Convert Or Die ... Excuse Me? (UPDATED)

"Painting" by Francis Bacon 1946, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

SCROLL DOWN FOR IMPORTANT EXTENSIVE UPDATES SATURDAY MAY 20TH

Anyone awake here?

How many buttons does this man have to push and how far will we let him go? We are out of time already...and we know what the Thug-In-Chief really wants.

A new law has been passed by the Iranian Parliament, (still to be approved by Khamenehi)  to revive the old Caliphate tradition dating back to 717 AD, during the reign of Caliph Omar II, who "did his best to force Jews and Christians to convert to Islam. After a siege of Jerusalem in 638 AD, the Christian and Jewish population finally capitulated to the Arabs and handed over control of the city.

In exchange for their lives and religious identity, the Jews and Christians agreed to an archean set of segregation laws, commonly known as the "Pact of Omar." One of the provisions was that they had to wear a yellow sash in public known as the zunar. Later in the 9th century, it was changed to a yellow Star of David, and a yellow cross."

Adopted by their kindred spirits in arms the Nazis during the Holocaust, no doubt due to the friendship between the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Hitler, it now rears its ugly head again:

The law mandates the government to make sure that all Iranians wear "standard Islamic garments" designed to remove ethnic and class distinctions reflected in clothing, and to eliminate "the influence of the infidel" on the way Iranians, especially, the young dress. It also envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, who will have to adopt distinct color schemes to make them identifiable in public. The new codes would enable Muslims to easily recognize non-Muslims so that they can avoid shaking hands with them by mistake, and thus becoming najis (unclean).

The new law, drafted during the presidency of Muhammad Khatami in 2004, had been blocked within the Majlis. That blockage, however, has been removed under pressure from Khatami's successor, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Make no mistake about it, Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad is no fool. This is much more than stubborn provocation; this is about paving the way for the 'final solution'. It is an ice-cold calculation, especially when expressly joining Jews and Christians together as Infidels. The purpose is not to find out how far he can push, but a systematic strategy to de-construct previously held taboos, and by taboos, I mean those established and upheld ever since the Holocaust.

Furthermore, it is a mistake to believe, the target audience is limited to fellow Muslims the world over. It is not, for they are rabid anti-Semites since time immemorial. No, this is first and foremost directed at the West; to expose the intellectual hypocrisy separating Jews and Christians both in Europe and in the U.S.

Christians have no emotional connections to the label and will in most cases simply ridicule the measures. The moment that attitude sets in, it directly undermines the ability to respond with all force and united outrage against this segregating legislation. If one faction brushes it off as an act of anachronistic folly, it cannot stand united with the other in utter condemnation.

Mark my words, all this outrage will do here in the West is in a tragically perverse way not dampen, but instead give rise to hitherto hidden or dormant anti-Semitic sentiments as opposed to galvanize solidarity between Christians and Jews in their uncompromising rejection and immediate formulation of concrete measures which would force the Thug-In-Chief to back down. Nothing less will do. Alas, the tragic reality is, that instead, nothing will be done.

My friends @ Vital Perspective remind us of the words of Charles Krauthammer earlier this month "When Iran's mullahs acquire their coveted nukes in the next few years, the number of Jews in Israel will just be reaching 6 million. Never again?":

First came Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call to "wipe Israel off the map," then came the government conference to re-examine the history of the Final Solution, and now we have the Iranian parliament passing a law frighteningly reminiscent of Nazi treatment of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and others. The law passed requires Jews and Christians to wear colored badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

Never fear, there is one Allah who shares my opinion:

The important thing now is not to worry. Remember — worrying is what “fear-stricken” conservatives do. True bravery is affecting near-complete indifference to the prospect of a nuclear-armed, Holocaust-denying radical Islamic state forcing Jews to wear yellow insignia while simultaneously hosing down the front of your pants daily over NSA data mining.

Kim Priestap is right there: "What ever happened to "never again"?"

UPDATE: Could this be true? Allah is investigating the possibility that the story is not true. But I must say that the chances of Amir Taheri, who is a world class journalist, getting it wrong is very slim. The fact that no one else is onto the story as yet, means absolutely nothing within the realms of the Bush Jihadist MSM. Also via Hugh Hewitt and Regime Change comes a great link from Haaretz:

Ze'evi, speaking at a Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies conference in Tel Aviv University, said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad has been overheard promising the "end of history in two or three years."

Ze'evi recommended that the Iranian threats be taken seriously, saying that Tehran will soon have nuclear warhead compatible surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 5,000 kilometers, putting Europe within striking distance.

UPDATE II: Again from the Canadian news (are the US press asleep at the wheel, what's up)

But independent reporter Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli Middle East expert who was born and raised in Tehran, says the report is false.
"It's absolutely factually incorrect," he told The New 940 Montreal.
"Nowhere in the law is there any talk of Jews and Christians having to wear different colours. I've checked it with sources both inside Iran and outside."
"The Iranian people would never stand for it. The Iranian government wouldn't be stupid enough to do it."

Ahem. Since when do the Iranian people have a voice? That last sentence is right up there in Cindy Sheehan land of nod...

UPDATE III: More from Allah, same link as above, so keep checking:

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Iranian expatriates living in Canada had confirmed that the order had been passed, although it still had to be approved by Iran’s “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect…

Ali Reza Nourizadeh, an Iranian commentator on political affairs in London, suggested that the requirements for badges or insignia for religious minorities was part of a “secondary motion” introduced in parliament, addressing the changes specific to the attire of people of various religious backgrounds.

Mr. Nourizadeh said that motion was very minor and was far from being passed into law.

That account could not be confirmed.

It turns out even the State Department is asleep at the wheel.

Is Canada's National Post backtracking on the story? Amir Taheri has certainly caused an international incident if his allegations are untrue, and had better explain himself. Very unlike him though, umh... the plot thickens.

Mr. Javdanfar said that not all clauses of the law had been passed through the parliament and said the requirement that Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians wear special insignia might be part of an older version of the Islamic dress law, which was first written two years ago.

However, Mr. Kermanian added that Jews in Iran still face widespread, systematic discrimination. “For example if they sell food they have to identify themselves and their shops as non-Muslim,” he said.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles, acknowledged that he did not have independent confirmation of the requirement for Jews to wear badges, but said he still believes it was passed.

“We know that the national uniform law was passed and that certain colours were selected for Jews and other minorities,” he said. “[But] if the Iranian government is going to pass such a law then they are not likely to be forthcoming about what they are doing.”

Ed Morrissey: "In an interesting twist, Canada.com has pulled the original story, although Amir Taheri's article is still available. If true, this will send shock waves around the world -- and if not, Canada's National Post may never live down the damage."

Rockett has a good round-up of updates.

UPDATE IV: I am now reduced to quoting the Islamic Republic News Agency.... Desperate I would say... come on Taheri would you speak up please, we don't work on a lead-time of one month like the MSM! An explanation please.

What next....the Zimbabwean Times? No, apparently Amir Taheri is willing to put his sterling reputation on the line for some sort of  Bush Iran war propaganda. I wondered how long that would take. Really.

Bernie's take on the Iranian Fashion Police crackdown, who have apparently been on the loose dressing issue since last month. Read it all.

UPDATE V: Finally the US press pick up on the story, well sort of...

UPDATE VI: The  Jerusalem Post sheds the most light. "Only a secondary motion" Whether approved as law or not, the proposal demanded that Jews will have to wear a yellow band on their exterior in public, while Christians will be required to don red ones. We know already that the law always has to have the final approval from Khamenehi, and I have said that at the outset of the post yesterday.

UPDATE VII: Finally, from Amir Taheri with the same article in the defiant New York Post Saturday May 20th:

It also envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, who will have to adopt distinct color schemes to make them identifiable in public. The new codes would enable Muslims to instantly recognize non-Muslims so that they can avoid shaking hands with them by mistake, and thus becoming najis" (unclean).[...]
The new law cannot come into effect until consensus is reached on what constitutes "authentic Islamic attire."[...]
According to Ahmadinejad, the new Islamic uniforms will establish "visual equality" for Iranians as they prepare for the return of the Hidden Imam. A committee that consists of members from the Ministry of Islamic Orientation, the Ministry of Commerce and the Cultural Subcommittee of the Islamic Majlis is scheduled to propose the new uniforms by next autumn. These would then have to be approved by "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei before being imposed by law.

UPDATE VIII: Taheri issues a press release and stands by his column.

Comments

[Liquid]

I had heard rumors of this too about a couple of years ago, but at that time it wasn't limited to Iran...it was being tossed about as a "universal" islamic dress code, because from what I understood at the time, it was to project the standard dress code via some long robe or coat in a specific colour as a "global look" so that Islam would be visible for all muslims in all countries in a type of solidarity movement. So when I got wind of this particular story about the badges via the Canadian press I was pretty sure that it was once again being "talked about" on the inside ranks and as the article admitted was being put on hold to be reviewed for further authority once again by the top mullah dogs of Iran and then to have hopes to pressed on into Lebanon and into the gaza strip as well. But, lets say it doesn't become "official" for the "non muslim" but at this point it will get enough word of mouth advertisement that we will probably start seeing some universal garb being worn to push the "muslim dress code" idea forward---you know---as a solidarity type dress showing support for the caliphate and even more present the palestinian cause. That way it could inch it's way into the other down the road. The ideology is quite patient and will accept moving like a snail as long as it is assured that it gains some advancement in it's goals. Ahmadinejad doesn't care what anyone thinks of him or his motives...he is on a mission of chaos and his only authority in his mind is Allah.

[slowtrain]

Islam is a political movement; sugar coated with perverted ideals of Judaism and Christianity to present it as a religion. It has always been a political movement and will always be. A true religion is fundamentally personal; it is borne out of individual conviction and choice, it is not imposed by force or intimidation and it does not deny people the right of individual free play of the intellect that enables a person to choose what to believe and to reject previous beliefs and subscribe to new ones based on personal conviction. Islam is totalitarian political system that denies people their basic rights and freedom.

They will, of course, define Islam as a religion, not a criminal conspiracy hatched in medieval Arabia, then spread wide and far by the sword.

gringoman, you are correct; Islam has been advanced by violence and intimidation. The very essence of Islam precludes it from tolerating anyone that would not submit to Islam and from coexisting with any other religion, particularly Judaism and Christianity.

The essential political nature of Islam is why almost every country in this world with a significant Muslim population is either an Islamic state (intolerant and undemocratic) or has Islamic groups agitating to make it an Islamic state or fighting to create a separate and independent Islamic entity within the nation. This would be expected of every Western country in the future, including America where it is estimated that five to seven million Muslims now live and will double in number by the year 2018.

Already, this tendency, marked by increasing demands for ideological separatism and accompanied by open confrontation, is beginning to manifest in many parts of Europe, and is increasingly accelerating toward a crisis point.

[rocketsbrain]

Didn't mean to intrude. Just wanted to highlight two things that are not in other updates in the Blogos.

First see the caveat from Kenneth Timmerman re Mr. Kermanian and his possible conflict of interest. He's part of the reason why the National Post was backpeddeling on the original story.

Second for the comment from Dr. Zin that he asked me to post until he could get back home.

Like your site. The more people watching this story the sooner the info can be run to ground.

RBT

[Alexandra]

Thank you Rocketsbrain, but we have been posting updates for some good 10 hours now.

[rocketsbrain]

This story may only be partly true. Your readers might be interested in these two updates on my site.

RBT

*****

Update III:

Kenneth Timmerman just posted these updates to his original post:

UPI reported from Tehran that the Majles passed the law this week."This law recalls the Holocaust immediately to mind when Jews were forced to wear distinctive yellow Stars of David on their clothes," said American Jewish Congress Executive Director Neil Goldstein.

[...]

Sam Kermanian, of the Iranian Jewish Federation in Los Angeles, urged Jewish activists to caution in a mass email today. "So far the two reports we managed to obtain from our own independent sources from inside the country suggest that the original reports are false," he wrote. "Both Mr. Morris Motamed the Jewish member of the Iranian Parliament and Mr Parviz Yeshaya the former head of the community have strongly denied the reports."

Stay tuned....

Note: Mr. Kermanian has acknowledged to FDI that he currently does business in Tehran, but says that he has received a "waiver" from the Treasury Department to sanction his commercial activities.

www.iran.org

*****

Dr. Zin is on this story and will updating shortly

RBT just got off the phone with Dr. Zin of Regime Change Iran who was about to board a plane to return home from DC. He said he will be posting further on this story when he gets back home.

Dr. Zin said he first learned of this in 2004. Dr. Zin' sources have said until recently this has been in the context of a discussion on an Islamic appropriate dress code. The last he heard was it was't in writing but was making it's way through the lower levels of what serves as the Irainian legislative process. [ed note: A stacked deck :--)]

Dr. Zin said the President Ahmadinejad is in support of this dress code. Dr. Zin doesn't know if there is enough agreement to pass and implement it.

Stay tuned as Kenneth Timmerman said . . .

RBT

Update IV:

The Great One Allahpundit himself is on this over at Hotair.com and is posting regular updates as they come in.

[...]

Read More

[gringoman]

Slowtrain,

Once, on a certain "free speech" forum, I decided to make some trouble by posting a certain question for discussion. I succeeded. It drove liberal types more or less up the wall, and probably moderates too. I suspect that even some conservatives were holding their breath and felt uneasy. I imagine a Glenn Greenwald, with his accomplished expertise in civil libertarian law, might have gone ballistic, although he probably would have noticed that I put the topic in the interrogative, not the declarative. This is the one-line topic I posted to start the thread.

SHOULD ISLAM BE OUTLAWED IN AMERICA?

Yes, you don't need to be an ACLU member or constitutional scholar to tell us that this is impossible. They will, of course, define Islam as a religion, not a criminal conspiracy hatched in medeival Arabia, then spread wide and far by the sword. And everyone else will too. Well, most every one else---certainly every living Democrat and every living Republican, and George Bush absolutely.

Still, was there any harm in exploring the question, in batting it around, and even raising the issue of reciprocity with Islamic states?

[slowtrain]

A megalomaniac leading an unreasoning mass caught in mental slavery will surely produce a human catastrophe, unless he is stopped before the tipping point.

We fail to learn from history, because we hide from it, deny it or dismiss it; hence frequently and inevitably falling into avoidable perils at tremendous cost in terms of human lives and the magnified cost of a belated action in confronting evil.

The free world will do well to remember and learn from the words of Martin Niemoeller. There is a great parallel between the evil Niemoeller spoke about and the gathering danger posed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his ideology and a great many people stooped in mental stupor, ready to be transformed into zombies.

The Western world is inclined to make the same mistakes Niemoeller highlighted in his famous statement, which still resonates today, in that it is now neither Jew nor Christian, hence the same fatal sentiment that greeted the Nazi agenda often greets the Islamic agenda and Islamic threats to Jews and Christians around the globe. Niemoeller speaking of the Nazi catastrophy said,

“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Muslims believe that Islam is an empowerment, whether they are the majority or minority, Iran or Netherlands. Hence, increasingly in the Western world, as Canada showed recently, Sharia (Islamic laws) is now becoming a rider to the Western laws in Western societies and the Constitutions on which they rest, thus these Western societies are ignoring the problems that have debilitated the regions of the world where such is in effect, only its peril.

Hezekiah Showed Berodach-baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon all the treasures of his dominion and consequently lost them all; the West is doing the same in betrothing freedom to Islam in Western societies, and is losing her freedom as we have seen recently in the Netherlands and soon to be in Canada, etc.

[gringoman]

If the report is not false, it may as well be. It's really too queasy and embarrassing for the UN, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Mainstream machers, the Euro elite, in other words, the son of Chamberlain. On the other hand, if factual, it's another marvelous example of Mondo Socialismus and Jihadistan working in tandem. That is, the Ahma guy shows how a dedicated Islamite can heed even such a kufar as Lenin and his "One step backward, two steps forward" admonition. Ahma guy took "one step backward" recently with letter to the infidel Bush, even lowering himself sufficiently to subtly invite such an unclean satan to convert. Now, he takes the good old "two steps forward," one for "badgering" the Jews in Iran, the other for the Christians. How clever.

[epaminondas]

We are all like the boiled frog.

One degree at a time, it's impossible to tell what's happening, until you ARE tolerating a muslim hitler.

We are. NOW. Like the 1925 best seller, the twerp of Iran has no shame about his racist and genocidal wants because he thinks those voiew are not only correct, but also given by god.

There isn't a shred of mystery here.

[Francis W. Porretto]

I believe it was V. I. Lenin who coined the maxim, "The worse, the better." Perhaps this latest outrage will work that way. Perhaps it will open a sufficient number of eyes that we'll be able to do what it's now clear we must do, to preserve Israel from annihilation and the peace of the Old World from permanent obliteration. For one can no longer deny that the Iranian regime is as monstrous as any that's ever befouled the Earth. Unless one happens to agree with its jihadist, fascist program, of course.

[Michael Galien]

Gang of One,

I agree, that is exactly why I worded it as I did. By overexaggurating it, I think I made my point. Those socialists who keep on appeasing Ahmadinejad, are the same ones who appeased Hitler.

[Gang of One]

Michael,

Only because I've read your posts in the past do I know you are summing up the perverse mind-set of the apologists and anti-Semites; you wield sarcasm well.
The truly frightening thing is that you, I and Alexandra [amongst many others] know that there are people out there who believe precisely as you have said.

[Michael Galien]

I am sorry ma'am. Please, please forgive.

[Alexandra]

Michael,

Spoken like a true socialist. But you really should not be stealing David Byron's lines, you know how upset he gets...

[MarcH]

If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived at the rostrum of the UN General Assembly in a puff of smoke with full horns, bat wings, hooves and pitchfork the reaction would be,

1. “foreign policy experts” detect signs of moderation;
2. Nancy Pelosi condemns Bush for high unemployment; and,
3. MSM speculates that it was all a Karl Rove designed special effect.

[Michael Galien]

Alexandra,

Your ignorance is showing once again. Once again you are just hate-mongering and preaching anti-muslim preaches for the choir.

You are both ignorant and agressive as should be obvious to everyone.

The intention of the Iranian government is not negative at all. Look at it this way; this yellow button is an asset to their clothing: some wear jewels, others wear yellow buttons - and they're for free!

The camps you'll be hearing about soon, are not negative either. They are, of course, beneficial to the Jews in Iran. This way, they are protected from some, a little bit too passionate, Muslims in the region. Besides that; shelter and food will be for free! The only thing they need to do is to work 16 hours per day. If they do that, they will be taken care off. dirty laugh.

Ahmadinejad didn't mean anything bad with "israel should be wiped off the map" either. You are simply trying to make the Western world hate muslims. See; the idea behind it is that if Israel does not exist anymore, they can live happy and free in Muslim countries like the beautiful and tolerant Iran. This way, they won't be attacked by poor Palestinians who have no other choice; they will all form one happy country together.

With the denial that the holocaust never happened, Ahmadinejad, the brave and lovely man, did not meant any harm either; he meant that it was too difficult and painful for him to believe. He simply cannot believe humans would do something like that to other human beings.

I can't see how you keep on denying that.

[dave]

I would like to place an order for one red badge....thank you very much.

[sigmund, carl and alfred]

Very, very well said.

With regard to the same issues, we noted that should this law be implemented, all Iranians granted tourist visas to the west ought to be asked to wear an identifying badge.

In addition, we submit that all Iranian diplomats do the same. We wrote, "The wearing of those badges would identify Iranians- and kafirs, always sensitive to the cultural needs of others, would not extend their hands in greeting and thus preclude the Iranian diplomat from having to touch an 'unclean' non Muslim."

The fact is, with each pronouncement and utterance of evil, when the time comes, a wake up call that will rain down upon mullahs in Tehran. Even if that wake up call is administered by the Israelis alone, the world will applaud- loudly or silently. That happened when the Israelis bombed Osirak in Iraq and it will happen again.

The civilized world will not tolerate a Muslim Hitler.