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What do Jews think of Iranians, both in history and today?
First of all, as I often do, I’ll provide the caveat that I can’t tell you what “Jews” think of anything in particular. I can tell you what this Jew thinks. As it happens, I don’t think much about Iran, at least not outside of the Iran nuclear deal, which many Jews spent a lot of time contemplating last year. Also, can anyone safely generalize about an entire nation’s population? About 80 million people live in Iran. I’m not sure what I, or anyone, can say about 80 million people that would be true for even a majority of them.
If we are going to think about Iran from a Jewish perspective, it’s at least worth separating the president from the populace. Former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad infuriated countless Jews worldwide by referring to the Holocaust as a “myth.” The current president, Hassan Rouhani, recognizes and condemns the Holocaust, but it seems as though his relationship with Jews and Judaism is complex — i.e., not as easily explained or understood as Ahmadinejad’s counterfactual provocations.
Last fall, some sources suggested American Jews were split nearly down the middle on the matter of the Iran deal. Regarding the Iranian people, it’s not as if Persian Jews don’t exist — Iranians and Jews aren’t mutually exclusive groups. It’s not a big overlap, however. According to a 2012 government census, there were fewer than 9,000 Jews remaining in Iran at that time. Yet those who do remain seem in no hurry to leave, according to Steve Inskeep’s 2015 NPR report. The article spotlights Iran’s unique character in relation to Jews:
Iran is a country where people at rallies routinely chant “Death to Israel.” It’s also home to the largest Jewish population in the Middle East outside of Israel and Turkey.
Inskeep goes on to note: “The Jews’ very presence in Iran demonstrates the complexity of a country that is hard for outsiders to understand.” Considering the significant presence of anti-Semitism in Iran, I’d imagine that many American Jews, and certainly those who strongly opposed the Iran deal, maintain a great deal of skepticism about the Iranian people, not just the political leadership. For my part, I think it’s safe to say my understanding of Iran and Iranians is in its very early stages.
