Last spring, Binghamton University student organizers of a “Free Palestine” rally recommended researching multiple organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an organization that often spreads misconceptions about Zionism: the movement for Jewish people to live in their indigenous homeland.
JVP alleges that “Zionism is a 19th-century political ideology that emerged in a moment where Jews were defined as irrevocably outside of a Christian Europe.” This is untrue. Jews are indigenous to the Middle East and have a history in the region dating back around 4,000 years. Our presence and connection to the land of Israel are long-standing. Zionism is a core element of Judaism and Jewish religious practice.
Furthermore, JVP writes that the “Jewish people have had long and integrated histories in the Arab world and North Africa, living among and sharing community, language and custom with Muslims and Christians for thousands of years.” By only stating this, JVP deliberately leaves out the pogroms, massacres and exiles forged upon Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities that forced such expansive migration in the first place despite acknowledging those perpetuated by Christian Europe.
Throughout history, the Babylonian, Assyrian and Roman empires forced Jews to migrate to different regions of the Middle East, creating diasporic communities. Against all odds, these Jews managed to preserve their culture, faith and connection to Israel.
I am a Persian Jew — my community finds its origins in the Jews taken to the region by the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. We’re one of the oldest diaspora communities. In fact, the earliest indications of a Jewish community in Persia dates back to the sixth century B.C.
However, much of the campus community does not know much about non-European Jews. In a previous Pipe Dream column, I mentioned meeting someone who did not realize Iranian Jews even existed. Unfortunately, this lack of knowledge about the diversity of the Jewish community often contributes to false interpretations about the Jewish people, as stated explicitly in JVP’s definition of Zionism and its effects on Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities.
The Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa date back around 4,000 years. Most notably, in 586 B.C., the Babylonians led the exile of thousands of Jews from the land of Israel to modern day Iraq. Jews displaced from Israel to other regions of the Middle East established the earliest yeshivas, which are religious educational schools, and developed collections of ancient Hebrew writings such as the Babylonian Talmud. Our history endures with modern Jewish holidays commemorating our presence in foreign lands and eventual liberation. For instance, Purim celebrates the emancipation of ancient Persian Jews, and Passover describes the escape of ancient Egyptian Jews from brutal slavery.
The numerous instances of discrimination and intolerance of Jewish communities around the world are not only ever-present in history, but span my family’s story. Through the mid-1900s, my parents and their families were fortunate to experience an irregular period of respect and freedom under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, beloved by the Persian Jewish community.
However, when radical Islamist Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini rose to power in the late 1970s, he led a brutal reign of terror against the Persian Jewish community by labeling them enemies of Iran, calling for their expulsion and stripping them of their rights and property.
My parents fled Iran for the United States in 1979. Due to the long-standing, deep relationship between Persian Jews and Zionism, the sudden danger of supporting a Jewish state created a palpable threat to the community. As a result, a total of 80 percent of Iran’s Jews left the country in the following decades, with many immigrating to Israel.
Contrary to JVP’s assertions, Zionism is a decolonial movement. In the immediate years following Israel’s establishment in 1948, approximately 680,000 Jews exiled from Arab and Muslim lands returned to their indigenous homeland where, for once, they were not subjected to the rule of a foreign power. It is incontestably true that if the state of Israel did not exist, many, if not most, of these Jews would have perished.
JVP’s account of Middle Eastern Jewish communities deliberately leaves out these perilous experiences. Where would thousands of Persian Jews be today if not for the state of Israel? Why did many countries in the Middle East demonize and expel their Jews? These are questions that JVP and similar groups consistently avoid, and that is why I feel personally obliged to speak up on this topic.
I share my story and heritage because it reveals the enduring relationship between Jewish people everywhere and the land of Israel as well as how crucial it is to have an independent state to call our own. Undoubtedly, the land of Israel has always been and will remain an essential element of Jewish life and identity.
Spread this story. Share this history. By doing so, we can lend a hand in combating bigotry.
Eden Janfar is a senior majoring in business administration.