Friday, May 19, 2006

Revival of the "Badge of Shame"?

The Iranian parliament has recently passed a bill requiring non-Muslims in Iran - Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians - to wear distinguishing marks on their clothing to single them out from Muslims.

Haaretz picked up the story but with some skepticism - "According to Meir Jawadnafar, an Israeli expert on the Iranian government, Tehran has not yet determined the nature of Muslim dress that will be required in the country. Therefore, he says, the claim that it was decided that Iran's Jews would be forced to wear yellow badges on their clothing is baseless. He said the Iranian government has no intention of forcing ethnic groups to wear specific colors." Also, "Some Israeli commentators suggested the story still needed to be fully verified, pointing to the fact that the source of the story was Iranian exiles strongly opposed to the regime ruling their country."

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