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Iranian Lawmaker Says Bad Blood Between Israel, Iran Dates to Purim Story
A section of the Book of Esther, written on a parchment scroll from the 18th century from Alsace, to be read on the festival of Purim. It is currently found in the Joods Historisch Museum in Amsterdam. (Wikimedia Commons)

Iranian Lawmaker Says Bad Blood Between Israel, Iran Dates to Purim Story

An Iranian lawmaker really knows her Jewish history, at least as far back as the fifth century BCE, when the Book of Esther was written. Zohreh Lajevardi, who represents Tehran in the Iranian parliament, said in an interview on Sunday with the Fars News Agency (which is managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the armed wing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei) that the bad blood between Israel and Iran goes back to the Purim story recounted in the Book of Esther, which culminates with the killing by Jews in the Persian Empire of tens of thousands of Persians who had initially been given permission to kill the Jews. “The Zionist regime is the sworn enemy of Iran and Iranians, and this enmity, without any connection to the ruling regime in Iran, has a long history, so that the Zionists still celebrate Purim every year on the anniversary of the brutal massacre of the Iranian people,” Lajevardi said. Bringing it to the present era, she added: “But with the victory of the revolution, this enmity became so public, so much so that a brief look at the events of the last 40 years proves well that this vicious regime is the sworn enemy of Iran and Iranians.” Esther, a Jewish woman, was married to the Persian King Ahasuerus, believed by many to be Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I. She and her uncle Mordechai thwarted a plot by the king’s adviser, Haman, to destroy the Jews, ultimately turning the tables on the Persians. A tomb believed to be the final resting place of Esther and Mordechai is located in Hamedan, Iran. The Lajevardi interview with Fars centered on her calls to counter restrictions on Iranian athletes who refuse to compete against athletes from the “usurping Zionist regime” in international sports competitions.

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