The small Jewish community in Tehran on Thursday condemned the ongoing anti-regime protests in Iran, which broke out over the death of a young woman held for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.In a letter, the Tehran Central Jewish Committee said it was standing by the Iranian regime amid a deadly crackdown on protesters.“This is a condemnation of the recent unrest in the country that led to the death and injury of several people in our country, as well as many financial losses to the country,” the letter said.“The community declares that it has always obeyed the position of the supreme leader,” it added.“The community declares that the enemies of the system are creating insecurity by targeting the unity of the people. In recent days, unfortunate events and incidents have occurred in our beloved country, which has hurt the hearts of those loyal to Iran and the holy Islamic system,” the letter said.
The letter sounds like it was written with a gun to their heads.
And that is not far from the truth.
From Radio Farda, three days before this:
A senior member of the Iranian Christian community says that security officials are pressuring religious minorities to remain silent and not participate in anti-government protests.The semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Yonathan Betkolia, the head of Assyrian Society of Tehran, as saying that the intelligence and security authorities of the Islamic republic have asked the representatives of Christians, bishops, and Assyrian priests to prevent the participation of Christian and Assyrian citizens in nationwide protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
If Christian minorities are being pressured by the Iranian regime, you can be certain that the Jewish community is being pressured that much more.
And the Christians know that if they support the protests, they will be supported by many Christians worldwide. There would be serious public relations consequences. But if the Jews supported the protests, they would be labeled Zionist spies - the Iranians have already ludicrously claimed that Zionists are behind the protests. Israel's hands are tied; they cannot show support for the same reason.
So we cannot blame the Iranian Jews for pretending to support the regime. Any other decision would be fatal.
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