Tomb of Mordechai and Esther desecrated in Iran
In those days, when the king Achashveirosh sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the castle. Esther 1:5
Supporters of the Islamist regime entered the Tomb of Mordechai and Esther, located in Hamedan Iran, and burned Israeli flags. Ben Sabti, an Israeli expert on Iranian Jews, wrote on Twitter:
“Unbelievable-Extremist #Iran regime supporters are burning #Israel flag INSIDE holy grave of #Jewish prophets Ester & Mordechai in Hamedan city. This is NOT islam, these are FANATIC people who can not accept Israel existence!”
The Iranian city of Hamadan, 200 miles west of Tehran, claims to be the Biblical city of Shushan, the capital of ancient Persia and the setting for the story of Purim.
The rioters also sent a letter to the Ministry of Culture in which they demanded the Jewish site be turned into a “Museum of the crimes of the Zionist regime” and a public relations office with the “Palestinian resistance forces”.
Shockingly, the authors of the letter claimed the request was being made in the name of Iranian Jews.
“With the consent of the Jews living in Islamic Iran, this grave should be a public site like our other great and historic mosques, such as Isfahan and Shiraz’s historic mosques, which are museums and places to visit.”
“The residents of Iran and the world should be allowed to investigate and learn about it, and therefore the authorities are requested to move it with the consent of the Jews and change the status of the place from private to public before some people take advantage of the pure feelings of the people of Hamadan.”
Synagogues in Iran are functioning on a limited basis in order to prevent unnecessary attention. Dr. Homayoon Sameh, a Jewish member of the Iranian parliament, sent a letter to the Iranian government, urgently seeking protection for the Jewish community.
In 1970 there were more than 100,000 Jews in the country. Due to a mass exodus after Iran’s 1979 revolution and the founding of the Islamic republic, there are currently about 8,300 Jews in Iran today, out of a population of more than 81 million.
The structure is believed to have been built in the 1600s and was renovated and in 2008, the Iranian government added the site to its National Heritage list, thereby putting it under government protection. Three years later, anti-Israel protesters surrounded the tomb and threatened to tear it down. The tomb was removed from the Heritage list, and the official state news agency explained the decision by pointing out that Purim was a celebration by Jews for their massacre of Iranians.In 2020, the Iranian regime threatened to demolish the site and build a a Palestinian consular complex in its place. The site was targeted by arson soon after.
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