Republic of Hate - Podcast Four - Contemporary Anti-Semitism in Iranian Culture

            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. And now to podcast four, which looks at the infusion of anti-Semitism into Iranian society. It also explores how the Islamic Republic erased Jews from the country’s national memory. Contemporary Antisemitism in Iranian Culture              Anti-Semitism remains in Iranian popular and religious culture, with some content aimed at younger audiences to ensure the hatred is passed down through generations. Similar to Nazi Germany, schools use graphic, grotesque caricatures of Jews to create derogatory images. University professors, who are often featured on Iranian television channels, distort Jewish culture and recycle Western anti-Semitic themes. The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance sponsored the film The Antisemite by French comedian M'bala M'bala, who is briefly mentioned in a future podcast.             Although some themes are familiar, others are updated to reflect current social concerns. Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi accused Jews of distributing illegal drugs worldwide, killing Black babies, creating Soviet communism, and causing many other problems. Drawing international attention, Iran-hosted New Horizons conferences attract Holocaust deniers, far-left activists, anti-Israel, and anti-American demonstrators from around the world. Iranian leaders also reach out to international civil rights activists. Today, Jewish Iranians face accusations of disloyalty. Iranian intelligence and security personnel closely monitor Jewish religious associations. Iranian authorities have arrested Jews and some Muslims on charges that they worked for Israel.             Millennia of Jewish scholarship, philanthropy, sacrifice, and patriotism were ignored by the new rulers of Tehran. No longer did a Muslim need to justify accusations that an Iranian Jew was unpatriotic; instead, the burden shifted to the Jews to prove their innocence. The history of Jewish love for their Iranian homeland was overlooked or met with suspicion. The contributions of proud and patriotic Jewish-Iranians faded from national memory. Mowlana Shahin of the fourteenth century shone in Persian literary arts. Dr. Rouhollah Sapir was a dedicated doctor and humanitarian committed to healing and saving Iranians from all backgrounds. Morteza-Khan Nay-Davoud celebrated Iranian culture through music, composing songs based on the poetry of both contemporary and ancient Iranian poets. Professor Samuel Rahbar, the diligent physician and researcher, discovered glycated hemoglobin.             Solaiman Haiim was a renowned scholar. In the late 1920s, he dedicated years to creating Iran’s first modern Farsi-English and English-Farsi dictionaries. For nearly fifty years, Haiim was recognized as the primary author of these dictionaries. Iranian mullahs likely used this resource. However, Haiim’s name was removed from the manuscript following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. To this day, his name does not appear on the dictionaries published in Iran.             The work of all these men and many other Jewish Iranians was dismissed by revolutionaries determined to eliminate Iran's cultural irrelevancies or contaminants and to rid the nascent republic of anything that did not conform to their interpretation of Islam. Some members of the remaining Jewish population have been highlighted by Islamic leaders. Homayoun Sameyah, the head of the Tehran Jewish Association and a parliamentarian, participated in the annual Al-Quds Day event that calls for destroying Israel. The festivities are the legacy of Imam Khomeini, who officially declared the last Friday of Ramadan to always be a day of solidarity with Palestinians and a symbol of homicidal hatred toward Israel. He is not the only Jew to participate in the annual event.             Many of them are elderly, impoverished, fatalistic, nominally Jewish, and do not participate in Jewish customs or ceremonies. An escaped Iranian Jew said, “Many Iranian Jews felt as much a part of Persia as any other people. Sometimes slaves just accept their bonds.” Very few are wealthy, but their lives remain insecure. They can be extorted, imprisoned, or killed—like twenty-four-year-old Daniel Magrufta, who was dating the daughter of a Guards member. An intruder broke into his home and killed him but did not steal valuables, according to police. A member of the Jewish community claimed this, and an investigator of the crime sneered at her, “if you were involved in killing a Jew, you did a good deed.”             Some Iranians who moved to the United States have prospered. The TV show Shahs of Sunset highlights the lives of wealthy Jews in “Tehrangeles.” In Beverly Hills, there are Farsi Shabbat dinners with Persian food. There’s no fear of Basij morality police beating Jews or harassing women for immodest dress in California. However, it’s often hard to understand the mood of the Jewish community in Iran. The few remaining synagogues are often packed on high holy days. Some members are genuinely anti-Israel and proudly Iranian, but Jews must keep bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, weddings, and funerals low-key because of the ongoing hostility from fundamentalist ayatollahs and their followers.             A longtime observer of Iran said, “For decades, Iran’s Jews worked to clarify that there is a distinction between Jews and Zionists, and to demonstrate their loyalty first and foremost to Iran.” However, Jews faced challenges beyond accusations of being covert Zionists. It became even more difficult as Purim has been distorted to depict Jews as mass killers of Persians. Iranian leaders wiped out 90% of Iran’s Jewish community. There were no large-scale mass killings like during the Nazi era. Instead, most were forced to escape without their belongings. Additionally, Iranian leaders started erasing the legacy of their country’s Jews, as discussed in a future podcast. The names of prominent Jewish scholars and literary figures were removed from print. The names of Jewish donors to mosques have been gradually erased. Ancient tombs, such as those of Esther and Mordechai, have been vandalized over the years. The fate of valuable Jewish artifacts remains uncertain. In 2019, three antique Torah scrolls were stolen from a synagogue in Tehran’s old Jewish district ghetto.              Currently, there is little reason for this author to believe that Iranian leaders will ease their hostility towards Israel or Jews. Ayatollah Khamenei condemned Muslim nations that recognize Israel. “Muslim nations will never accept the humiliation of compromising with the Zionist regime,” he tweeted in October 2020. Successive generations of Iranians are raised to despise Jews and Israel. Iranian media, mosques, and politicians express contempt, and this likely will continue. Iranian Jews do not suffer alone. Many Greek and Syrian Christian communities have disappeared, and the Baha'i hide their faith. Free thinkers usually keep their religious skepticism to themselves. Today, Iranians quote a European whose literary works predicted the destruction of that continent’s Jewish civilization years ago. Franz Kafka wrote, “There is hope, but not for us.” This concludes this podcast from Republic of Hate – Iran, Israel, and Anti-Semitism. We welcome 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 or any of Dr. Silinsky’s podcasts represents the official position of the United States Department of War, the United States Intelligence Community, or any other agency of the U.S. government. On behalf of Kensington Security Consulting, thank you for listening, and goodbye until our next podcast.