Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AnomieBOT (talk | contribs) at 17:53, 31 October 2013 (Dating maintenance tags: {{NPOV}}). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (October 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Exodus of Iran's Jews refers to the emigration of Persian Jews from Iran from late 1970s until today. The migration of Persian Jews after Iranian Revolution is mostly attributed to economic hardships and insecurity after deposition of the Shah regime and consequent violence. About 90% of Iranian Jews fled or migrated the country through the last 35 years; A small community still resides in Iran as a protected minority.

Background

The violence and disruption in Arab life associated with the founding of Israel in 1948 drove an increased anti-Jewish sentiment in neighbouring Iran as well. This continued until 1953, in part because of the weakening of the central government and strengthening of clergy in the political struggles between the shah and prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh. From 1948–1953, about one-third of Iranian Jews, most of them poor, emigrated to Israel. David Littman puts the total figure of emigrants to Israel in 1948–1978 at 70,000. After the deposition of Mossadegh in 1953, the reign of shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the most prosperous era for the Jews of Iran. The community however began to experience hardships due to political instability in the 1970s and prompted by the Islamic Revolution, most Iranian Jews have fled the country.

History

The tensions between the loyalists of the Shah and Islamists through the 1970s have initiated the mass-migration of Iranian Jews, first affecting the higher-class. Instability caused thousands of Persian Jews to leave Iran prior to revolution - some seeking better economic opportunities or stability, while others afraid of the potential Islamic takeover. In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini met with the Jewish community upon his return from exile in Paris and issued a fatwa decreeing that the Jews were to be protected. Nevertheless, half of the community chose to emigrate.

At the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, 60,000 Jews were still living in Iran. From then on, Jewish emigration from Iran dramatically increased, as about 30,000 Jews left within several months of the revolution alone. Since the Revolution, Iran's Jewish population, some 30,000 Jews, have emigrated to the United States, Israel, and Europe (mainly to the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland).

Some sources put the Iranian Jewish population in the mid and late 1980s as between 50,000–60,000. An estimate based on the 1986 census put the figure considerably higher for the same time, around 55,000. In the 1990s there has been more uniformity in the figures, with most sources since then estimating roughly 25,000 Jews remaining in Iran.

The United States State Department estimated the number of Jews in Iran at 20,000–25,000 as of 2009. The 2012 census did put the figure of remaining Jewish community in Iran at about 9,000.

See also

• Iran-Iraq War

References

1. Sanasarian (2000), p. 47
2. ^ Littman (1979), p. 5.
3. SCI (1986). "6. Followers of Selected Religions in the 1976 & 1986 Censuses". Tehran: Statistical Centre of Iran.
4. Iran Virtual Jewish Tour
5. Sanasarian (2000), p. 48
6. Iran – Geography. Mongabay.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-09.
7. Harrison, Frances (September 22, 2006). "Iran's proud but discreet Jews". BBC News. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
8. "Iran Jewish leader calls recent mass aliyah 'misinformation' bid".
9. "Iran Jewish MP criticizes 'anti-human' Israel acts". Ynet. 5.7.2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. Harrison, Frances (2006-09-22). "Iran's proud but discreet Jews". BBC.
11. Jews in Iran Describe a Life of Freedom Despite Anti-Israel Actions by Tehran|csmonitor.com Archived 2005-08-30 at the Wayback Machine
12. Iran. State.gov. Retrieved on 2011-05-09.
13. "AFP: Iran young, urbanised and educated: census". Google.com. 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2013-03-09.

• Jewish history
• Judeo-Islamic topics
• History of the Jews in the Middle East