Republic of Hate - Podcast Eleven - Three Jewish Women in Revolutionary Iran

Hello and welcome to Republic of Hate – Iran, Israel, and Anti-Semitism, in which we explore Iran’s hatred of Israel, Jews, and the West. These are essays by Dr. Mark Silinsky, president of Kensington Security Consulting, which brings education to the field of national security. In podcast 11 we look at some Jewish women who fear the future under the Ayatollah’s rule. What will become of them? Jews and Zionism             Soon after the revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini declared that “Jews are different from Zionists.” Khomeini’s disdain for Jews and Israel was deep, often repeated, and widely known. In 1970, he wrote: “Since its inception, the Islamic movement has been afflicted with the Jews, for it was they who first established anti-Islamic propaganda and joined its various stratagems, and as you can see, this activity continues down to our present day.” He told Iranians to “leave Jews alone,” but there was no indication that he softened his stance on Jews and Islamic law.30 Jews were not left in peace. A new constitution combined Koranic ideas with concepts of Islam-based socialism—both of which alienated the country’s Jews. The constitution placed crucial aspects of the nation’s economy under government control, undoing years of entrepreneurial progress.             Elements of non-Muslim history were being erased, but there were no organized mass murder sprees or vandalism that could be compared to the German rampages of the Night of Broken Glass in November 1938. By mid-1979, Jews doubted whether they could live safely as Jews in Iran. Jewish families started to flee if they could. Sometimes, Jewish children were taken away without their parents, which was hauntingly similar to the Kindertransport of Jewish children from the young Nazi state. In spring 1979, 40 Jewish girls received student visas and were transported to the United States. By Passover 1979, there were 1,000 Iranian Jewish children in Crown Heights, living with families, in dorms, and attending schools and classes set up especially for them in the neighborhood. Jacqueline, Roya, and Sima – Three Jewish Women in Revolutionary Iran             Most Iranian women lacked the option to leave, and many felt trapped in a country that was no longer their home. The world for Iranian women and girls changed. The 1970s was a decade of social liberalism, Farsi films, Western fashion, and mini-skirts. Gagoosh, the bubbly Iranian singer, set fashion with high ponytails and go-go boots. Women wore pencil skirts, chiffon shirts, and high heels. A popular hairstyle was Queen Farah’s beehive.             With the revolution, these fashions were switched to drab, dark, loose-fitting Islamic garb. For the Iranian smart-set, the chador had become an anachronistic garment and relic of another century. However, religiously inclined parents began dressing their daughters in the chador as the revolution drew near. It was a statement of religious piety and political solidarity. After the revolution, some Jews viewed the chador and headscarf as useful garments for their own safety and protection.             Jewish parents need to cover their daughter’s hair. Jacqueline Saper wrote about her six-year-old daughter who, in 1986, turned six and started attending an all-girls elementary school. She became a hijabi. Ms. Saper described the long lines of young girls dressed exactly alike, pouring into classrooms that looked equally colorless and somber. Inside the class, children were taught to recite passages from the Koran, sometimes in Arabic. They were also instructed to report their parents' use of alcohol. Additionally, school children of all religions were required to kiss posters of the leading ayatollahs, wave fists, and chant “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”             Roya Hakakian, like Jacqueline Saper, remembered her youth in Tehran as a Jew. She sensed anti-Semitism woven into Iranian life, which was inflamed by the revolutionary mullahs. “Next to “Down with the shah” on the wall, a new graffiti appeared, ‘Johouds Get Lost!’ Her older brother Albert had fled in 1975 because of his satirical anti-shah cartoons. When the book-burning episode occurs in the Hakakian household in 1982, Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi has been deposed, but the Islamic regime that replaced him is just as intolerant of critics. Hakakian's father fears political punishment for his daughter, possibly even prison; with his entire family under siege from the surrounding community, her books and writings have become "unsafe to keep at home". She was never entirely comfortable in the company of non-Jews, some of whom were friendly to her. “Being with family and Jews was effortless, like being in my pajamas. Being among Muslims, friends, or neighbors was like being in my party dress. I was careful not to stain or wrinkle it.” Iran has launched its own version of Barbie and Ken: twin dolls, Dara and Sara, who promote traditional values through their modest clothing and pro-family stories. The Dara and Sara dolls, one a boy and the other a girl, were developed and are being marketed by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, a government agency affiliated with the Ministry of Education. Another toy seller, Masoumeh Rahimi, said Barbie was "foreign to Iran's culture" because some of the popular Western dolls wear revealing clothing. She said young girls who play with Barbie, a doll she sees as wanton, could grow into women who reject Iranian values. "I think every Barbie doll is more harmful than an American missile," Rahimi said.             Women and girls could feel pampered in hair salons in most cities. But there were restrictions. This is a scene you would no longer expect to see in Iran - but even after the Islamic Revolution, hairdressers still existed," says Prof. Afshar. "Nowadays, you wouldn't see a man inside the hair salons, and women would know to cover their hair as soon as they walk out the door. Some people might also operate secret salons in their own homes where men and women can mix.             This concludes this episode of Republic of Hate – Iran, Israel, and Anti-Semitism. We look forward to reading your comments. Dr. Silinsky’s latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Israel, Hamas, and the World, will be available for purchase in summer 2026. Nothing in this podcast or any of Dr. Silinsky’s other podcasts reflects the official position of the United States Department of War, the United States Intelligence Community, or any other U.S. government agency. On behalf of Kensington Security Consulting, thank you for listening, and goodbye until our next podcast.