeN20gk— Jackson Richman (@jacksonrichman) November 11, 2021
Ami Magazine did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
Gerami has been visiting the U.S. for the International Conference on Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries. He has previously said that “Zionists don’t represent Judaism or the Jewish people, You only represent an idea of a political movement, whose ideas and values contrasted the ideas and values of our Torah and the Jewish religion,” according to Ynet News.
