The Islamic Regime in Iran and Its Attitude towards the Jews: The Religious and Political Dimensions

Delegitimizing Jews and Israel in Iran's International Holocaust Cartoon Contest

“…Although many of the cartoonists are not Iranian citizens, inclusion of their cartoons in a state-sanctioned cartoon contest renders them a cohesive part of the Islamic Republic of Iran's political and ideological discourse on Israel, Jews and the Holocaust (Litvak 2006;Shahvar 2009). Moreover, the idiographic mode of analysis employed in this article elucidates the political and ideological idiosyncrasies of each cartoon(ist) and how they converge with anti-Semitic motifs already present in the Iranian politico-ideological discourse in order to create particular social representations of Jews and Israel.…”

“…The dominant themes, such as deicide, the blood libel, the accusation of world domination, that have historically characterized European anti-Semitism gradually infiltrated social representations of Jews in the Middle East (Herf 2006;Jaspal 2013a;Webman 2010;Wistrich 1999). The Islamic Republic of Iran makes no secret of its antiZionist stance which is frequently punctuated by blatant anti-Semitism (Shahvar 2009). …”

“…There has been research into the social psychological aspects of anti-Semitism (e.g., Cohen et al 2009;Jaspal 2013a) and its historical, cultural and political underpinnings (e.g., Lindemann and Levy 2010;Litvak 2006;Shahvar 2009). Yet, despite the social and political importance of the 2006 cartoon contest and the general clout that visual representations can have in shaping public opinion and intergroup relations (Bounegru is, myths and fears concerning the "evil" nature of Jews, which are represented in cartoon format.…”

Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran

“…Iranian newspapers such as the Tehran Times and Kayhan continue to reproduce demonizing social representations of Jews, which depict them as falsifying and distorting the message of Islam. 98 The constant reproduction and institutionalization of these social representations and nexuses, which are anchored to historical representations and attributed to powerful influential figures such as Khomeini, will have considerable clout in encouraging the notion that Jews pose a realistic threat.…”

‘I have two homelands’: constructing and managing Iranian Jewish and Persian Israeli identities

“…In order to understand the sociological and political context in which Iranian Jews and Persian Israelis construct and manage their identities, it is necessary to explore the development of historical and political relations between Israel and Iran. Shahvar (2009) describes the long-standing antisemitism of Shiite Islam (which is the dominant denomination of Islam in Iran) which has persisted in present-day Iran. For instance, during the Qajar dynasty , Iranian Jews faced blood libel accusations, persecution, forced conversions -the forced conversion of Mashadi Jews to Islam in 1839 being an infamous case -and even pogroms (Levy, 1999;Tsadik, 2005Tsadik, , 2010.…”