The tomb of Esther and Mordecai, both of which are holy Jewish sites in Iran, was the target of an apparent arson attack.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt first broke the news on May 15, tweeting: “Disturbing reports from #Iran that the tomb of Esther & Mordechai, a holy Jewish site, was set afire overnight. We hope that the authorities bring the perpetrators of this #antisemitic act to justice & commit to protecting the holy sites of all religious minorities in Iran.”
Disturbing reports from #Iran that the tomb of Esther & Mordechai, a holy Jewish site, was set afire overnight. We hope that the the authorities bring the perpetrators of this #antisemitic act to justice & commit to protecting the holy sites of all religious minorities in Iran.
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) May 15, 2020
United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr similarly tweeted, “We strongly condemn the attack on the Tomb of Esther & Mordechai in Hamedan #Iran, which follows a threat last Feb. against the site.”
He added: “Iran’s regime is the world’s chief state sponsor of #Antisemitism. It must stop incitement and protect its #Jewish community and other minorities.”
We strongly condemn the attack on the Tomb of Esther & Mordechai in Hamedan #Iran, which follows a threat last Feb. against the site. Iran’s regime is the world’s chief state sponsor of #Antisemitism. It must stop incitement and protect its #Jewish community and other minorities.
— Special Envoy Deborah Lipstadt (@StateSEAS) May 15, 2020
Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations chairman Arthur Stark, CEO William Daroff and vice chair Malcolm Hoenlein also condemned the suspected arson in a statement.
“Since February, members of the Iranian Basij militia have once again threatened to raze the tomb of historic Jewish heroes Mordechai and Queen Esther,” the statement read. “It appears these domestic terrorists attempted to carry out this outrageous act of desecration with this premeditated attack.”
They added that the apparent arson is “not only a blatantly anti-Semitic assault on the Jews and Judaism, but an assault on all people of faith. It must be unequivocally condemned by the international community.”
Jewish Leaders Outraged by Desecration of Tomb of Esther and Mordechai pic.twitter.com/7mnJ1Pf0Bk
— Conf Of Presidents (@Conf_of_Pres) May 15, 2020
Simon Wiesenthal Center founder and dean Rabbi Marvin Hier and associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper said in a statement, “The torching of this Jewish holy site is reminiscent of the Nazis, who not only killed the living, but desecrated the dead. The attack took place against the backdrop of the Mullahocracy’s drumbeat of genocidal hatred against the Jewish people, its state-sponsored policy of Holocaust denial and denigration. In such an environment a violent attack against Jews, Judaism, and Jewish heritage should surprise no one.”
They added: “We urge all world leaders to condemn this cowardly anti-Semitic attack and Iran’s serial anti-Semitic policies.”
The Basij militia is part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. The Trump administration designated the IRGC as a terror organization in April 2019.
In February, the Post reported that the Basij militia had threatened to destroy the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in response to the Trump administration’s proposed peace plan for the Israel-Palestinian conflict, stating that they hoped to turn the holy site into “a dear Palestinian consulate.”
There have been multiple threats against the holy site before and there have been calls for the Iranian government to remove its designation as a protected holy site; only Jews are allowed to enter it.
Esther and Mordecai are two of the key figures celebrated during the holiday of Purim for stopping Haman’s plot to execute all of Persia’s Jews.
