[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 23, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H3616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              IRANIAN JEWS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Roukema) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to firmly state my outrage at 
the behavior of the government of Iran regarding the thirteen members 
of the Iranian Jewish community who are currently incarcerated by 
Iranian authorities. It is a moral outrage, innocent people are being 
held against their will just because of their religion.
  Iran has a terrible record of human rights violations. According to 
the State Department and several internationally recognized human 
rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty 
International, religious minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran 
have been the victims of human rights violations solely because of 
their status as religious minorities. These include Sunni Muslims, 
Christians, and Jews.
  More specifically, the Iranian Jewish community has been in 
especially terrible danger. In just the past five years, the Iranian 
government without having been tried has executed five Jews. There has 
been a noticeable increase recently in anti-Semitic propaganda in the 
government-controlled Iranian press, and many Jews have been forced to 
flee the country.
  Most recently, as I have mentioned, Iranian authorities arrested 
thirteen Jews, including community and religious leaders in the city of 
Shiraz. Iran has charged these Jews with espionage on behalf of the 
United States and Israel, and has pursued their executions. They have 
been denied visitation privileges during their months of detainment and 
their fate looks increasingly perilous as time passes.
  These Jews, including rabbis, religious teachers and community 
activists, have committed no such crime. The United States and Israel 
have adamantly denied any connection to these prisoners.
  All the Jews of Iran want is to be able to live in their country, 
where they have thousands of years of history, while fulfilling their 
Jewish identities. Efforts to portray these individuals as participants 
in a ``Zionist spy ring'' are ludicrous. They are innocent and should 
be released immediately.
  Since the beginning of the Islamic revolution, the government has 
claimed that it respects Jews and the Jewish community. Indeed 25,000 
Jews still live in Iran. But this has been a difficult 20 years for the 
Jewish community in Iran. The government has consistently articulated 
anti-Israel and anti-Zionist propaganda. A number of Jews have been 
executed on charges of spying. Jewish property has been confiscated, 
and there are other reports of other discrimination.
  Still, the Iranian government has consistently asserted that it is 
not anti-Jewish and that the Jewish community is an integral part of 
Iranian society and plays a legitimate religious and social role. And 
the worst fears about excesses by the Islamic regime against the Jewish 
community have generally not come to pass.
  However, by charging these innocent members of the Jewish community, 
the regime seems to be going beyond anything previously witnessed, 
reactivating some of those long-held fears.
  I urge the President to make a strong statement demanding the release 
of the Iran thirteen. I believe it is imperative that Iran immediately 
release these innocent individuals and to stop its anti-Semitic 
behavior.

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