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2006 Iranian sumptuary law hoax

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On May 19, 2006, the National Post of Canada published pieces by Amir Taheri and Chris Wattie claiming that the Iranian parliament had passed a sumptuary law mandating a national dress code for all Iranians, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.

Both National Post articles went on to say that non-Muslim religious minorities in Iran would be required to wear "special insignia": yellow for Jews, red for Christians and blue for Zoroastrian. According to the article by Taheri, "[t]he new codes would enable Muslims to easily recognize non-Muslims so that they can avoid shaking hands with them by mistake, and thus becoming najis (unclean)."[1] According to both articles, Iranian Muslims would have to wear "standard Islamic garments".

Numerous other sources, including Maurice Motamed, the Jewish member of the Iranian parliament and the Iranian Embassy in Canada, refuted the report as untrue. The National Post later retracted Wattie's original article ("Iran eyes badges for Jews: Law would require non-Muslim insignia") and published an article, also by Wattie, to the contrary ("Experts say reports of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue"). [2]. Wattie's original article listed only "human rights groups" and "Iranian expatriates living in Canada" as its sources.The Associated Press later refuted the Post report as well, saying that "a draft law moving through parliament encourages Iranians to wear Islamic clothing to protect the country's Muslim identity but does not mention special attire for religious minorities, according to a copy obtained Saturday by The Associated Press." [3] Reuters also reported that "A copy of the bill obtained by Reuters contained no such references. Reuters correspondents who followed the dress code session in parliament as it was broadcast on state radio heard no discussion of proscriptions for religious minorities."[4] Amir Taheri made a statement on May 22 saying the National Post story he authored was used by "a number of reports that somehow jumped the gun" and that he stands by the article. Amir states he raised the issue "not as a news story" but rather "as an opinion column" ("PRESS RELEASE: AMIR TAHERI ADDRESSES QUERIES ABOUT DRESS CODE STORY").[5].

Refutation

In Chris Wattie's follow-up article "Experts say reports of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue", The National Post quotes Meir Javdanfar, an Israeli expert on Iran and the Middle East as saying:

Meir Javdanfar, an Israeli expert on Iran and the Middle East who was born and raised in Tehran, said yesterday that he was unable to find any evidence that such a law had been passed.

“None of my sources in Iran have heard of this,” he said. “I don’t know where this comes from.”

Mr. Javdanfar said that not all clauses of the law had been passed through the parliament and said the requirement that Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians wear special insignia might be part of an older version of the Islamic dress law, which was first written two years ago.

“In any case, there is no way that they could have forced Iranian Jews to wear this,” he added. “The Iranian people would never stand for it.”[6]

...as did the news radio station AM 940 Montreal.

"[I]ndependent reporter Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli Middle East expert who was born and raised in Tehran, says the report is false.

"It's absolutely factually incorrect," he told The New 940 Montreal. "Nowhere in the law is there any talk of Jews and Christians having to wear different colours. I've checked it with sources both inside Iran and outside."

"The Iranian people would never stand for it. The Iranian government wouldn't be stupid enough to do it."[7]

The National Post also quotes the London-based Iranian commentator Ali Reza Nourizadeh as saying:

"Ali Reza Nourizadeh, an Iranian commentator on political affairs in London, suggested that the requirements for badges or insignia for religious minorities was part of a “secondary motion” introduced in parliament, addressing the changes specific to the attire of people of various religious backgrounds.

Mr. Nourizadeh said that motion was very minor and was far from being passed into law.

That account could not be confirmed."[8]

According to Sam Kermanian, secretary general of the Iranian American Jewish Federation, his contacts in the Iranian Jewish community, including Maurice Motamed, said that there was no such law. The New York Sun quoted Kermanian as saying that "We have not been able to confirm the accuracy of the report, nonetheless we are pursuing this issue with concern[.]"[9]


According to Agence France-Presse,

"This report is a complete fabrication and is totally false," Maurice Motammed told AFP in Tehran. "It is a lie, and the people who invented it wanted to make political gain" by doing so.

.... Motammed said he had been present in parliament when a bill to promote "an Iranian and Islamic style of dress for women" was voted. "In the law, there is no mention of religious minorities," he added.

MPs representing Iran's Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian minorities sit on all parliamentary committees, particularly the cultural one, he said.

"This is an insult to the Iranian people and to religious minorities in Iran," he said.[10]

According to the Toronto Star,

"In a phone interview from Tel Aviv, Israeli commentator and Iranian exile Meir Jawadnafar angrily dismissed the story as "baseless." Toronto-based Iranian blogger Hossein Derkhshan said he could find no evidence of any such plans. Repeated calls to Post editor-in-chief Doug Kelly went unreturned. The paper's website ran a story headlined "Experts say report of badges ... is untrue."" [11]

Early Reaction

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, wrote a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan protesting the new law and urging the United Nations to take action. Rabbi Hier compared the Iranian law to the Nazi requirement for the Jews to wear yellow badges that "ended with the Holocaust that led to the murder of six million Jews and millions of other innocent civilians." "Given President Ahmadinejad’s record of labeling the Holocaust a myth and calling for the obliteration of the State of Israel," he wrote, "we must urgently take action." [12]

However, since then the passage of such a law has been called into question. "We're looking into it," Annan's spokesperson in New York said, "and we haven't got anything solid." [11]

According to Kayhan, the Iranian foreign ministry called the Canadian Ambassador to Iran for an explanation and apology. Some Iranian journalists and analysts aksed Iranian government to file a case in international court against National Post, as BBC Persian reported.[13]

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper reacted to the report during a news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Harper said the Iranian regime is "very capable of this kind of action" and that "It boggles the mind that any regime on the face of the Earth would want to do anything that could remind people of Nazi Germany".[14].

Weblogs

The National Post report distributed incredibly fast after its first release. On 20 May, almost every minute one weblog posted the Post report or a reference to it. [15][16].

Context of United States-Iran-Israel relations

For in-depth articles, see United States-Iran relations, Iran-Israel relations.

Blogger Kurt Nimmo has alleged that the error made by the National Post authors is related to the context of United States-Iran relations and Iran-Israel relations.[17] Amir Taheri, author of one of the two original National Post articles, is a speaker for Benador Associates, which is a public relations firm and speakers bureau that promotes expert writers and speakers focusing primarily on United States foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly those from a neoconservative point of view.

During 2005-2006, there were tensions and threats of military actions against Iran by the United States and Israel. Claims were made that during 2003-2006, the United States violated Iranian territorial sovereignty by overflights of unmanned aerial vehicles,[18][19] sending US soldiers onto Iranian territory,[20] and sending of members or former members of armed organisations, the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK)[21] [22], which is allegedly a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK),[23] into Iranian territory, allegedly to provoke violent ethnic conflict.

See also

References

  1. ^ Amir Taheri (May 19, 2006). "A colour code for Iran's 'infidels'". {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Chris Wattie (May 19, 2006). "Experts say report of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue". Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  3. ^ The Associated Press (May 20, 2006). "Iranian Law Would Encourage Islamic Dress". Retrieved 2006-05-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Reuters (May 20,2006). "Iran dress code law does not target minorities - MPs". Retrieved 2006-05-21. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Amir Taheri (May 22, 2006). "PRESS RELEASE: AMIR TAHERI ADDRESSES QUERIES ABOUT DRESS CODE STORY". Retrieved 2006-05-22. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Chris Wattie (May 19, 2006). "Experts say report of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue". Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  7. ^ "Iran report of Holocaust-style badges questioned". May 19, 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Chris Wattie (May 19, 2006). "Experts say report of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue". Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Eli Lake (May 19, 2006). "Scramble Is On To Confirm Report Iran Wants Jews To Wear Badges". Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Agence France Presse (May 19, 2006). "Reports Iran to tag non-Muslims denied by Jewish MP". Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  11. ^ a b Toronto Star (May 20, 2006). "Tehran denounces `baseless' report". Retrieved 2006-05-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  12. ^ Rabbi Marvin Hier (May 18, 2006). "Letter to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan". Retrieved 2006-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ [1]
  14. ^ Canadian Press (May 19, 2006). "Harper says Iran reports about religious clothing labels reminiscent of Nazis". Retrieved 2006-05-23. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  15. ^ technorati search on "iran badges"
  16. ^ zharf blogpost analysis
  17. ^ Kurt Nimmo (May 20, 2006). "Iran Badge Story: More Neocon Propaganda". myspace.com. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  18. ^ U.S. Uses Drones to Probe Iran For Arms, February 13, 2005, Washington Post
  19. ^ Iran Protests U.S. Aerial Drones, November 8, 2005, Washington Post
  20. ^ http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?050124fa_fact
  21. ^ The US war with Iran has already begun, June 21, 2005, 2005, Scott Ritter
  22. ^ On Cheney, Rumsfeld order, US outsourcing special ops, intelligence to Iraq terror group, intelligence officials say], by Larisa Alexandrovna, April 13, 2006, The Raw Story
  23. ^ Kucinich Questions The President On US Trained Insurgents In Iran: Sends Letter To President Bush, Dennis Kucinich, April 18, 2006
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