[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 67 (Thursday, May 25, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E867]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              IRANIAN JEWS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2000

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join several of my 
colleagues in condemning the actions of the Iranian government against 
13 members of that nation's Jewish community. These Jews, arrested over 
a year ago, have been accused of spying for Israel. In Iran, a country 
where Jews enjoy virtually no freedoms and are under constant 
government scrutiny, one of the world's most effective intelligence 
organizations, Israel's Mossad, has allegedly chosen to use Jews to 
collect state secrets. Not only is this assertion preposterous, it is 
offensive. A shoe salesman, a candy store owner, and a 16-year-old boy, 
are being portrayed as agents of espionage.
  Ten of the 13 have been imprisoned since their arrest last year. All 
have been brought before a court with no jury, in which the judge also 
serves as the prosecutor, to face accusations they have not heard, 
without the assistance of a lawyer or any contact with their families 
or friends. To add insult to injury, a Justice Ministry spokesman 
recently announced that ``only one or two'' of the 13 Jews were 
actually accused of espionage, the others were accused of the lesser 
crime of acting against national security. This after the Minister of 
Intelligence and Security said, in January, ``if they are condemned to 
hang, they will be hanged.'' As if ``one or two'' deaths were any less 
despicable than 13.
  This would not be the first time a show trial in Iran resulted in the 
deaths of members of the Jewish community there. Since the Islamic 
revolution in 1979, 17 Jews have been executed in Iran. I say it is 
time for this to stop. I ask those in Iran who represent fundamental 
Islamic faith to recall the centuries old Islamic tradition that 
protects strangers in Muslim lands. I call on those in Iran who 
represent reason and reform to intervene and prevent a brutal outcome 
to this trial. And I ask all Iranians to look at the changing world and 
recognize that by rejecting reconciliation with Jews, they are no 
longer on the fore of a unified Arab front, they are lonely outsiders 
who will never reap the benefits of the lasting partnerships being 
formed in the Middle East.

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