Iran's Jewish president?
Is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Jewish?
If he is not, The Telegraph reports, the bitter critic of Israel clearly has Jewish roots. So the British newspaper has concluded from a photograph taken last year of Ahmadinejad holding up an identity document that shows that his surname was once Sabourjian, identified as a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver:
The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad's birthplace, and the name derives from "weaver of the Sabour", the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran's Ministry of the Interior.
Ahmadinejad has denied the Holocaust and threatened Israel. On his alleged Jewish heritage, the Telegraph quotes Ali Nourizadeh of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies as saying "This aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's background explains a lot about him.
"Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith," Nourizadeh said.
"By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society."
Nonsense, Meir Javedanfar writes in The Guardian. He quotes two sources as saying that Ahmadinejad's father was in fact a religious Shia who taught the Quran before and after the future president's birth and their move to Tehran, and that Ahmadinejad's mother is a Seyyede, a title given to women who are believed to be direct bloodline descendants of Muhammad.
Javedanfar disputes the Telegraph etymology of Sabourjian, saying that it actually derives from the Farsi for thread painter, a formerly common occupation in Ahmadinihad's native province.
According to the Telegraph, Ahmadinejad has not denied that his family changed their name when they moved to Tehran in the 1950s, but he has never revealed what it was change from or directly addressed the reason for the switch.
Relatives have said a mixture of religious reasons and economic pressures forced his blacksmith father Ahmad to change when Mr Ahmadinejad was aged four, the Telegraph reports.
During a televised presidential debate this year he was goaded to admit that his name had changed but he ignored the jibe, the Telegraph reports. An Iranian blogger who called for an investigation of Mr Ahmadinejad's roots was arrested this summer.
The Telegraph does not appear to have sought comment from the Iranian government. But The Teheran Times has a story Wednesday saying that the Telegraph and other British newspapers "are taking their cue from Israeli leaders."
"These reports are undoubtedly published in line with Israeli interests," an unnamed media analyst tells the Iranian newspaper, and adds that the report was "obviously designed to divert world attention from Israeli crimes against Palestinians and the use of weapons of mass destruction in the three-week attack on the Gaza Strip."
Categories: International, Islam, Judaism, People, Politics
Comments
Even if he was a Jewish so what now he is a devoted Muslim.
Posted by: John | October 8, 2009 12:34 PM
Jew or not, he is a tyran. he is a killer. he is a fascist. just like his Israeli partner, Ntanyahoo!
Posted by: Haamed Mihandust | October 9, 2009 12:52 AM
Well after the great flood, Noah's sons and their wives populated the earth. So we are all related to one another. The God Who populated the earth happens to be the same One who created the Jewish people as His own chosen ones. So His bible is the one I would be reading, not the Quran. And of course, you dont want to stop with the Old Testament. The new one is more important for us today.
Posted by: Clay | October 9, 2009 12:19 PM
Read 'SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION" BY MAX WEBBER WHO WAS A JEW AND FORGET ABOUT NOAH, OR THIS OR THAT. NO-ONE IS ABOVE ANYONE AND THERE IS NO CHOSEN PEOPLE. THE BEST MAN IS THE ONE WITH THE HIGHEST ETHICS...
I SAY HELL WITH AHMADI-NEJAD AND NETANIYAHOO BOTH AND ALL MANIPULATORS OF THE WORLD.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 9, 2009 6:02 PM
What total RUBBISH! His family's name change is not a secret -- it is mentioned in every biography. And there are no "Jewish" names in Iran. Saburjian is simply a trade related to carpet weaving. More info: IranAffairs.com
Posted by: hass | October 10, 2009 8:40 AM
Whether he is Jews or a Muslim or even a Christian He definitely has an Iranian blood in his veins. Today all Iranian the Muslims, Jews and Christians have a same thing in mind and that is to protect, to defend and to regain Iranian past glory. Ahmadinejad is a great man and a big defender of Iran. God bliss Iran and Ahmadinejad.
Posted by: Fredabod | October 10, 2009 9:40 AM
I am an Iranian and like 99% of the Iranian people, ashamed of ahmadi and the entire Iranian regime that does not represent its peaceful and modern people.
Jews have lived peacefully in Iran for 3000 years and remember that it was a Persian King, Cyrus The Great that liberated Jews and allowed them to return to Jerusalem. It does not matter what religion or race Ahmadi has. The fact is he is participating in destroying Iran. The biggest victim of this regime is the Iranian People. Not Israel or the US because Iran is weak and will not do anything against the US or Israel. These thugs will do anything to stay in power. Islam is just a tool. They did not say a word when 650 muslims were killed in China 3 months ago because the Chinese government helps Iran!
Please dissociate the regime with the people of Iran.
Thank you and god bless America!
Posted by: Parviz Tehrtani | October 10, 2009 3:35 PM