Iranian Antisemitism: Stepchild of German National Socialism

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

“…However, it was claimed that the contest was not intended to offend or ridicule Jews, but to reiterate opposition to Zionism and the State of Israel. Yet, the contest clearly exhibited the extent of anti-Semitism in the Iranian regime and its willingness to use anti-Semitism for political ends (Küntzel 2010). It is likely that Holocaust denial was selected as the theme of the cartoon contest due to its ability to shock sensibilities and to provoke outrage in the West, which would in turn "evidence" the Iranian regime's claim that the Western world silences D E L E G I T I M I Z I N G J E W S A N D I S R A E L "scientific debate" concerning the Holocaust and impedes freedom of speech (see Küntzel 2012).…”

Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran

“…In fact it has been argued that 'no other regime in the world is as antiSemitic as that of the Mullahs in Tehran'. 19 The origins of Iranian anti-Semitism lie in the instatement of Islam as the state religion in the seventh century, which resulted in the 'inferiorization' of the socio-political status of Jews (and other non-Muslim communities) in Iran. 20 Jews were segregated, forced to pay poll tax and pervasively regarded as inferior to the Muslim majority, in line with their Dhimmi status.…”

The Contemporary Globalization of Political Antisemitism: Three Political Spaces and the Global Mainstreaming of the “Jewish Question” in the Twenty-First Century

“…54 Replicating a classic antisemitic worldview, the government sees itself threatened by a powerful Zionist conspiracy with global reach, which has allegedly penetrated-or already controls-Western legal systems, cultures, democracies, and the media. 55 The link between antizionist and antisemitic ideology is thereby evident in many areas, including Iran's "advocacy and sponsorship of Holocaust denial and its alliance with notorious Holocaust deniers in the West." 56 Matthias Küntzel has pointed out that since the days of Ahmadinejad's presidency, Holocaust denial is no longer just a marginal part of the regime's arsenal of antisemitism, but has been construed as a "liberation struggle": the alleged struggle for "freely" studying the "Holocaust myth" is linked to ideological conceptions of Shia Islam as the religion of the politically dispossessed.…”