Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Andrew Bostom reiterates his call to pay attention to the historical legacy of "dhimmi-wear," and has some questions for a couple of the major Jewish organizations: The Yellow Badge of Denial
...While memories of the Holocaust are fresher and more widely held than memories of traditional Islamic oppression of Jews, such comparisons should be avoided. To invoke the Holocaust blinds us to the far longer and much more deeply-rooted traditions in the Islamic world which predate the rise of Nazism by well over a millennium.
In our struggle to defend our civilization and our freedoms, we must understand our enemy. Those who insist that anti-Semitism be seen exclusively through the lens of Nazism and the Holocaust divert our attention and hobble our understanding of the forces against which we defend ourselves...
Despite taking some heat from various sources, Amir Taheri has issued a press release through his company Benador Associates which reaffirms his story with some added details:
http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/19508
"PRESS RELEASE: AMIR TAHERI ADDRESSES QUERIES ABOUT DRESS CODE STORY"
by Amir Taheri
Benador Associates
May 22, 2006
"Regarding the dress code story it seems that my column was used as the basis for a number of reports that somehow jumped the gun.
"As far as my article is concerned I stand by it.
"The law has been passed by the Islamic Majlis and will now be submitted to the Council of Guardians. A committee has been appointed to work out the modalities of implementation. Many ideas are being discussed with regard to implementation, including special markers, known as zonnars, for followers of Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, the only faiths other than Islam that are recognized as such. The zonnar was in use throughout the Muslim world until the early 20th century and marked out the dhimmis, or protected religious minorities. ( In Iran it was formally abolished in 1908).
"I have been informed of the ideas under discussion thanks to my
sources in Tehran, including three members of the Majlis who had tried to block the bill since it was first drafted in 2004.
"I do not know which of these ideas or any will be eventually adopted. We will know once the committee appointed to discuss them presents its report, perhaps in September...."