PRESSTV — broadcast
20260926 070000 UTC
310 transcript segments
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[00:00:10] to get me a tent so we could
[00:00:31] in the country's history.
[00:00:35] It was May 2025 and Iran was on the brink of war with
[00:00:38] Israel, the self-proclaimed Jewish
[00:00:41] state.
[00:00:44] At the same time, Israel was engaged in a war
[00:00:47] of
[00:00:51] prompting American Jewish communal leadership, to accuse
[00:00:54] dissenters of anti-semitism, and to
[00:00:57] call for them to be silenced and even
[00:01:00] criminalized. So when I came to
[00:01:03] Iran, one of the first things I wanted to
[00:01:06] know was what the leaders of Iran's
[00:01:08] Jewish, the second largest in the region,
[00:01:12] thought about the crisis and what the
[00:01:15] relationship with the Islamic Republic was really
[00:01:18] like. I had read and heard so much about
[00:01:22] them, some of it might have been true, but much of it felt like
[00:01:26] propaganda, so I wanted to see for myself,
[00:01:31] to meet Iran's Jews where they lived in their
[00:01:34] congregations and communities.
[00:01:38] What I found was an authentic brand of Judaism
[00:01:42] in practice, one representing thousands of years
[00:01:46] of tradition and which today
[00:01:49] remains uncaptured by the militaristic force of
[00:01:53] Zionism.
[00:03:00] our homeland is very valuable to us, and
[00:03:03] incidentally, experience has shown
[00:03:06] that especially small
[00:03:09] communities are more committed, meaning that we,
[00:03:13] despite having a smaller population in Iran, have stronger
[00:03:16] beliefs. Our students study in various
[00:03:20] schools, go to university,
[00:03:23] and all Jews in Iran fully
[00:03:27] enjoy their basic civil rights. They have a religious
[00:03:30] leader, a representative in parliament, and it can be
[00:03:34] said that they experience a relatively good
[00:03:37] life within the majority community. your critics on
[00:03:41] the outside and the media, the western media says that you
[00:03:44] as an Iranian Jew have to denounce Zionism in order
[00:03:48] to secure your place here under a
[00:03:51] republic that officially rejects Zionism,
[00:03:54] and that the only reason most Iranian Jews are still
[00:03:58] here practicing Judaism is because
[00:04:10] We are a young and aware generation. A large
[00:04:13] part of our community is educated, so
[00:04:17] naturally, we are aware of the issues. I say that the
[00:04:21] world is not like before, where people had something ingrained
[00:04:24] in their minds and thought about it with prejudice. We now
[00:04:28] have Iranians who have
[00:04:38] emigrated and live there. a sign that Nike put up
[00:04:41] and it just said never again
[00:04:44] because the runners were exhausted
[00:04:47] and some extreme Zionist ran a
[00:04:51] campaign against Nike to demand they take that down
[00:04:54] because never again is also a slogan of the holocaust
[00:04:57] and of course Iran's
[00:05:00] Islamic Republic, the ultimate enemy. So
[00:05:04] in your community, the Jewish community inside
[00:05:07] Iran, uh, do people talk about anti-semitism?
[00:05:10] Is it something they think about
[00:05:43] from the criticisms that are leveled, it's not necessarily
[00:05:45] against Judaism, because the issue of
[00:05:49] Zionism or Israel and authentic
[00:05:52] Judaism are two completely separate topics.
[00:05:55] Yes, Iran is an enemy of Israel and is in conflict
[00:05:59] with it, and the Jews of Iran are also completely
[00:06:03] against what Israel does regarding the killing
[00:06:06] of innocent people. In fact, we are with that Neturei
[00:06:10] Karta group, which
[00:06:42] includes rabbis and anti-Zionist Jews.
[00:06:45] I think Fas was Iranian and was
[00:06:48] defense minister, committed many crimes against
[00:06:51] Palestinians, part of the
[00:06:53] establishment.
[00:06:56] What do they think of you and how do you defend
[00:07:00] your relationship with the Islamic Republic against this
[00:07:03] majority of Iranians who live on the
[00:07:05] outside?
[00:07:08] I am doing what my conscience, religious beliefs,
[00:07:12] and national identity have taught
[00:07:16] me and brought to me. I have a criticism
[00:07:20] for the person who emigrated and left Iran
[00:07:23] and criticizes my behavior. I tell him
[00:07:27] that before you are a Jew,
[00:07:30] before you are an Iranian,
[00:07:33] you are a human being. Therefore,
[00:07:37] you cannot be indifferent to the killing of
[00:07:40] people. This is not about
[00:07:43] politics; it is about the violation of the rights
[00:07:46] of ordinary people. Israel as a promised
[00:07:49] land has religious
[00:07:52] appeal for us. We have that love and
[00:07:56] devotion for it, but this does not mean
[00:08:00] that we approve of what the
[00:08:02] government of Israel
[00:08:47] does. "I think Zionism would like to collapse all Jewish
[00:08:51] communities outside of Israel and foments
[00:08:54] anti-semitism in order to
[00:08:58] force all Jews to move to Israel, and so as
[00:09:02] a Jew in the United States, not only
[00:09:05] because I oppose the slaughter of children and occupation of
[00:09:08] people in the Gaza strip in the West Bank, etc., but
[00:09:12] so because of what it's doing to us in the US, I oppose
[00:09:16] Zionism,
[00:09:18] and with the looking at the whole history, the
[00:09:22] Jewish of the Jewish experience, we need
[00:09:25] to look past the European Jewish
[00:09:27] experience and look at how Jews have lived in the Muslim
[00:09:31] world, which is why I was so interested in doing this documentary,
[00:09:35] because we have the experience in Andalusia where Jews
[00:09:38] lived with Muslims very peacefully, well
[00:09:42] before.
[00:10:13] We don't follow it, and as you said, that
[00:10:15] expansionist world conquest that Israel
[00:10:19] is pursuing was never part of
[00:10:22] the teachings of Moses. What happened
[00:10:26] in Israel, in Gaza, cannot be censored. It is seen. In Iran,
[00:10:30] in all central synagogues, and especially
[00:10:33] here, we held ceremonies
[00:10:36] extensively
[00:10:40] condemning what Israel did
[00:10:43] against Gaza in defense of
[00:10:47] the innocence of women and children who, unfortunately,
[00:10:50] were lost. The words of
[00:10:53] Moses in his commandment,
[00:10:57] the main one being to love your neighbor
[00:11:00] as yourself. How can a land
[00:11:04] come and, as you said, misuse
[00:11:07] the words of God who says, love
[00:11:11] your neighbor as yourself?
[00:11:45] What I found captured by the militaristic force of
[00:11:49] Zionism. My journey began in the Jubarda
[00:11:52] neighborhood of Isfahan, the historic home of Isfahan's Jewish
[00:11:56] community. Synagogues here open each morning as
[00:12:00] rituals are quietly observed. In this unique
[00:12:03] quarter, a mosque and a synagogue are separated by just one
[00:12:07] house. Jubare is also known
[00:12:10] as the three religions junction with the
[00:12:13] synagogue in one corner, a Christian church in another, and
[00:12:17] a mosque at the center, a symbol of coexistence among
[00:12:20] faiths.
[00:12:53] Iran's largest Jewish population have traditionally lived in
[00:12:56] Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz, with nearly
[00:13:00] half living in Tehran alone. Thriving communities exist across
[00:13:04] the country, from Hamedan to Yazd, to
[00:13:07] Kerman, Kashan, and
[00:13:09] Kermanshah. Jews in Iran have long
[00:13:13] maintained good relations with their Muslim neighbors, often
[00:13:17] participating in shared festivals and celebrations.
[00:13:21] Their presence is woven into the social and cultural fabric of all
[00:13:42] The arrival of Jews in Iran dates
[00:13:45] back to the destruction of the Second
[00:13:48] Temple.
[00:14:03] So how did Jews first arrive in Persia? Nebuchadnezzar
[00:14:07] the second, the ruthless king of Babylon, launched an
[00:14:11] invasion into
[00:14:11] Judah.
[00:14:18] His armies laid siege to Jerusalem, destroyed
[00:14:22] the city, and set fire to the holy temple, Solomon's
[00:14:26] temple, before leading the people into
[00:14:28] exile. They were taken in chains to
[00:14:32] Babylon. This traumatic event became known
[00:14:35] as the Babylonian
[00:14:36] exile.
[00:14:41] In Babylon, the Jews endured years of
[00:14:44] hardship, far from their homeland, their sacred
[00:14:47] temple, and their
[00:14:48] identity.
[00:14:57] Then from the East, a new force rose,
[00:15:01] Cyrus The Great, King of Persia. He was a
[00:15:05] conqueror, but also, as the story
[00:15:08] goes, he was a wise and just ruler.
[00:15:11] Upon defeating Babylon, Cyrus issued a historic
[00:15:15] decree: "All captives are to be freed, let
[00:15:19] every people return to their lands. Let their faiths
[00:15:22] and temples be restored," he said.
[00:15:30] Many Jews returned to their homeland, yet others remained, planting
[00:15:34] roots in Iran generation after generation.
[00:16:10] is mostly with Muslims, and we fully
[00:16:13] respect Muslims
[00:16:16] and Christians. We respect their
[00:16:18] laws. In fact, it is one
[00:16:21] of the commandments of the Torah. Since
[00:16:24] we are born in this country
[00:16:28] and have used and are using its blessings,
[00:16:31] this itself creates a sense
[00:16:34] of respect. One cannot allow
[00:16:37] God to come and inflict ten plagues
[00:16:41] on the Egyptians. Now, I don't know if you are aware
[00:16:45] or not, one of
[00:16:46] the plagues
[00:16:49] inflicted on the Egyptians was the plague of
[00:16:52] lice. Lice come from dirt.
[00:16:56] Then God commanded Moses to take a handful of dirt
[00:17:00] and scatter it in the air. It would turn into
[00:17:03] lice, and all
[00:17:06] Egyptians would be afflicted with lice. Moses did not
[00:17:10] do this. He conveyed these instructions to
[00:17:14] Aaron, so Aaron would come and do this. Why?
[00:17:18] Because the dirt, meaning the dirt
[00:17:21] of Egypt, had served him in previous times, and also
[00:17:35] water
[00:17:38] and a narration about this. That Shah Abbas Safavi
[00:17:41] begins to entertain himself with polo
[00:17:45] in these areas, and this entertainment
[00:17:49] causes him to lose his way, and
[00:17:52] he even encounters a deer and follows
[00:17:56] this deer, and in an enclosure that we commonly call
[00:17:59] Cheleh Khaneh, he gets trapped here.
[00:18:03] During this trapping, Sarbat
[00:18:05] Asher or Esther Khatoon, who is commonly
[00:18:09] talked about, is revealed to him.
[00:18:13] Who was Sarah Ahmed Asher, who is the granddaughter
[00:18:16] of Prophet Jacob? What important characteristic
[00:18:20] did this character have? When Prophet Jacob
[00:18:23] is waiting for Joseph, his son, and thinks
[00:18:27] he has lost him, Sarah
[00:18:30] or Sarah, his granddaughter,
[00:18:33] who is the daughter of Asher, another son of Prophet Jacob,
[00:18:38] gives the good news, she announces
[00:18:40] to Jacob that Joseph is alive.
[00:18:44] And Jacob prays for Sarah that
[00:18:47] if what you say is true and real and Joseph is alive,
[00:18:51] I will pray for you to have eternal life.
[00:18:54] And this belief exists in Jewish
[00:18:58] culture that Sarahbat Asher, through this prayer
[00:19:01] of Prophet Jacob, attains a special
[00:19:05] eternal life.
[00:19:09] She comes in many historical accounts
[00:19:12] and becomes a savior. So here, Sarahbat
[00:19:15] Asher, centuries later, is revealed
[00:19:18] to Shah Abbas Safavi and tells him
[00:19:22] that I will save you. Her request is that he
[00:19:25] allow the Jews in this area to have a
[00:19:29] place where they can bury their loved ones,
[00:19:32] and Shah Abbas grants
[00:19:35] this large area to the
[00:19:38] Jews of Isfahan as
[00:19:41] a shrine, which for centuries has been known
[00:19:44] as the largest and oldest Jewish cemetery in Isfahan.
[00:19:46] میشه
[00:19:52] And it's interesting that the city where Esther
[00:19:56] Khatoon or Sarahbat
[00:19:59] Asher exists, its name
[00:20:01] is Pir Bakran.
[00:20:03] The name of the city here. And why is it called Pir Bakran?
[00:20:08] Mohammad ibn Bakran, one of the great Muslim
[00:20:12] mystics, lived in this city. His shrine,
[00:20:16] tomb, mosque, and the places where he had schools
[00:20:20] are close to here.
[00:20:22] And it has an architecture similar to here.
[00:20:26] Meaning, exactly like what you see here, they even
[00:20:30] built something similar there.
[00:20:37] is the town of Puerbakron. It
[00:20:40] is said that this was the place where the first Jews set foot in the
[00:20:43] land that today there is an interpretation here.
[00:20:47] Of course, it
[00:22:26] comes. Here, the distance from the city was naturally
[00:22:30] very far. People would come by cart, horse,
[00:22:34] donkey, whatever they could, and perform burials
[00:22:36] here.
[00:22:38] In the past, what they used to do was even
[00:22:42] draw professions on tombstones. For example, if someone
[00:22:46] was a butcher, they would draw butcher tools
[00:22:50] on their tombstone to indicate this is a butcher, or they would draw scissors,
[00:22:52] meaning this is a hairdresser.
[00:22:56] This is my father's grave. He passed away
[00:23:00] almost 28 years ago, and
[00:23:03] he was an engineer at the oil company
[00:23:06] in Abadan. In his youth, due to a
[00:23:10] fire incident that occurred at the refinery in
[00:23:12] Abadan, despite going and saving several
[00:23:16] people from the fire and bringing them out to save them,
[00:23:21] he himself was severely burned in that fire.
[00:23:25] He was sent to London and was hospitalized in London
[00:23:28] for a very long time. When he was in the hospital in a coma,
[00:23:32] he saw one of the great Iranian rabbis
[00:23:35] in his dream, who asked him to read one
[00:23:39] of the chapters of Psalms, the Psalms of David,
[00:23:42] and by reading it, God would restore his
[00:23:46] health. When he came to Iran, because of the plastic
[00:25:22] surgeries he had undergone, he was no longer
[00:25:23] the same person.
[00:25:32] Suuridis,
[00:25:43] ludzina
[00:25:45] konfere.
[00:25:56] I told him, forgive me,
[00:25:58] it's a tent. And for what? For
[00:26:01] a tent whose cost
[00:26:06] was that he couldn't afford a tent for me. Back then, it was very expensive. It was 4,000 shekels and 5,000
[00:26:10] shekels. He couldn't afford
[00:26:13] go to the south.
[00:26:18] is for Palestinian men who can't even put basic food on the
[00:26:22] table. On one hand, there is their honor, but on the other
[00:26:26] hand, there's all the invisible unwaged work that women
[00:26:29] do and women are really the pillar. So if the
[00:26:33] woman is doing well, the men will do well.
[00:26:50] Hello, hi, welcome, can take a photo with
[00:26:54] us? Sure, I'll take it. You'll take it?
[00:26:57] Sure.
[00:27:01] Okay, okay. Look
[00:27:04] relaxed.
[00:27:09] Beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Where are you
[00:27:13] from? I'm from Kansan. Beautiful. The rose water
[00:27:17] festival now, your country is not what they told us it
[00:27:20] was in our country. Well, they tell us everything is grim and
[00:27:24] dark here and all about war, and they and they
[00:27:27] don't tell us that also there are people of other religions living
[00:27:31] harmoniously.