posted
Hijabs, Jilbabs and Abayas are getting too stylish so Allah wants a stricter dress code in Iran. Everybody gets to dress the same. But if you're a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian you get your very own colored designer patch.
Iran eyes badges for Jews
Chris Wattie National Post (Canada)
Friday, May 19, 2006
Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.
"This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis."
Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical "standard Islamic garments."
The law, which must still be approved by Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn by non-Muslims.
Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.
"There's no reason to believe they won't pass this," said Rabbi Hier. "It will certainly pass unless there's some sort of international outcry over this."
posted
As a matter of protest I would like to see Jews and Christians in this country wearing their colors. OR Muslims in this country that disagree with Iran's law to wear strips themselves.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Does this really surprise anyone though? There's no such thing as human rights in these countries.
Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I just can't believe they're doing something so incredibly similar to the situation for Jews in Europe during WW2. I get the impression that Ahmadinejad thinks he's the next Saladin/Hitler.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Oct 2005
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We'll have to wait this one out. It seems that the US press is waiting for confirmation. I have only seen it on Canadian, Jewish, and Christian news sites.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I've been following this story on and off all day. Been wondering when it would hit Hatrack.
A good friend of mine is in Montreal for a convention. He reports that this was the banner headline on the newspaper waiting outside his door this morning (The National Post). As he was rather alarmed by this headline, he posted it to his journal and on Daily Kos.
I saw his post at 08:06 am Central this morning. My response: OMG. Please tell me this is a joke. I haven't even read the article yet, and I'm crying.. I immediately did some investigating. At 08:12 am Central, it did not appear on the front page of Google News, nor did I see it when I click on the "World" section. There were only three hits for it when searching Google News, one of which said it was untrue.
It's been rather interesting to watch the news trickle across the web throughout the day. At 10:37 a.m. Central, kenboy told me that Fox News was reporting it, and that it had appeared on the Drudge report. At noon, I read a report that said Canada's PM thought it was true; another site wondered if the US media would report on it.
A good portion of the posters at Daily Kos speculate that this is a disinformation or propaganda. I'm uncertain at this point whether or not this is a true report; it's only been recently that I've taken any interest in the news, so I don't know too much about the situation in Iran. Either way, I'm horrified. It's horrific if it's true, and it's outrageous if it's propaganda.
Posts: 1805 | Registered: Jun 1999
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SHADE of YELLOW? There are no SHADES of anything, especially in Iran. There is Allah given truth of light, and evil darkness. There is only one yellow, and its what we say is Yellow. Here is your yellow, bright like the sun, so we can spot you at a distance with our rifles. What need you ask about shades for, evil female.
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quote:Hormoz Ghahremani, a spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa, said in an e-mail to the Post yesterday that, “We wish to categorically reject the news item.
“These kinds of slanderous accusations are part of a smear campaign against Iran by vested interests, which needs to be denounced at every step.”
Sam Kermanian, of the U.S.-based Iranian-American Jewish Federation, said in an interview from Los Angeles that he had contacted members of the Jewish community in Iran — including the lone Jewish member of the Iranian parliament — and they denied any such measure was in place.
EDIT: Hypothetically speaking, if such a law were enacted, would atheists be exempt? What does Iran think of atheists- surely they would be just as suspect as non-Muslims, if not worse?
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Well, I'm thinking that Iran wants Israel to attack them. Why? Who knows. That, or they probably want the U.S. to intervene so that they can attack Israel, which at this point isn't very unlikely.
*someone knocks at my door*
*goes to get door*
*opens door*
Oh hey... World War III
Posts: 2121 | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Well, I'm thinking that Iran wants Israel to attack them.
If this article is a fraud, a far more likely explanation is that someone else wants Israel to attack Iran.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges!
Posts: 1539 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Well, as much as it pains me, I'm probably going to have to rule out my next-door neighbor because he doesn't know anybody in Canada.
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It's a Canadian conspiracy. It's all a lie! A farce created by the great white devils of the north to create unrest and instigate a war which will leave them rulers of the Earth!
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I doubt this is true. I haven't seen this confirmed anywhere but Krank's source -- taken from Digg? -- and Iran wouldn't want to shift from their current posturing as a righteous nation struggling against the West. Official endorsement of persecution wins them nothing, particularly if they lose their self-declared victimhood.
It's interesting to watch the reaction to this, though. Iran's furiously persecuted Bahai for how long -- but we only care about religious freedom if Iran goes after our religions, why? Is America so in love with feeling victimized?
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Whether this is an accurate report about the policies or potential policies of the Iranian government remains to be seen, apparently.
But you said something that was surprising, Eddie. That the Iranian government would not want to shift from its position as a righteous opponent of the West (Great Satan particularly).
This is a government whose leader routinely says publicly that the Holocaust was a hoax, and that he would like nothing better than to destroy Israel. Whose foundation was on one of Islamic radical fundamentalism, violently xenophobic, theocratic, and bigoted towards other religions and peoples, even other Islamic sects.
Given these facts Iran could easily initiate such a program as is being reported in some places and remain, in its own eyes, a righteous nation opposing the West. Iran's is a government not greatly concerned with public opinion about it in the West, obviously, so that would scarcely be a big motivator one way or another.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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This article says the draft of a dress law obtained by AP says nothing about other religions, and in fact does not technically mandate anything. However, it's still worrying people as a potential foreshadowing of harsher enforcement to come.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
That article is interesting, ketchupqueen. It's heartening to hear the voices of the young Iranian women.
Hopefully Iran will not force a confrontation with the West. If they don't, I expect that eventually there will be a change of generations in that country, and the student activists we saw in the 90's will come to power for good.
I have a friend in grad school who is a young Iranian -- indeed, he served in their army for a while as their laws mandate. The man is totally cosmopolitan and at home in the West. I doubt you could find anyone like him among Iranians 50 years old and over, but I gather that he's pretty typical of his generation.
Posts: 4600 | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Destineer: The man is totally cosmopolitan and at home in the West. I doubt you could find anyone like him among Iranians 50 years old and over, but I gather that he's pretty typical of his generation.
It's worth noting that the reason that the reason older cosmopolitan Iranians are hard to find is that the Iranian gov't of the 70s and 80s imprisoned and killed as many of them as it was able to get its hands on.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
For an interesting and approachable look at Iran in the 70s and 80s, give Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical novels Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and its sequel Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return a try (if you haven't already; they're pretty well known, I know). Fascinating books; can't recommend them highly enough.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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