As part of their policy to present the Jews and Zionists as aspiring to take over the world, Iranian officials consistently claim that they are involved, overtly or covertly, in every international event and crisis. For example, Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi said in June 2012 that the Zionists were to blame for the Bolshevik revolution and for spreading drugs in the world, and added: "Every war and conflict worldwide necessarily have Zionist roots."[1] In August 2012, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the Jews of planning World War I and II, and explained, "the Zionists are behind every [act of] widespread moral destruction, war, conflict or massacre."[2]
As part of the demonizing of Jews and Judaism in Iran, officials and mainstream media have accused the Jews of playing a considerable role in the massacre of Muslims in Myanmar in the summer of 2012. This report will review some of these statements, as well as Iranian cartoons conveying the same message.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Qarehi: Judaism, Global Zionism Behind Myanmar Genocide
In an August 8, 2012 interview with the Rasa news agency titled "The Cruel Genocide Against The Muslim People In Myanmar," Ayatollah Ruhollah Qarehi, head of the Imam Mahdi seminary in Tehran, said: "The genocide of the Muslims in Myanmar is ostensibly being carried out by the Buddhists, but we are certain that Judaism and Global Zionism are [behind] the massacre and the genocide against the Muslims... The tenets of Buddhism are derived from Judaism. The Buddhists are a tool [in the hands] of the Jews, and 'Buddhism' is a name behind which [hides] the hand of Judaism and Global Zionism.
"The Jews also run America. Has there ever been an American president, either a Democrat or a Republican, who wanted to get elected and did not put on the Jewish hat or skullcap, and did not explain his ties with the Jews to the Jewish [U.S.] Congress?! Naturally, the hands of the Jews are behind all these events. But, since the Jew knows that he is an [object of] derision throughout the world, he hides behind a pseudonym like 'Buddhism.' Lecturers at seminaries and universities, as well as the media, must [speak up] in various languages and in eloquent terms... and explain to the people and to our dear youth that behind [the term] 'Buddhism' there [hides] the Jew."[3]
Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani: The Jews Are Using The Buddhists In Myanmar To Punish The Muslims For The Arab Spring Uprisings
In a letter published July 2012 by the Iranian news agency Mehr, Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani, member of the Supreme Council of the Global Ahl Al-Bayt Foundation and president of the Ravaq Hekmat Cultural Institution, condemned the massacre of Myanmar Muslims and blamed the Jews for it: "Myanmar is the site of recurring brutal acts against Muslims. [When] I visited [Myanmar] 19 years ago, I met [its] people, who had been hostages of Marxism and of radical Maoists for 80 years. Having extracted themselves from the bloody talons of those hangmen, they were eager to meet new people. But most of the visitors to the country during those first happy days of freedom were Zionists, who came to buy land and put down roots in Myanmar, which had been stagnant for 80 years [and was therefore selling land] for cheap. I saw the Muslims of Myanmar and the followers of Ahl Al-Bayt who had cleaved to their faith in the most difficult conditions. The Iranian Mosque (which is known there as the Mongolian Mosque because the Mongols came to Myanmar via Iran) had been kept fresh and new for 80 years, and was full of lovers of Ahl Al-Bayt who were proud of their Iranian roots, [though] they considered themselves residents of Myanmar...
"The era of the Khmer Rouge [the Communist party that ruled Cambodia in 1975-79], which had forced the women to walk around naked, compelling them to grow long hair in order to conceal [their bodies, had ended, and an era of] quiet freedom [had begun], full of happiness and hope. None of [the people] thought that the Zionists who had recently arrived [in Myanmar] would plunge the country into a new bloodbath with Buddhists killing Muslims.
"The Jewish project of exploiting the Eastern religions is not limited to Myanmar. The Jews forged ties between their small global population and the large population of Buddhists and Hindus, and took roots among them by exploiting their own economic power and the poverty [of the Buddhists and Hindus]. They even set up Jewish figures as spiritual leaders of some Buddhist and Hindu sects, and built centers and temples in India and other countries in its vicinity.
"Today the Jewish hand emerges from the sleeve of the Buddhists in Burma [i.e., Myanmar], [trying to] retaliate against the seekers of freedom in Muslim lands by harming the poverty-stricken Muslims of Myanmar. Thus they punish the oppressed Muslims of Burma for the anti-Zionist movement [that has emerged] in Egypt, Tunis, Morocco, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain and the Hejaz.
"It is no surprise, [then], that the media and international community have remained silent [over the events in Myanmar], for they are controlled by the political and economic power of the Zionists, and, unless faced with no other choice, they would never take any steps against the Zionists or in favor of the Muslims...
"Today the Muslims must inform the world about the situation of the oppressed Muslims in Myanmar, and force the media and the communities that are controlled by the Zionists to break their silence. All the global communities and media networks that remain silent in the face of these crimes are responsible for the innocent blood that is being mercilessly spilled in Myanmar..."[4]
Basij Commander Mohammad Reza Naqdi: The Zionists And Freemasons Are Behind All Crimes Against Muslims; Muslims' Freedom Depends On "Annihilating The Zionist Regime"
In August 6, 2012, the website yjc.ir posted statements by Basij commander General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, who also accused the Jews of the massacre of Muslims in Myanmar and called to "eliminate the Zionist regime" in order to achieve freedom and justice for the Muslims.
He said: "Every year, ahead of Qods Day, the Zionists perpetrate a crime somewhere in the world in order to draw global attention away from the issue of Jerusalem and their evil actions [there]. America and the Zionists are the main culprits [responsible for] the genocide of Muslims in Myanmar. [But] our [Iranian] nation is aware of [their] plots. Last Friday, we witnessed protests [that were held] throughout the country after the Friday prayers, at which calls of 'Death to Zionism' and 'Death to America' were heard. This shows that, in the case of Myanmar, they did not manage to divert the people's attention away from the main perpetrators of the crime [in that country].
"Global Zionism and Freemasonry are the planners of all crimes against the Muslims. The international community encourages oppression and human rights violations throughout the world by allowing these crimes. The media, and the governments of global Western arrogance [i.e., of the Western countries, headed by the U.S.], protest when the government of a certain country [i.e., Syria] has even the smallest clash with its opponents, if this country opposes their policy. But they remain silent in the case of Myanmar and Bahrain, which indicates that they themselves have designed these atrocities and supported these measures. The first and most important step towards [attaining] freedom and justice for Muslims worldwide is annihilating the Zionist regime."[5]
Student Basij Website: "The Holocaust Myth Is Becoming A Reality... In Myanmar"
The Student Basij website, Daneshjoo, reported July 27, 2012 that 3,000 movement members from 400 universities had convened in Mashhad to protest the crimes being perpetrated against the Muslims in Myanmar. In a statement it issued following the protest, the Student Basij accused the "global arrogance" of looting Muslim property and perpetrating genocide in the country, and said that "the myth of the Holocaust is becoming a reality among the Muslims in Myanmar."[6]
Iranian Cartoons On "Myanmar Genocide"
On September 6, 2012, the Iranian website irancartoon.ir posted an exhibition of cartoons on the "genocide against Muslims in Myanmar." The following are cartoons that presented Israel, the Jews, and/or the U.S. as being involved in the killing.
In July 2012, the website Nasim Online posted three cartoons on this topic that presented the Jews or Israel as being behind the crimes:
Nasomonline.ir, July 21, 2012
Nasomonline.ir, July 29, 2012
Nasomonline.ir, July 24, 2012
