From: gross@befvax.uchicago.edu
Subject: Re: PROMINENT IRANIAN BAHA'I EXECUTED
Reply-To: gross@befvax.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago, Dept of Molecular Genetics
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 19:45:29 GMT

In article <1992Apr16.192015.8566@cco.caltech.edu>, bes@cco.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi) writes:
>In article <1992Apr15.035032.2651@midway.uchicago.edu> gross@befvax.uchicago.edu writes:
>
>>I'm not afraid of YOU sentencing me to death, (although it does disturb me 
>>that if I happened to be at an event in the Israeli consulate in this city
>>and I was killed by a bomb, some people would be happy to hear about
>>such an incident). 
>
>You have already criticized Iran by claiming persecution of Jews.  Now, 
>when it comes to providing evidence for the criticism, you're suddenly 
>worried about a death sentence. Interesting!  

I have never made a claim that I was not prepared to back up.

 Bahais:

 I claimed that the correct term was persecution, not discrimination.

 *Amnesty International* refers to the treatement of Bahais
 "the imprisonment of Baha'is appears . . to indicate a deliberate
 government attempt of religious persection" *Encyclopedia Britanica*
 refers to the 'persecution of Bahias' in its section on Iran, History.
 There was also a resolution of the *United Nation Human Rights Commission*
 deploring the opression of Bahai's in Iran.
 This treatment has included executions, confiscation of property,
 annulment of marriages, etc.
 Someone else (I don't know who) posted similar information on talk.politics.
 mideast within the last day or so, and that agreed with the sources
 I have read.  Please read the thread, or I can send that post to you.
 The 3 sources I gave above are considered neutral and trustworthy.
 But none of the sources are in the last 4 years, so conditions may have
 changed.

 Jews in Iran:
 Since the revolution, more than half the Jewish community has left.
 (about 50,000 have left).
 Hundred of Jews have been arrested and imprisoned, and some executed
 with charges such as "receiving letters from relatives in Israel",
 and "Zionism," and "alleged pro-Israel" activity.

 Sources:  Encyclopedia Judaica
 	  Atlas of the Jewish World
 	  Anti Defamation League of the B'nai Brith

 These events happened in the early eighties, so conditions may
 have changed since then.

 Please look at the Encyclopedia and see if you can find
 propaganda, or an anti-Iranian or anti-Islamic bias.

 It gives the
 status of Jews in every country in the world, and Iran is one of them.
 It is a publication about Jews but it is not political or
 connected in anyway to the Israeli government, the Israeli press.
 The encyclopedia also contains many articles about Jewish history,
 religion, tradition, etc.

 The Atlas of the Jewish World is published by "Facts on File", which
 runs yearly news-clipping services.  (i.e., it keeps track of what
 happens each month, each year, in various areas.  "Facts on File" is
 not a Jewish organization, and it is best known for its yearly
 facts on file publications, which are essentially summaries of
 news stories throughout the world.  In our library, "Facts on File"
 is in the reference department, next to the readers guide to periodical
 literature, the Almanacs, and the indexes to the newspapers.  It
 is published in England.)

 I also know that there are many Iranian Jews in New York and in Israel
 who left after the revolution.  I spoke to some in Israel (79-80), and
 like the others who left, they were afraid of what would happen to them
 living under the present government in Iran.  So I can claim them as a
 source as well.  Also, my grandparents live in a neighborhood of New York
 where the recent Jewish immigrants from Iran live.  They tell me that
 there are quite a number of Iran Jews in the neighborhood, who arrived
 recently, they have their own synogogues and shops.  So people I know
 can give anecdotal evidence that many Iranian Jews have left as
 a result of the revolution.

 Khomeini says about the Arab-Israeli conflict "Let us not regard this
 holy and sacrificial war as a war between Arabs and Israel.  Let us
 regard it as a war of all Moslems together against Jews and their
 leaders."  _Confronting Israel_
 The Iran-backed groups in Lebanon say similar things.

 This open hostility towards Jews, combined with fact that Iran is run
 by Islamic law,  may have contributed to half of the Jewish community
 leaving.

>
>Behnam Sadeghi
>
>P.S. I don't think you're really worried about a death sentence.  But if 
>you are sincere, I suggest that you look through newsgroups like this one 
>(soc.culture.iranian).  Half the people here must be dead by now!

You said that this had been disussed before, and people have continued
the discussion. I wanted to see what people said before I posted this,
so what they said would not be influenced by what I said.  This
file has been sitting here on my disk for a while, and I already
e-mailed it to one person.  I have just now added the exact quotes
below.

 "Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, the status of the Jews, in 
 common with other minorities, has deteriorated sharply.  Hundereds
 of Jews have been arrested and imprisoned, and several have been
 executed for alleged economic crimes or for being Zionist spies."
 The majority have now fled the country"  Atlas, above.

 "In June 1980 two Jews were executed in Hamadan for alleged pro-
  Israel activity. 
  Since the accession of Ayatollah Khomeini to power, several thousands
  of Jews have emigrated, some to Israel, the majority to United
  States and Europe.  The situation of the Jewish community remains
  precarious"  Encyclopedia Judaica.  (note, this info is 10 years old).

 "We are shocked and profoundly saddened by another Iraninan execution
  of a Jews, ALBERT DANIELPOUR for the 'crime' of Zionism."
	Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai Brith, Dec 6, 1980

Leon Gross
I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.
Newsgroups: alt.discrimination