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International Holocaust Remembrance Day Marked In Iran

Jan 6, 2020 10:00 am By Hugh Fitzgerald

Last year there was a little-noted story that shows yet again that the Iranian people are not unified in their outrage over Soleimani’s death, or in hatred of the U.S. and Israel:

In an unexpected display of solidarity with the Jewish community, young Iranians are taking to social media to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Joining a popular global social media initiative, the young people photograph themselves holding signs with the hashtag #WeRemember in English and Hebrew. Some are also pictured wearing symbols of the Holocaust such as yellow stars and armbands. All of them hide their faces.

According to Israel’s Channel 2, the phenomenon first appeared last week when Sharona Avginsaz, director of digital media for the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Farsi-language service, received a message from an Iranian who had urged his friends to take part in the #WeRemember campaign.

January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day,” the Iranian wrote. “People from all over the world take part in it, and also we Iranian citizens want to express our solidarity and friendship with Israel’s citizens and Jews all over the world, and share our pictures with this hashtag.”

Avginsaz said the youth who wrote the message gathered several of his friends who photographed themselves with the #WeRemember hashtag. The youth even wore an Iranian naval uniform in his picture. He remains in touch with the Foreign Ministry and is studying Hebrew.

The Foreign Ministry has republished the pictures on its Farsi-language Facebook page and said it has received encouraging responses. One user wrote, “Long live the Iranian people and Israel, until now Israel has done us nothing wrong, and when the Islamic regime falls, my first trip after visiting the tomb of the Persian Shah in Egypt will definitely be the beautiful State of Israel.”

Another wrote, “Because of the lies of the regime, I did not believe in the past that the Holocaust took place, but today I understand this and imagine the pain that the Jews experienced during the Holocaust.”

“Well done to these young people, you show the world the real Iran,” stated a third.

Avginsaz told Channel 2 that the Iranian youths say that “everything the regime says is bad, we understand that it’s the opposite; when the regime says Israel is our enemy, we already know it’s not true.”

Avginsaz said they often add, “Israel is our friend, it’s never done anything bad to us, we have no differences with it, and don’t even have a shared border. To the contrary, cooperation with Israel in the areas of water, agriculture, and more can help us.”

Israel-friendly Iranians, Avginsaz claimed, number in the thousands.

“It’s hard for us to understand this,” she pointed out, “but when you live in a country like this, which constantly says that Israel and the Jews are bad, it creates an attraction to the forbidden, and many of them want to learn Hebrew, for example.”

“They talk about how [former Iranian president Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad tried to deny the Holocaust,” she added, and they say, “’We already know that it happened, that six million Jews died in it.’ Many exiled Iranians recommend that they come to Poland to visit the death camps, share information, and understand exactly what the regime has tried to prevent them from understanding for decades.”

The example of young Iranians on social media offering their solidarity and sympathy on social media as they marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, apparently the only Muslims in any Muslim country to do so, prompts a few observations. First, it reminds us that just after the attacks on 9/11/2001, while there were pro-forma denunciations of the terrorists by most Muslim governments, and wild celebrations — songs, cheering, distribution of celebratory candy — by the “Palestinians,” only in one Muslim-majority country, Iran, were candlelight vigils held in many cities, with hundreds of thousands of participants. More than 60,000 Iranians took part in just one of those vigils, held in Tehran’s sports stadium.’

The Islamic Republic of Iran has created precisely the opposite effect on young Iranians from what it intended. Having constantly repeated, over the 40 years of its existence, that Israel is the Little Satan (America being the Great Satan), Israel is the Enemy, Israel must be destroyed, the regime has managed to produce young people who, convinced that the regime always lies, firmly believe the opposite. When Mahmoud Ahmadinajad again and again denied the Holocaust, that only led many Iranians disaffected with the regime to take a greater interest in what was being denied, and to learn about the Nazi murders, and to sympathize with its victims. Among many of those who have grown to hate the regime, its antisemitism has led not to indifference, but to philosemitism.

Some of these young Iranians have been learning Hebrew, precisely because it has been presented to them as  the language of the “enemy.” Forbidden fruit. Others say that when the regime falls, and they are free to travel, Israel will be among the very first places they visit. Iranians who have been living in exile for years have recommended on Farsi-language websites that young Iranians  “come to Poland to visit the death camps, share information, and understand exactly what the regime has tried to prevent them from understanding for decades.”

If — or rather, when — the Islamic Republic finally collapses, one may expect that young Iranians, heartily sick of the Islamic totalitarianism that they have endured since birth, will turn to other faiths. Some will embrace the original, indigenous religion of Persia, Zoroastrianism. Others may find Christianity answers a felt spiritual need. It is even now, despite the mortal danger that apostates from Islam run, the “fastest growing religion” in Iran. Others may now feel it safe to practice the Baha’i religion, for in the Islamic Republic, 202 Baha’is were executed, and thousands imprisoned. Many of those young Iranians will likely take a great interest in their own country’s pre-Islamic  history, the very history that has been dismissed or ignored during the rule of the ayatollahs. They will want to learn about the most celebrated Persian kings: Cyrus the Great, who issued an edict giving the Jews the right to return from their Babylonian Captivity to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, and Darius the Great, under whom the rebuilding of the Temple, which had ceased, was resumed and completed.

Young Iranians will want to see Israel, for themselves, precisely because it has been the object of such incessant official hatred. They’ve heard so much about it as the Little Satan, from the clerics, for 40 years, so it must — they believe — be doing something right. They will visit Jerusalem, the Western Wall, Yad Vashem, the Israel Museum. Much to the horror of the local Arabs who call themselves “Palestinians,” these Iranians, who have been subjected to decades of pro-Palestinian propaganda, will not have much interest in taking the side of these so-called “Palestinians.” Instead, their sympathies will remain with the Israelis, whom they have been taught to hate, and precisely because of that. The Iranian people have never liked the Arabs at the best of times, regarding them as uncivilized Bedouin, suffering by comparison to the Persians who created a high civilization. The millions of Iranians who oppose the Islamic Republic are distinctly ungrateful for the Arab “gift” of Islam that has been responsible, many with reason believe, for the misery they have endured for the past forty years.

It’s a dream, of course, this foreseeable future for Iranians that I’ve sketched just above. But it’s verisimilar. It could happen. Let us hope.

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Filed Under: Featured, Iran Tagged With: International Holocaust Remembrance Day


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Comments

  1. mortimer says

    Jan 6, 2020 at 10:50 am

    Many thanks to Hugh Fitzgerald for reading the tea leaves. I think he’s right. There is growing opposition. When will the Iranian opposition reach a critical mass? When will the Iranian military have had enough of the mullahocracy’s recklessness?

    One thinks of the high-ranking Nazi officers who acknowledged privately that Hitler’s madness was common knowledge. Surely, Iranian military officers realize that the mullahs are all deluded.

    • keith says

      Jan 6, 2020 at 7:04 pm

      Very true.
      We can only hope that this is a trend that will continue.
      The old saying goes that a avalanche starts with the movement of a grain of sand.

  2. mortimer says

    Jan 6, 2020 at 10:54 am

    Many congratulations and best wishes to the many brave and compassionate Iranians who commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We know you are there. Thank you.

    The truth will prevail.

  3. CogitoErgoSum says

    Jan 6, 2020 at 12:29 pm

    Iran could be such a great force for good in the world. The people themselves are so much better than their government and Islam. I want them to be happy and don’t wish death to any of them. Just get those old men in power to give it up and retire someplace where they can be content chanting “Death to America” to themselves in a padded and soundproof cell. Allah will give them what they deserve when they die … which isn’t that far off for most of them.

  4. Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says

    Jan 6, 2020 at 1:02 pm

    Tehran’s favorite retro TV show (Zoro is the name of the horse; Don Astrian is his rider):

    • CogitoErgoSum says

      Jan 6, 2020 at 1:32 pm

      Actually, Zorro (which means fox) was the name of the man riding the horse. I think the name of the horse was Tornado or Toronado. Zorro’s real name was Don Diego de la Vega and in the t.v. series was played by Guy Williams (who also later played John Robinson on “Lost in Space.” I don’t know who Don Astrian was.

      But you may be right. Maybe in Tehran the horse rides the man and the show could be completely different there. Everything else seems to be.

      • CogitoErgoSum says

        Jan 6, 2020 at 2:29 pm

        Mark, perhaps you were thinking about this retro t.v. show with the horse as the hero. Oh, if only we could train horses to kabong people with a guitar. Yes, I recommend this t.v. show to everyone in Tehran. (The little donkey is called Babalouie and I think maybe the name of the guitar is Reaper but I’m not sure).

        • FYI says

          Jan 6, 2020 at 5:35 pm

          muhammed had a horsey too but it was a FLYING HORSE with {predictably and inevitably given islam’s misogyny}…a woman’s face…and a peacock tail.

          Images of buraq can be freely seen on the internet and they come from islamic sources,often depicting muhammed too and yet muslims fly into a rage if you draw muhammed.

          {Isn’t it more ridiculous to see muhammed on his magical flying horsey ?}

          Nobody ever saw muhammed’s flying horse:and he certainly never saw it either as he made it up didn’t he?

      • Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says

        Jan 6, 2020 at 6:01 pm

        Hi Cog’, I too used to think that Zorro was the (nick)name of the man riding the horse, but that’s not what this intro says. Just listen to it; it says, “Out of the night, when the full moon is bright, comes a HORSE that’s known as Zorro”. For confirmation, let’s ask Mr. Ed.

        • Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says

          Jan 6, 2020 at 6:32 pm

          Woops, Cog’. My mistake.
          https://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/zorrolyrics.html says:

          Out of the night,
          When the full moon is bright,
          Comes the horseman known as Zorro.
          This bold renegade
          Carves a “Z” with his blade,
          A “Z” that stands for Zorro.

          Zorro, Zorro, the fox so cunning and free,
          Zorro, Zorro, who makes the sign of the Z.

          He is polite,
          But the wicked take flight
          When they catch the sight of Zorro.
          He’s friend of the weak,
          And the poor and the meek,
          This very unique, señor Zorro.

          Zorro, Zorro, the fox so cunning and free,
          Zorro, Zorro, who makes the sign of the Z.

          Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro….

          source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/zorrolyrics.html

        • CogitoErgoSum says

          Jan 6, 2020 at 6:33 pm

          Well, Mark, I know it’s difficult for mere mortals to hear it but, with one of my strengths being super hearing, I am able to detect the singers singing:

          “Out of the night
          When the full moon is bright
          Comes a horseman known as
          Zorro.”

          I checked with Mr. Ed and at first he said “nay” but after I played the song for him a few times he said, “of course, of course, it’s not horse but horseman.” And that’s the answer I endorse.

        • CogitoErgoSum says

          Jan 6, 2020 at 6:38 pm

          I see you were a little faster on the draw than I was with hitting the reply button but I’m glad to see we got things straightened out. Hang in there, amigo.

      • Phil Copson says

        Jan 7, 2020 at 3:58 am

        Amazed that the question of whether “Zorro” was the name of the rider or of the horse, even comes up; “The Mask of Zorro” (1998) and “The Legend of Zorro” (2005) starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Antonio Banderas are two excellent films, and I would have thought were widely known ?

        Anthony Hopkins has played a variety of roles including Henry II, Captain Bligh, Hannibal Lecter, Richard Nixon, and two record-breakers – Bert Monro and Donald Campbell – but even he has never attempted to play the part of a horse !

        Anyway, as evidently neither Mark Spahn nor CES are familiar with these swashbucklers, I recommend you spend a few moments on eBay and get them – you’re in for treat.

        (Harder to find – since it was never officially released on DVD – is Anthony Hopkins as record-breaker Donald Campbell in “Across the Lake”; superbly filmed in such a realistic, low-key, sort of way, that you can almost believe that you are watching the real Donald Campbell, Leo Villa, Toni Bern etc. You will only find this as a boot-leg, but it’s well worth finding. It’s also a lot more convincing than the recent Hollywood film “Le Mans ’66” which features Tom Cruise is a rather anaemic Carrol Shelby, and racing-driver Ken Miles is depicted as some kind of gorilla who only won races because he over-revved his engine, did his best to smash the transmission on every shift, and whose accelerator-pedal mysteriously had several inches more travel than anyone else’s. Those who’ve seen the film will know what I mean…)

  5. jewdog says

    Jan 6, 2020 at 1:49 pm

    Persian history is the story of a great civilization, excelling in art, science and human rights, which has been brought low by a terrible regime. The warning here is that this loss of freedom can happen anywhere, no matter how good things may seem. Eternal vigilance really is the price of freedom.

    • Infidel says

      Jan 6, 2020 at 7:26 pm

      That civilization ended in 651AD, when the Arabs conquered Iran and converted them to islam. Since then, it became a battleground b/w Arabs, Turks and Mongols

      • jewdog says

        Jan 6, 2020 at 9:32 pm

        Yes, but the total submission to Islam took a while. Meanwhile, in the 11-12th century there was Omar Khayyam and other intellectuals. Eventually, things stagnated and declined until today’s grotesque reality set in.

  6. gravenimage says

    Jan 6, 2020 at 5:33 pm

    International Holocaust Remembrance Day Marked In Iran
    ……………….

    This is very good to hear!

  7. Kerry Wade says

    Jan 7, 2020 at 11:23 am

    Well done to those brave Persians! Take back your country from the psycho’s that presently rule it, go back to your roots, to Zoroaster the great teacher.

  8. LR says

    Jan 7, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    Good for these young people! Those Ayatollah ah*les have put their younger generations through hell. The possibly 30,000 they murdered in the 80’s was their own little ‘holocaust’ of their youth.

    Recently saw, ‘Manuscripts Don’t Burn’, by Iranian filmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. Grueling, painful movie, and after I saw it I just wondered, how and when will the Iranians work towards being free of this cruel, evil regime?

    And yes, I recommend the movie. Very well done.

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