Times Of India Delhi; Oct 4, 2009;
WHAT LIES BENEATH?
Holocaust-denier Ahmadinejad has a Jewish past?
London: Evidence uncovered by the Daily Telegraph shows that Iran’s
president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a Jewish past.
According to the paper, the evidence shows that his family’s previous
name was Jewish. A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his
identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has
Jewish roots. A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as
Sabourjian — a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver.
The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name
to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth. The
Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Ahmadinejad’s birthplace, and
the name derives from the Jewish for “weaver of the Sabour”, the name for
the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia.
The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled
by Iran’s ministry of the interior. Experts suggested on Friday night that
Ahmadinejad’s track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an
overcompensation to hide his past.
Ali Nourizadeh, of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies, said: “This
aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad’s background explains a lot about him.
“Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity
by condemning their old faith.
By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about
his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society.”
A London-based expert on Iranian Jewry said that “jian” ending to the
name specifically showed the family had been practising Jews.
A spokesman for the Iranian embassy in London said it would not be drawn
on Ahmadinejad’s background. The Iranian leader has not denied his name was
changed when his family moved to Tehran in the 1950s. But he has never
revealed what it was change from or directly addressed the reason for the
switch. ANI
IAEA chief arrives in Iran to discuss enrichment site: The head of the UN
nuclear agency arrived in Iran on Saturday for talks on a timetable for
inspectors to visit a newly disclosed nuclear enrichment plant, state radio
reported. “Mohamed Elbaradei arrived in Iran to meet Iranian officials. He
will discuss Iran’s nuclear program with the officials,” it said. A senior
official said ElBaradei would discuss a plan to allow the Iaea inspectors to
visit the enrichment site. REUTERS
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
