Monday, October 05, 2009
(photo: AP)
Photographic evidence has led some Western experts to wonder if Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been using his vitriolic hatred for Israel to cover up his own Jewish roots. A photograph of Ahmadinejad holding up his ID card during the presidential election earlier this year revealed that his family name was originally Sabourjian, a change the Iranian leader has acknowledged, but without explanation. The image also revealed that his family switched names after Ahmadinejad was born, as part of their conversion to Islam.
Research shows the name Sabourjian means “weaver of the Sabour,” a Tallit shawl worn by Iranian Jews. The name is also listed on a Jewish registry kept by Iran’s Ministry of the Interior.
Ali Nourizadeh, of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies, said the revelation helps to explain Ahmadinejad’s anti-Semitic rhetoric. “Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith,” Nourizadeh told the Telegraph. “By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Revealed to have Jewish Past (by Damien McElroy and Ahmad Vahdat, Telegraph)
A Humble Beginning Helped to Form Iran's New Hard Man (by Robert Tait, Guardian)
Ahmadinejad Has No Jewish Roots (by Meir Javedanfar, Guardian)
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