Mike Whitney writes on why Iran's Jews are better off than Gaza's Palestinians. (Ha ha)

Arrgh! For every one good article there are 25 bad ones. Welcome to...

Mike Whitney: Why Iran's Jews are Better Off Than Gaza's Palestinians

In this miserable excuse for an article, Mike Whitney writes:

25,000 Jews live in Iran. It's the largest Jewish population in the Middle East outside of Israel. Iranian Jews are not persecuted or abused by the state, in fact, they are protected under Iran's constitution. They are free to practice their religion and to vote in elections.

Did you ever hear about the ten Jews accused of spying against Iran?

Well, this is a snippet from Arutzsheva.

In 2000, 10 Iranian Jews were convicted of espionage on behalf of Israel and were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. International pressure eventually brought about their release. Twelve other Jews have not been heard from since their arrests in the 1990s.

The idea that they were spying is idiotic. I actually heard one of those "spies" speak, after his release. They were arrested for practicing Judaism, nothing more.

Religious freedom for Jews in Iran? Not at all. There is actually an organization that does its best to bring Iranian Jews to America so they can practice Judaism, and learn about Judaism, without fear. Jews in Iran do not like living there and, given the opportunity, would quickly leave.

Continuing in the article we see this bit:

They are not stopped and searched at checkpoints, they are not brutalized by an occupying army, and they are not herded into a densely-populated penal colony (Gaza) where they are deprived of the basic means of survival.

Wow! Look at that! The Jews in Iran are not stopped by checkpoints. I wonder why? Maybe because they do not commit mass murder and suicide bombings that kill civilians!

As far as the brutal conditions the Gazans live in? It has been proven to be a myth. They have a surplus of goods, a mall, an Olympic sized swimming pool, and even a water park, all of which you can see pictures of here. Terrible!

Even the major Lefitst media, which have long been spouting the lies of the "Gaza crises" have given in to the truth. The Times published a news article with this as the main theme:

Gaza's residents will concede that there is no hunger crisis in the Strip. Residents do love the beach, and the store shelves are stocked. But if you're focused on starvation, they say, you're probably missing the point.

(Read it all here if you wish. The article screams "I want to criticize Israel but I can't; So I have to resort to this.")

Mike Witless continues:

But if those claims are true, then why did the majority of Iran's Jews vote for Ahmadinejad in recent presidential elections? Could it be that most of what we know about Ahmadinejad is just baseless rumor and propaganda?

Unfortunately, the author fails to back up his claim. But let us imagine that he had taken a poll from the Jews; Can you honestly imagine that they would say they voted against the dictatorial regime?

Then, we have this:

This excerpt appeared in an article by the BBC:

"(Ahmadinejad's) office recently donated money for Tehran's Jewish hospital. It is one of only four Jewish charity hospitals worldwide and is funded with money from the Jewish diaspora - something remarkable in Iran where even local aid organizations have difficulty receiving funds from abroad for fear of being accused of being foreign agents."

When did Hitler ever donate money to Jewish hospitals? The Hitler analogy is a desperate attempt to brainwash Americans. It tells us nothing about what Ahmadinejad is really like.

First of all, how many Jewish hospitals are there in Iran? One. and it is funded mostly by diaspora Jews. Maybe the reason it exists at all, is because Iranians may not give treatment to them. But I am just speculating here. I honestly know nothing of the subject and I am willing to admit it.

Then we have a conspiracy theory followed by a "foot in mouth" type comment.

The lies about Ahmadinejad are no different than the lies about Saddam Hussein or Hugo Chavez. The US and Israel are trying to create the justification for another war. That's why the media credits Ahmadinejad with saying things that he never really said. 

Ahmadinejad poses no threat to Israel or the United States... Like everyone else in the Middle East, he just wants a breather from US and Israeli aggression.

So the US wants another war, cause the war with Iraq did wonders for the economy and American outlook, so they misconstrued the dictator's comments. Right. 

Oh, and is this a form of Israeli aggression?

Also... 

He [Ahmadinejad] never said that he wanted to "wipe Israel off the map". That's another fiction. Author Jonathan Cook explains what the Iranian president really said:

"This myth has been endlessly recycled since a translating error was made of a speech Ahmadinejad delivered nearly two years ago. Farsi experts have verified that the Iranian president, far from threatening to destroy Israel, was quoting from an earlier speech by the late Ayatollah Khomeini in which he reassured supporters of the Palestinians that "the Zionist regime in Jerusalem" would "vanish from the page of time."

He was not threatening to exterminate Jews or even Israel. He was comparing Israel's occupation of the Palestinians with other illegitimate systems of rule whose time had passed, including the Shahs who once ruled Iran, apartheid South Africa and the Soviet empire. Nonetheless, this erroneous translation has survived and prospered because Israel and its supporters have exploited it for their own crude propaganda purposes." ("Israel's Jewish problem in Tehran", Jonathan Cook, The Electronic Intifada)

This comment was not "we will wipe Israel off the map" but actually "the Zionist regime in Jerusalem" would "vanish from the page of time." I don't know, that sounds a bit like a threat to me anyway. Not to mention the various war games, the death ambassador, and the recent threats made against Israel and the US.

So continue in this comical piece and we get:

This is from Wikipedia:

"The U.S. State Department has made claims of discrimination in Iran against Jews. According to its study, Jews may not occupy senior positions in government and are prevented from serving in the judiciary and security services and from becoming public school heads. The study says that Jewish citizens are permitted to obtain passports and to travel outside the country, but they often are denied the multiple-exit permits normally issued to other citizens. Allegations made by the U.S. State Department have been condemned by Iranian Jews. The Association of Tehrani Jews said in a statement, "We Iranian Jews condemn claims of the US State Department on Iranian religious minorities, announced that we are fully free to perform our religious duties and we feel no restriction on performing our religious rituals."

Who should we believe; the Jews who actually live Iran or the troublemaking US State Department?

The "troublemaking US state department." That was the first line that caught my eye, and it makes me laugh even now. Conspiracy theorists do that to me.

But consider that he questions who we should believe, The Jews of Iran (who he does not quote) or the US state department. Honestly? Freedom of speech, unlike in dictatorships, exists in the US. So, even if I didn't know the situation in Iran from a first-hand account, I would assume that the statement by the (notoriously anti-semitic) state department is the truth.

Then the final statement.

Things aren't perfect for Jews living in Iran, but they're better than they are for Palestinians living in Gaza. Much better.

This practically debunks his entire article, by saying that things aren't perfect for Jews in Iran, as he seemed to be saying before. He doesn't mention why things aren't perfect, either. Could it be that it would show his argument was an even greater falsehood than I have shown it?