Phantom of Justice
11-01-2013, 05:49 PM
There have been Jewish anti-Semites—Karl Marx, for example. And there have been anti-Semites falsely rumored to be Jewish—Adolph Hitler, for example. (Rivals in the Nazi party started the Jewish Hitler rumor to discredit him, in an early intra-party power struggle.) And historically, some of the most ferocious anti-Semites have been Jews who converted to other religions (but who remain Jewish according to Jewish law, insofar as membership in the Jewish people cannot be abandoned). (See “Are Palestinian Arabs really Jewish?”)
Now it appears that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad falls into the latter category.
The Telegraph reports that close examination of Ahmadinejad’s identity card shows that his family’s name originally was “Sabourjian.” This is a traditionally Jewish name; the Telegraph states that Sabourjian is on the Iranian Interior Ministry’s list of names reserved for Jews. (A Nazi-like practice that itself deserved further consideration.) It appears that little Mahmoud’s family converted to Islam when he was a child.
One wonders what will be the repercussions in Iran of this discovery—how will it affect Ahmadinejad’s position. How are Jewish converts to Shia Islam regarded in Islamist Iran? Ahmadinejad’s presidency has no legitimacy, of course. First, Iran is not a genuine democracy, in that the religious establishment tightly controls who can run for office. Second, the June election was famously stolen, leading to the ongoing turmoil that may still turn out to be the Second Iranian Revolution. But does this latest news fatally tarnish Ahmadinejad, even (or especially) among his Islamist supporters?
(Digression: For an entertaining bit of lunatic raving from the Sunni side, here’s a post on the Islamic Awakening blog: “For those in the know this doesn't come as a surprise , ahmadinajad is not a muslim that's for sure , ahmadinajad is a shia , shiaism was founded by yemeni jew , abdullah ibn saba . Ahmadinjad claims to oppose israel and america , pure taqiyyah (lies) . With all it's "DEATH TO AMERICA/DEATH TO ISRAEL " shreiking , iran has never managed even to fire a single shot towards american troops in iraq nor afghanistan , in fact without iranian support and intelligence , the americans wouldn't last long . To look at the face of this man is to see the surrender of everything good and decent , without the collaboration of this half-jew , afghanistan and iraq would not have been invaded and thousands of lives could have been saved . In tehran , not a single sunni mosque is allowed to stand , yet there are dozens of synagogues and 70,000 jews living like kings in iran . Don't be fooled by the media hype , Israel will NEVER attack iran , nor will iran attack israel , ISRAEL IS THE SHIITE MESSIAH , pakistan is next on the list , get ready for a pakistani bloodbath, with iranian collaboration . we must protect ourselves from the bloodthirsty bestiality of the shia by all means possible !” )
The idea of Ahmadinejad losing power is a fascinating scenario, but we must not exaggerate its importance. If the revelation of Ahmadinejad’s Jewish origins were to result in his losing the presidency, the world might be tempted to relax. There would be hope that his replacement would be more pliable on the nuclear issue.
Such hope would be misplaced. The drive to become a nuclear power is widely supported in Iran’s clerical/government power structure. For example, when the “reformist” Mohammed Khatami was president, he talked about a “dialogue of civilizations” to lull the West while Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear program. As Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, Khatami's former spokesman, admitted in 2008: “We had one overt policy, which was one of negotiation and confidence-building, and a covert policy, which was continuation of the [nuclear] activities.”
Ahmadinejad, by contrast, has been criticized for being a braggart and a loudmouth, which jeopardized the goal of a nuclear Iran. But the mullocracy did not criticize him for pursuing that goal.
Who holds the presidency of Iran is not the issue. The crucial issue is the character of the regime. Thus, the world’s interest remains the same: to support the elements of Iranian society seeking to create a liberal democracy, the least dangerous form of government.
Source
http://www.examiner.com/article/telegraph-report-suggests-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-is-jewish
Now it appears that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad falls into the latter category.
The Telegraph reports that close examination of Ahmadinejad’s identity card shows that his family’s name originally was “Sabourjian.” This is a traditionally Jewish name; the Telegraph states that Sabourjian is on the Iranian Interior Ministry’s list of names reserved for Jews. (A Nazi-like practice that itself deserved further consideration.) It appears that little Mahmoud’s family converted to Islam when he was a child.
One wonders what will be the repercussions in Iran of this discovery—how will it affect Ahmadinejad’s position. How are Jewish converts to Shia Islam regarded in Islamist Iran? Ahmadinejad’s presidency has no legitimacy, of course. First, Iran is not a genuine democracy, in that the religious establishment tightly controls who can run for office. Second, the June election was famously stolen, leading to the ongoing turmoil that may still turn out to be the Second Iranian Revolution. But does this latest news fatally tarnish Ahmadinejad, even (or especially) among his Islamist supporters?
(Digression: For an entertaining bit of lunatic raving from the Sunni side, here’s a post on the Islamic Awakening blog: “For those in the know this doesn't come as a surprise , ahmadinajad is not a muslim that's for sure , ahmadinajad is a shia , shiaism was founded by yemeni jew , abdullah ibn saba . Ahmadinjad claims to oppose israel and america , pure taqiyyah (lies) . With all it's "DEATH TO AMERICA/DEATH TO ISRAEL " shreiking , iran has never managed even to fire a single shot towards american troops in iraq nor afghanistan , in fact without iranian support and intelligence , the americans wouldn't last long . To look at the face of this man is to see the surrender of everything good and decent , without the collaboration of this half-jew , afghanistan and iraq would not have been invaded and thousands of lives could have been saved . In tehran , not a single sunni mosque is allowed to stand , yet there are dozens of synagogues and 70,000 jews living like kings in iran . Don't be fooled by the media hype , Israel will NEVER attack iran , nor will iran attack israel , ISRAEL IS THE SHIITE MESSIAH , pakistan is next on the list , get ready for a pakistani bloodbath, with iranian collaboration . we must protect ourselves from the bloodthirsty bestiality of the shia by all means possible !” )
The idea of Ahmadinejad losing power is a fascinating scenario, but we must not exaggerate its importance. If the revelation of Ahmadinejad’s Jewish origins were to result in his losing the presidency, the world might be tempted to relax. There would be hope that his replacement would be more pliable on the nuclear issue.
Such hope would be misplaced. The drive to become a nuclear power is widely supported in Iran’s clerical/government power structure. For example, when the “reformist” Mohammed Khatami was president, he talked about a “dialogue of civilizations” to lull the West while Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear program. As Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, Khatami's former spokesman, admitted in 2008: “We had one overt policy, which was one of negotiation and confidence-building, and a covert policy, which was continuation of the [nuclear] activities.”
Ahmadinejad, by contrast, has been criticized for being a braggart and a loudmouth, which jeopardized the goal of a nuclear Iran. But the mullocracy did not criticize him for pursuing that goal.
Who holds the presidency of Iran is not the issue. The crucial issue is the character of the regime. Thus, the world’s interest remains the same: to support the elements of Iranian society seeking to create a liberal democracy, the least dangerous form of government.
Source
http://www.examiner.com/article/telegraph-report-suggests-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-is-jewish