WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

Any deal that leaves Iran’s Islamic Republic regime intact leaves the threat intact.

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

I am not saying the goal of the United States is to do so, but any negotiation with the Islamic Republic only serves to keep the Islamic Republic regime alive.

Another day.

Another month.

Another year.

Another decade.

That, precisely, is the goal of the Islamic Republic. To stay alive. To control 90 million Iranians. To spread its extremist Islamic ideology across the world. And to threaten the United States, Israel, and the West at every turn.

The goal of the United States and the West should be to hasten the Islamic Republic’s demise, not to negotiate and prop it up.

What is happening in Iran today was exactly the plan of the reformists, who have cultivated significant influence inside the United States. Their goal has always been to appear rational, to present themselves to the West as the adults in the room. They are not. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing, designed to subjugate Iranians for decades more while spreading their extremist ideology around the world. In America, that means undermining our values by hijacking the very freedoms they seek to eradicate.

The reformist plot was straightforward: remove Khamenei, capitalize on the deep dissatisfaction inside Iran to create a flicker of hope among its people, and then simply shed the skin of the regime through a cosmetic change in leadership. Put the reformists in charge. Allow America to claim credit for eliminating Khamenei, making him a martyr, while the system itself remains entirely unchanged.

Consider something most observers have missed. With the successful American and Israeli strikes across Iran, targeting Islamic Republic leaders including the former Supreme Leader and commanders of the IRGC and Basij, not a single reformist has been eliminated. Not one. Their agents outside Iran have only grown more influential. How is that possible unless those agents have already deeply infiltrated American and Western institutions? They have been promoted across major media platforms, granted credibility and influence, operating under the guise of being opposition voices while actively working to protect the regime’s survival.

People like me who genuinely oppose the regime have been blocked from mainstream media for years. Despite the war and the slaughter of Iranians, we are still prevented from reaching major platforms because the reformists and their agents work to keep us out. I remember this mafia-style system from my childhood in Iran. I know how they play the game. If eliminating someone from a rival faction is what it takes to keep the regime afloat, they will not hesitate. The regime’s survival always comes first.

**‘Deal’ing with Iran**. For the writer the goal of the United States and the West should be to hasten the Islamic Republic’s demise and not to negotiate and prop it up.

So, what is actually at risk from any deal with the Islamic Republic?

When the United States suddenly halted its military operation against the regime, it was clear something was happening behind the scenes. The regime was given a window to reach some arrangement, presumably centered on nuclear concessions and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

But what does “no nukes” actually mean? Will Iranian regime scientists forget what they have already know how to do, enriching uranium and leading toward a bomb? How long before they start up again, assuming that they ever stopped? What happens to the enriched uranium? We are told they already have enough to build ten bombs, and that it takes only weeks to enrich uranium from 60 percent to weapons-grade 90 percent. And what about the ballistic missiles that have struck targets across the Middle East and can now reach Europe. We did not even fully know the range of those missiles until they were already flying. Will the regime stop manufacturing and improving on their missiles just because of a deal on paper?

The West must accept one simple truth: the Iranian regime does not think in terms of coexistence. It is a religious, extremist, fundamentalist cult that is ideologically committed to conquering or destroying all who do not submit to it. Period. They have told us this in writing, in in their preaching, through their media, and via their agents. This is a revolution without borders, not merely one nation seeking its place among others. Americans have been killed for 47 years as a direct result of this regime’s nefarious aspirations.

Assuming a deal could be reached, that the regime could be trusted, and that any deal was not simply a vehicle to prop up the regime, who will enforce it? With any deal, the regime will cheat. It has lied and hidden its activities and violated every agreement it has ever signed. Who will have the political will to respond when they cheat again. Will President Trump as a lame duck? Will any possible successor: 48, 49, 0r 50? Look at how Americans react to a temporary rise in the price of gasoline. Would we have the will to act, even a few years from now?

**Playing for Time**. Operating under the pressures and constraints of time, who will give in first?

Will this deal eviscerate the Islamic Republic’s proxies? Hezbollah is still a potent terrorist force controlling much of Lebanon. Hamas is still standing in Gaza, propped up by Islamists in Turkey and Qatar. The Houthis can do nothing without Iranian support. Even if the Iranian regime promises not to fund them, who is monitoring this? Who will stop it? The Europeans will appease the regime. China and Russia will continue supporting the regime regardless of any deal. North Korea will do the same. Assuming that the regime could be trusted with any deal, there will be no control over their immediate breach of any agreement. Even without a nuclear weapon, the regime already knows the world’s Achilles heel: block Hormoz. They have done it, and will do it again. God help us if they have a nuclear umbrella to protect them.

The Islamic regime in Tehran is lying to the administration, the negotiators, and the world. Do not believe a word they say. It is still the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis are not going away because of any deal signed in a conference room.

**What’s at Stake**. While the current supply and price of oil is on everyone’s mind for the writer it’s the future of mankind.

All the talk about making the best deal, about what will be in the deal, about the art of the deal, only emboldens them. They see it as America wanting a deal more than Iran needs one. When they smell weakness, they grow stronger. That is precisely the lesson I carry from my own life. When the regime threatened me and demanded I renounce my Christian faith, I did not simply refuse. I challenged their theology to their face. Refusing to show weakness is the only model that works. I won. America needs to win.

**Machine guns to Machetes**. How do you ‘deal’ with a leadership that has does not blink as mass murdering its own civilians? Verified images of weapons that massacred thousands of civilian protestors earlier this year in more than 200 cities across Iran.

There is no negotiating with the Islamic Republic. Any deal that leaves the regime intact leaves the threat intact. And a regime that survives today will be back tomorrow, better armed, better funded, and more dangerous than before.

About the writer:

Marziyeh Amirizadeh (Marzi) is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity. She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation. She is author of two books (the latest, A Love Journey with God), public speaker, and columnist. She has shared her inspiring story throughout the United States and around the world, to bring awareness about the ongoing human rights violations and persecution of women and religious minorities in Iran, www.MarzisJourney.com.

Marzi also is the founder and president of NEW PERSIA whose mission is to be the voice of persecuted Christians and oppressed women under Islam, expose the lies of the Iranian Islamic regime, and restore the relationships between Persians, Jews, and Christians. www.NewPersia.org.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

BIG MOVE IN SMALL TOWN – RECOGNITION, RECONCILIATION AND RESTITUTION

Jewish family supports historic move for Cape Town to rename Strand town square honouring family founder to recognition of local Muslim community.

By Ben Friedman

Ra’anana in central Israel is my home today. It wasn’t always.

I hail from the Strand, a beautiful False Bay town which is part of the area described as the “Fairest Cape”, bracketed by the majestic Hottentots Holland mountains, Somerset West and the turquoise blue of the Atlantic Ocean. Today, this town is making news in South Africa and it involves my family. Of this I am proud – proud of the past and proud of how we are forging a favourable future.

My family surname – Friedman – is so embedded in that town’s history. However, it is not only the past but the message we are sending for the future that is making news.

In a historic gesture of recognition and reconciliation, our family have approved the renaming of Ben Friedman Plain honouring my grandfather and family founder in South Africa to Strand Muslim Square. The exciting and enriching drama unfolding could not – and maybe not unsurprisingly – escape controversy.

It is no secret that today we live in a polarised, post-truth world where narratives are shaped by people’s prejudices and affiliations that cloud facts and the truth. Israelis and Jews know this more than most, given the sustained campaign of lies against Israel in the mainstream media, by influencers, social media, and sinister state-backed NGOs.

So, when local Muslim leader, Ebrahim Rhoda approached my brother, Barry Friedman with the request to approach the city council to rename the square to finally redress the wrongs of the past and to honour the Muslim contribution to the town, Barry expressed enthusiasm, but said that he would need to discuss it with the family. He knew that their only concern would be that the family’s history not be erased. With full understanding and sensitivity, Ebrahim, after some thought and investigation, suggested that if the renaming was approved, the traffic circle in front of our family store could be renamed Ben Friedman Circle. This, our family considered fair and agreed to the renaming of the town square subject to council approval.

**Prime Movers**. Taking a stand in the Strand are (l-r) Ebrahim Rhoda, Barry Friedman and Feisal Daniels at a recent Council meeting. (Photo: Carl Punt.)

The process took a few years and now the renaming will proceed but not without an ugly backlash resulting from the usual ‘culprit’ – misinformation.

There were those trying to frame it as a roughshod attempt to erase the “White” history of the Strand, or to view it in terms of a Muslim/Judeo-Christian conflict issue. It is neither. It is simply the long overdue acknowledgement of the Muslim’s community’s enduring history and contribution to the town that had for too long been neglected. I am sure that my late friend, Oesman Wentzel, who owned a classic diesel-powered fishing boat that I spent many happy hours on in my youth catching mackerel and snoek, would be very happy with this historic restitution — reflecting the harmony and unique community relations that characterised our lives in the Strand, in spite of the policy of Apartheid that tried to disrupt it.

**Roadworthy**. Ben Friedman Plein named after Benjamin Friedman who immigrated from Lithuania to South Africa in 1910 is to be renamed Strand Muslim Square honouring the over 200-year history of the Muslim presence in the town . (Photo: Jamey Gordon).

ENTWINED HISTORY

My grandfather, Benjamin Friedman, who arrived in Cape Town around 1903 as a penniless immigrant from Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania, is the man that the Ben Friedman Plein (square) controversy is all about.

Speaking Yiddish without any knowledge of English or Afrikaans, he started work as a labourer at a salary of 2/- (20 cents) per day at the Cape Town docks.

Friedman & Cohen Department Store — “Since 1903”

Once he had acquired some knowledge of English and had enough funds to buy a bicycle, he cycled to Somerset West where a dynamite factory was opening to supply explosives to the mines. He bought a general dealer’s license, and with no funds and amazing divine providence was able to open a line of credit with JW Jagger, a major wholesaler in Cape Town.

**Muslim Festivity**. Friedman & Cohen “Wishing our Muslim Customers and Staff a blessed Eid Mubarak!”

He married Anna Cohen and they had five sons, including my father, and two daughters. The business thrived and eventually became a large department store in the Strand that still stands today. Benjamin played a big role in the development of the Strand and was a leader of the Jewish community, and was instrumental in the founding of the Strand Synagogue in 1930.

**Strand Shul**. The Strand Synagogue which Benjamin (Ben) Friedman laid the foundation stone in 1930

**Strand Synagogue Stone**. This stone was laid by Benjamin Friedman, April 21st 1930.

PARRALEL PIONEERING

Pioneering and building ingrained in the Friedman family was not only confined to South Africa’s developing coastal town of Strand but also in the future Jewish state of Israel. While Benjamin and most of his family were centered at the Strand, his one son, Solly Friedman, my uncle, was a visionary and a Zionist and emigrated to the then British Mandate of Palestine in the 1930s. He settled in Haifa, opening a law office in 1939 and went on to develop one of the biggest law practices in Israel specializing in marine law with ZIM shipping company being one of his major clients. Founded in 1945 by the Jewish Agency, the Israel Maritime League and the Histadrut, ZIM’s main task during its first years was transporting hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the emerging state. Some of the other ships that had been used for clandestine immigration before the establishment of Israel as a state were confiscated by the British Mandate authorities, and later joined the company’s fleet. My uncle would travel abroad negotiating the purchase of ships that formed the basis of Israel’s merchant marine fleet. In the days of the Mandate, he was constantly active in the courts, defending Haganah men brought up on charges by the British and trying to negotiate the release of impounded refugee ships. Emerging as Israel’s expert in maritime law, it would stand him in good stead as the lawyer for ZIM Shipping Company in the ensuing decades as it developed into one of the world’s top 20 cargo carriers. He relates that when the British left Palestine, most of the ships they had impounded were in Haifa harbour and the new Israeli government simply reclaimed them. How poignant that the biblical word ZIM means “a fleet of ships”. (Number 24:24).

**Friedman & Friends**. The writer’s uncle (2^nd left), pioneer marine lawyer in Haifa, Solly Friedman with friends in British Army uniform during WWII in Tel Aviv.

In parallel at the Strand, the Cape Malays are an ethnic group descended from enslaved and freed Muslims brought to the Cape from Indonesia and Malaysia in the mid-17th century. They were skilled labourers and political exiles, such as Sheik Yusuf, whose Kramat (a sacred shrine or tomb honoring a holy person in Islam) at nearby Macassar Beach is still a place of pilgrimage. This is undertakable as Sheik Yusuf is credited as the founding father of Islam in South Africa, having established the first enduring Muslim community in the region in 1694, during the governorship of Simon Van der Stel.

**Friedman Family**. Benjamin, his wife Anna and their five sons and two daughters.

Over time, the Cape Malays formed a unique cultural and religious identity with a distinct cuisine and a dialect of the Afrikaans language. They were among the first settlers in the Strand, which was originally called Mostert’s Bay. They were mainly engaged in fishing in False Bay and settled in the area of the current CBD of the Strand, where they had a thriving community of craftsmen, carpenters, builders, small traders, tailors and fishermen.

However, in the 1950s, when Apartheid was being heavily enforced, they were forcibly relocated to an area called Rusthof, located between Strand and Gordons Bay — a low-lying area subject to severe flooding in winter.

**Story of a Store in the Strand**. The staff today of Friedman & Cohen on the beach (top) and the early days of the store in the Strand.

However, the original mosques that were located around the CBD were maintained and remained, so that their physical link to the area endured.

Benjamin, whose small trading store on the Lourens River where the dynamite factory had opened manufacturing explosives for the gold mines, grew and flourished. He invested in properties and land, many of which were in the centre of the Strand, and where the original store was moved to. Over time, it developed into the modern Friedman and Cohen Department Store, which is now 110 years old.

**Family Founder**. What began with a bicycle ride, Benjamin Friedman from Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania, founder of the family in South Africa.

The Strand had 25 Jewish families at its peak, but neighbouring Somerset West had 40 Jewish families. Relations between the Jewish and Muslim community was excellent – and many from the Muslim community were, and still are, employees of Friedman and Cohen. Many ‘old-timer’ customers would relate stories of how they used to buy on credit at our store, but when the frequent gale-force south easterly winds used to blow, they were unable to pay their accounts because the fishing boats couldn’t put to sea. Benjamin Friedman would tell them to pay when they could, and never placed any pressure on them.

As the town grew, so did the Jewish community, and Benjamin Friedman was instrumental in founding the Strand Shul (synagogue), where he laid the foundation stone in April 1930. It is interesting to note that the furniture for the new Somerset West shul was made by Muslim carpenters again reinforcing the enriching connection of the two communities.

The writer’s father, Abe Friedman who joined 10,000 South African Jews in the fight against Hitler and Nazism is seen here with his army unit (5th from left back row) on Temple Mount Jerusalem.

ROAD TO RENAMING

A prime mover in the renaming process is local Muslim community leader Ebrahim Rhoda — a school teacher and historian — who when he approached my brother Barry, explained that in spite of their community’s history and contribution to the Strand, there “was not one street name reflecting their heritage.” Most cities and towns name their streets after local residents who have left an enriching legacy and so, “it was time to truly acknowledge the Muslim contribution to the story of the Strand,” said Ebrahim.

Cape Muslim families such as the Rhodas, Gabiers, Wentzels, and Salies were prominent community members, and it is time that their stories and legacies of the Muslim community are honoured.

The proposal to rename Ben Friedman Plein to Strand Muslim Square is rooted in reconciliation and restorative justice — acknowledging a community forcibly removed during the Apartheid era from the Strand CBD under the Group Areas Act in the 1950s, whose 200-year heritage includes three mosques that still anchor the square today: Nurul Anwar, Market Street and Nurul Islam. The first place of worship in Strand, the Market Street Mosque, was built on the square itself.

**Historic Gem**. Constructed between 1850 and 1870 by freed slaves and free blacks, the Javia Mosque stands as the oldest surviving place of worship in Strand and is today a Provincial Heritage Site. The structure is recognized not only as an architectural gem but a cornerstone of the Muslim community’s heritage in the Western Cape.

Eddie Andrews, the City of Cape Town’s acting mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, expressed during this year’s Freedom Day on the 27 April in his address at City Hall, that the proposed renaming of Ben Friedman Plein to Strand Muslim Square adds weight to both history and reconciliation. Said Andrews:

“Ben Friedman Square stands in an area shaped by the long-standing presence of the Strand Muslim community, whose heritage stretches back over two centuries. Importantly, this process has been characterised by cooperation — supported by the Muslim community, endorsed by civic and faith-based organisations, and undertaken with the support of the Friedman family themselves.”

The renaming reflects what Andrews called Cape Town’s unique tradition of interfaith coexistence. “Cape Town is a city where Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and other faith and cultural communities do not simply coexist — but have, over generations, built relationships of respect, partnership, and shared belonging. This renaming reflects that reality.”

**Sheikh’s Shrine**. When Sheikh Yusuf, regarded as the father of Islam in South Africa, passed away in 1699, he was buried not far from the Strand on the hill overlooking Macassar. His Kramat or shrine is a place visited by pilgrims.

The proposal has been endorsed by the Strand Muslim Council, Nurul Islam and Aneeqah Congregation, Rusthof Methodist Church, and the Muslim Judicial Council. Business owners bordering the square raised no objections.

The controversy will pass as it should.

However, what must not pass is the good relations between the communities of the Strand. The Muslim and Jewish contributions to the town go back in time and stand to ensure an enriching future.

I look forward in the future when revisiting from Israel my hometown to see the renamed Strand Muslim Square and Ben Friedman Circle.

Benjamin who began this journey on a bicycle well over a century ago would be pleased and proud.

About the writer

A resident of Ra’anana, Israel, Ben Friedman was born and grew up in the Strand Western cape, South Africa and matriculated at Hottentots Holland High school Somerset West. He completed a BCom degree at UCT which was interrupted in 1967 by the Six Day War where he served as a volunteer on Kibbutz Amir.
Prior to immigrating to Israel with his family in 2010, he served on the Western Province Zionist Council for two years and was vice Chairman of The Phylis Jowell Jewish Day school Cape Town .
Retired after a successful career in fashion retailing, Ben is a lifelong passionate angler and a keen reader especially on Israeli /Jewish and Zionist history.

WHY AMERICANS MUST PROTEST THE IRANIAN SOCCER TEAM’S INCLUSION IN THE WORLD CUP

Beware of what’s under the soccer jerseys the Islamic Republic regime wants to normalize on American soil

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

As the United States prepares to host FIFA, the World Cup, I have an urgent appeal to all Americans. While sports in theory should be above international politics, the inclusion of a soccer team from the Islamic Republic of Iran is an afront to the freedoms we celebrate as Americans. If the Islamic Republic soccer team is participating, it must also be a time to use our freedom to protest their presence and the Islamic regime that they represent. I call on all Americans to join me to do so.

**On the Way to the USA**. Iran supporters cheer during a FIFA World Cup 2026 Asia zone qualifiers between Iran and the North Korea at the Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran on June 10, 2025. (Photo: AFP/ Atta Kenare)

Why is this so important? I was born in Iran just months before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that plunged my beloved homeland into darkness. I grew up under the boot of the ayatollahs’ regime, where being a woman meant living as a second-class citizen, and daring to seek truth outside their intolerant radical Islam could cost you everything. In 1999 I became a Christian and in 2009, my friend Maryam and I were arrested for the “crime” of converting to Christianity. We were thrown into Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, interrogated, tortured, and sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy. Only international pressure secured our release after nine harrowing months. I came to America as a free woman, but my heart still bleeds for the millions left behind.

**Beauties and the Beasts**. For 259 days, the writer (left) and her friend Maryam Rostampour were imprisoned facing execution for spreading Christianity. Their case gained international attention, and human rights advocates around the world began calling for their release until growing pressure eventually led Iranian authorities to free them. After leaving Iran, both women moved to the US.

Today, as the Islamic Republic prepares to send its national soccer team to the 2026 World Cup on American soil, I raise my voice with urgency and conviction: Americans must protest this inclusion loudly, clearly, and without apology. Allowing this team to compete is not a celebration of sport. It is a betrayal of human rights, a whitewashing of tyranny, and an insult to every victim of the regime’s brutality – including the brave women, Christians, Baha’is, Kurds, and dissidents who suffer daily.

The Iranian national team does not represent the Iranian people. It represents the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the oppressive theocracy that has ruled through terror for nearly five decades. That’s why the Islamic Republic is protesting that the team including all its IRGC guards be allowed to come to America. It is literally allowing terrorists to come for a field day in our own backyards.

Players who are not IRGC are also not free. They may not express themselves, or think of defecting, lest the threats they have been made clear to them against their families be realized. God help them if they dare show solidarity with the protests sweeping Iran, or thank their American hosts for helping to free Iran. In past tournaments, we saw courageous gestures of players refusing to sing the regime’s anthem only to be met with intimidation from the IRGC. This is no game; it is propaganda. The regime uses the unifying sport of soccer and the World Cup to project an image of normalcy while executing prisoners by the hundreds, brutalizing and disfiguring women who do not wear the hijab “properly,” and funding terrorism across the Middle East.

**Crackdown to Kickoff**. Is it acceptable that the regime responsible for mass murdering its own citizens during a crackdown of protests, should be permitted to normalize its crimes by being allowed to participate at the World Cup in the US? Seen here are families searching for their loved ones among bodies outside the Kahrizak forensic center in the suburbs of Tehran, Iran, January 13, 2026. (Photo: SIPA)

I know this evil firsthand. In Evin Prison, I endured conditions designed to break the human body and spirit. Solitary confinement, psychological torment, and the constant threat of execution were tools to silence faith and freedom. Thousands of political prisoners, including Christians like me, have faced the same. The regime hangs people for “enmity against God.” Women are beaten and killed for “improper hijab,” as we saw with Mahsa Amini in 2022. Young girls are imprisoned, and minorities are persecuted. Women are raped before execution because the religion of peace does not allow execution of virgins, and so, according to their perverted Islamic ideology, they will not go to heaven. This is what’s under the soccer jerseys the Islamic Republic regime wants to normalize on American soil.

**Sing to Survive**. In March 2026, fears mounted for members of the Iranian women’s soccer team following being branded “wartime traitors” by Iranian state media for refusing to sing their national anthem in Australia. (Photo: AP)

My fellow Americans, we live in a land of liberty, founded on principles of God-given rights, where faith is protected and dissent is a cornerstone of democracy. How can you welcome representatives of a regime that executes Christians, stones adulterers (by their laws), subjugates women in every way – including as sex slaves under the banner of Islamic “temporary marriages” – and which calls for the destruction of Israel and America? FIFA officials speak of “inclusion” and “sports diplomacy,” but there can be no diplomacy with evil that slaughters its own citizens and seeks to annihilate other countries. Protesting the Islamic Republic’s participation honors the true spirit of competition one rooted in fair play, not state-sponsored terror.

Our protest also sends an urgent message to the Iranian diaspora and freedom-loving people inside Iran. Many Iranian-Americans fled this very regime. They wave the old Lion and Sun flag, not the blood-soaked emblem of the Islamic Republic. By allowing the team entry, America normalizes the mullahs’ lies. It tells protesters in Tehran – risking their lives in the streets behind an internet blackout – that the world prefers games over justice. It dishonors the memory of those executed, those blinded and disfigured by pellets, those raped in custody, and those who simply wanted to live without fear. It’s all a big show because Iranians living behind the internet blackout won’t even be able to watch an uncensored broadcast of a soccer game, only able to see what the regime allows them.

Most recently, and in an affront to all Americans, FIFA has barred people from displaying the original Lion and Sun Iranian flag which was hijacked and perverted by the flag of the Islamic Republic since 1979. Not only is this an obscene whitewashing of the presence of the Islamic Republic team on US soil, it undermines the First Amendment in a peaceful display of protest. If allowed to be enforced, it’s tantamount to America ceding territory and our freedoms to the Islamic Republic by giving ownership and authority of our rights to FIFA as the gatekeeper. There are and must be an infinite number of ways for Americans to assert that FIFA may be the organizer, but they have no authority on matters of freedom of expression. Would they do what the Islamic Republic does in such an instance: shoot down protesters? The Lion and Sun must be present inside and outside the stadiums and all Americans must resist this violation of our inalienable rights for which Iranians are being slaughtered in the streets.

**Football Façade**. Crowds gather for a public farewell ceremony for Iran’s national soccer team as they prepare to depart for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in Enghelab Square in Tehran, Iran, on May 13, 2026. (Photo: Behnam Tofighi/UPI)

My faith in Jesus sustained me through Evin’s darkness. He taught us to stand for the oppressed, to speak truth to power. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). The Iranian people are crying out for freedom. Women lead the revolution with the cry “Woman, Life, Freedom.” Christians worship in secret house churches, risking everything for their faith. Jews, Baha’is, Kurds and other minorities face systemic erasure. Americans who value life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have a moral duty to stand with them.

Protesting does not mean hating Iranian athletes as individuals. Many are victims themselves, coerced by a system that controls their careers and families. True solidarity would be demanding FIFA ban the team until the regime releases political prisoners, ends executions, grants religious freedom, and stops its nuclear ambitions and terror sponsorship. Sport should unite humanity, not provide cover and whitewashing of systematic evil.

As an American citizen now, I urge my fellow citizens: Do not let commercial interests or diplomatic niceties silence you. Organize at stadiums. Rally in cities hosting matches. Protest any hotel that gives lodging to the Islamic Republic team. Contact your representatives. Flood social media with the truth. Demand visas be denied to regime-linked officials and IRGC affiliates. Support true Iranian opposition voices who envision a free, secular, democratic Iran at peace with its neighbors, including Israel. Support Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi to return to Iran and lead the country to freedom and prosperity, the one name millions of Iranians support to do so.

I pray that the regime’s days are numbered, that its collapse is coming, through internal revolution and decisive external pressure. But while it clings to power, we must not legitimize it on the world stage, or on the soccer field.

The World Cup on American soil provides a moment of truth. Will we choose silence and spectacle, or courage and conscience? I survived Evin because people around the world raised their voices. My captors were angered by the broad international support and voices which ultimately made a difference in my being released. Now, I ask Americans to raise your voice. Protest the Iranian team’s inclusion. Stand for the Iranian people. Stand for freedom. The God who delivered me from death can deliver an entire nation – if we act with faith and boldness.

Let the games begin without the Islamic Republic’s symbol of oppression. Let the world hear the true voice of Iran: the voice of the oppressed, calling for liberty.

About the writer:

Marziyeh Amirizadeh is an Iranian American who immigrated to the US after being sentenced to death in Iran for the crime of converting to Christianity. She endured months of mental and physical hardships and intense interrogation. She is author of two books (the latest, A Love Journey with God), public speaker, and columnist. She has shared her inspiring story throughout the United States and around the world, to bring awareness about the ongoing human rights violations and persecution of women and religious minorities in Iran, www.MarzisJourney.com.
Marzi also is the founder and president of NEW PERSIA whose mission is to be the voice of persecuted Christians and oppressed women under Islam, expose the lies of the Iranian Islamic regime, and restore the relationships between Persians, Jews, and Christians. www.NewPersia.org.

SACRED GROUND, SACRED SAFETY – HOLY SEPHULCHRE NEEDS A SHELTER NOW

The Church should be a protected sanctuary rather than a site for political standoffs- sanctity of life over frictions of the past.

By David Nekrutman and Jonathan Feldstein

The images from last month’s Iranian missile barrage remain seared into our collective memory, specifically the sight of ballistic streaks over Jerusalem’s Old City. Amidst this high-stakes war, a localized controversy erupted that touched the very heart of the faith communities with whom we spend our time building bridges. During Holy Week, Israeli police barred Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for a private, livestreamed Palm Sunday service.

**Cardinal Issue**. Need to provide a bomb shelter following the issue with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem who is seen here holding a prayer service to mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, March 29, 2026. (Photo: Ammar Awad/Pool Photo via AP)

Predictably, the incident became a Rorschach test for the region’s geopolitics. Critics of Israel seized upon it as evidence of anti-Christian bias, while defenders pointed to the genuine threat of falling shrapnel, noting that religious gatherings for Jews and Muslims were also restricted. The fallout was significant enough that Israeli government leaders, including the Prime Minister himself, condemned the police decision and intervened to ensure a solution was found for future services.

**Targeting Jerusalem**. Israel intercepts an Iranian missile above Jerusalem’s Old City on March 1, 2026. (Photo: AP/Mahmoud Illean)

While high-level political fixes can salvage a holiday, they do not address the underlying infrastructure failure. As leaders of The Isaiah Projects and the Genesis 123 Foundation, we believe the time has come to ask a glaring, practical question:

Why does one of the most significant religious sites on Earth, in a place that has been targeted by terrorist missiles, lack a bomb shelter?

STREAMLINING SECURITY FOR THE CLERGY

The absence of a shelter doesn’t just impact pilgrims; it hamstrings the ability of Israel’s Home Front Command to make nuanced security calls. When the sirens wail and the threat level is raised, as we experienced during last month’s state of war, the military’s default position must be the total shutdown of unprotected spaces.

**Under Fire**. Smoke in the Old City shows where fragments from an Iranian missile fell near the holy sites of all the three major religions. (Photo: IDF)

If the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had an on-site shelter, the logistical calculus would change overnight. It would provide the Home Front Command with the safety “cushion” needed to allow the Cardinal and his clergy into the building even during high-alert periods. While a shelter might not allow for full congregational attendance, it would alleviate some of the safety concerns that currently lead to total bans on public holy sites. A shelter turns a high-risk security gamble into a manageable situation, ensuring the liturgy does not have to go dark while protecting lives — a value central to both Judaism and Christianity.

A COALTION OF WILLING NEIGHBORS

Recognizing this gap between spiritual necessity and physical safety, our organizations have publicly offered to donate and install a bomb shelter within or adjacent to the church premises. We would be working in tandem with Operation Lifeshield, an Israeli organization with decades of specialized experience installing shelters for both Jewish and non-Jewish communities across Israel.

To date, however, the Church has yet to accept our offer. We understand the complexity of the “Status Quo” — the centuries-old web of agreements between different denominations that govern the Holy Sites. Historically, even moving a ladder can trigger an internal Christian crisis. Yet, as the region prepares for a potential “Phase 3” escalation with Iran and the lack of a long-term solution becomes glaring, the absence of modern safety infrastructure is a liability that prayer alone may not solve.

BEYOND THE STATUS QUO

The threats last month in Jerusalem and across Israel were real. While any physical change requires a delicate consensus among the various Christian denominations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, “bureaucracy as usual” is a luxury we can no longer afford when the stakes are human lives.

**Nowhere is Safe**. Following an Iranian missile exploding over Jerusalem’s Old City, its fragments fell on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Armenian Patriarchate, the Jewish Quarter and on the Temple Mount near the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Iranian regime is firing missiles toward Jerusalem’s holy sites, endangering Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike. Israel, meanwhile, acts to protect worshippers of all faiths in its capital city.

Moving beyond these administrative hurdles would signal a profound shift in interfaith relations, especially as an initiative of two Jewish-led organizations supported by both Jews and Christians. We are currently sixty years post-Nostra Aetate, the landmark declaration that reshaped the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people. We speak often of “rapprochement”, but it is often confined to high-level summits and theological papers.

We believe a bomb shelter for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, facilitated by Jewish neighbors with a proven track record of protecting all citizens, would be the ultimate modern manifestation of that vision. It would be a tangible, “concrete” sign of a brotherhood that prioritizes the sanctity of life over the friction of the past.

**Holy Sepulchre in the ‘Cross’hairs**. Missile debris from an Iranian attack landed just feet from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem – one of the most sacred sites in Christianity, believed to be the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.

LOOKING AHEAD TO PHASE III

As tensions with Iran threaten to escalate into a “Phase III” conflict, the issue of shutdowns in public and even sacred spaces will only intensify. Israel has recently appointed a new Christian envoy; while he is still getting his feet wet in this complex space, he cannot carry the burden of the Church’s safety alone.

The Church leadership must step up. It is easy to blame security forces for restrictions, but it is much harder to justify the lack of basic safety infrastructure in a high-profile target area frequently caught in the crosshairs of regional conflict.

Our offer stands. We are ready to work with the Church to navigate the technical and diplomatic hurdles. Accepting this shelter would ensure that when the next barrage of missiles from Iran, Hezbollah, or the Houthis comes, the Church remains a protected sanctuary rather than a site for political standoffs. Let us work together to ensure that the prayers at the Holy Sepulchre never have to be silenced by the sound of sirens.

To learn more about this initiative, please visit Shelters for Christian Holy Sites.

About the writers:

David Nekrutman is the Executive Director of The Isaiah Projects.

Jonathan Feldstein is the President of the Genesis 123 Foundation.

THE TALMUD OF THE SURVIVORS

“Where was God during the Shoah ?’’ asked soul-searching survivors in DP camps. Three rabbis came together to provide some answers.

By Michel Levine

At the end of the Second World War, the defeat of Nazism was celebrated worldwide with outpourings of joy. At the same time, thousands of Jewish survivors of the Nazi camps were being gathered in Germany, Austria, and Italy in temporary structures known as “Displaced Persons” camps (DP camps). Their material situation there was deeply precarious, as evidenced by the letter that American President Harry Truman sent to General Dwight Eisenhower on August 31, 1945, addressing more specifically the DP camps located in the American occupation zone in Germany. The President expressed outrage at the deplorable living conditions of the Jewish residents — some of whom were even housed in the very places where they had suffered persecution, such as Bergen-Belsen.

While their material situation in these camps gradually improved, many suffered from isolation, a lack of any vision for their future, and ignorance of the fate of their loved ones. They were also burdened by the feeling that their own survival constituted an injustice toward the companions who had died at their side. The belief that God had abandoned them — which had tormented them during their detention — remained powerful. Some asked themselves:

What had God done throughout all these trials? Why had He remained so silent, so distant? And, more desperately: how could one still believe in His existence?

Confronted with this distress, three rabbis began to consider how they might help these troubled souls. Who were these three men of faith? Two were Lithuanian: the first, Samuel Abba Snieg, Chief Rabbi of the American occupation zone, had served as a chaplain during the war. His wife had died at Dachau, where he himself had also been deported.

Appointed by President Truman to work with U.S. Army commanders in post-war Europe to alleviate the conditions of Holocaust survivors, American Reform rabbi Philip Sidney Bernstein played a major role in the “Survivors’Talmud” project leading to its printing in Germany, the very country who had only a few years earlier burned all books relating to Jews.

The second, Samuel Jakob Rose, likewise a survivor of Dachau, held the delicate position of mediator between the Jewish populations of the DP camps and the American administrative authorities. Both men had persuaded a third, an American — Philip Sidney Bernstein — to join their project. This Reform rabbi of the American zone served as adviser to the Military Governor (Militar Gouverneur). During the war, he had overseen the activities of some 300 of his colleagues embedded within the armed forces. The guiding idea behind the three rabbis’ initiative was to invoke emunah — a Hebrew term expressing deep and living trust in God. It is less an abstract or dogmatic assertion than an inner conviction that guides the actions of daily life. And the best means of strengthening Jewish consciences was to reinforce their faith by offering them the reading of holy books (seforim).

Rabbi Samuel Jakob Rose, a survivor of Dachau, examines the galleys of the first postwar edition of the Talmud to be printed in Germany in 1947. (Courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum via the National Archives and Records Administration),

But where were such books to be found?

Hundreds of thousands had been dispersed, destroyed, or burned. Contact was made with two organizations active in the camps: the JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee), which, in addition to organizing the distribution of food and medicine, was contributing to the creation of Jewish schools; and the Vaad Hatzalah, an Orthodox organization founded in 1939 to assist rabbis and yeshiva students from Poland and Lithuania. One of its innovations had been the creation of “traveling synagogues” circulating through the displaced persons camps. Both organizations were already printing a modest number of prayer books, and their experience would prove valuable. During their meetings, the question arose:

Which work should be printed?

The answer came to them almost immediately: the Talmud.

Jewish displaced persons (DPs) put up signs demanding open immigration into Palestine in a DP camp in Germany after 1945.

Much as the Shoah represented a catastrophe of historic proportions, the Talmud — literally “study” or “learning” in Hebrew — was itself born of a catastrophe: the destruction by the Romans of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, marking the beginning of nineteen centuries of diaspora. The rabbinic authorities of the time decided, in the interest of the survival of their faith, to commit to writing the various laws and precepts that governed it, which had until then been transmitted orally. Thus, was constituted a “portable temple” in the form of a book, enabling the Jewish people — despite their dispersion and wherever they might find themselves — to continue living according to their religion.

The first complete edition of the Talmud was produced in Venice between 1519 and 1523 by the Antwerp printer Daniel Bomberg. It comprised 63 tractates across 2,711 double-sided folios, and was subsequently enriched by the Vilna edition (1880–1886), which established a universal standard.

Under Nazi rule, possession of such books was forbidden in Germany and in the occupied countries. They fed the bonfires, alongside the works of great thinkers deemed contrary to the dominant ideology — whether or not their authors were Jewish.

But where was a copy of the Vilna edition to be found that could serve as a model? After considerable searching, word came of two volumes printed in that city in the nineteenth century, said to have been hidden in 1945 in the Benedictine monastery of Sankt Ottilien, southwest of Munich. Upon investigation, it emerged that these two copies were now… in New York. Not without difficulty, they were eventually brought back to Germany. The work could now begin.

Paper had first to be found — vast quantities of paper — at a time when this commodity was rationed across Europe and in extremely high demand, particularly by governments seeking to resume the production of schoolbooks to replace those the Nazis had imposed. Special attention had to be paid to the quality of the paper that could be obtained, in order to ensure the quality of the printing. There was also a shortage of the materials required for printing — inks, and especially collodion. The latter was indispensable for the transfer of images onto zinc photographic plates, of which 1,800 were needed for each complete volume. Banned during the war, collodion was available only in the city of Zwickau, in the Soviet occupation zone. Since the Cold War had already begun, Zwickau refused all assistance, and the precious substance ultimately had to be ordered from the United States. At the same time, finding a printing house in Germany proved arduous. Those that had survived the bombing raids were few, closely monitored, and already prioritized — they too — for administrative and educational needs. Eventually, the American military authorities authorized access to a printing establishment — one of the rare facilities, complicating matters further, capable of producing large-format works. There was a certain irony in the outcome: this firm was located in Heidelberg, cradle of German culture but also a cultural stronghold of Nazism. As for the printing itself, it proved far from straightforward. Nearly one million Hebrew characters were required, obliging the typesetters — some of whom had worked on the production of antisemitic books — to undertake extensive searches for surviving old matrices, and in some cases to fabricate new ones. They also had to respect the distinctive layout of the Talmud — a central text surrounded by commentaries. Pagination, justification, spacing, and notes each presented their own set of problems.

At the bottom of the page is a depiction of a Nazi slave labor camp flanked by barbed wire; above are the palm trees and the landscape of the Holy Land. The legend reads: “From bondage to freedom; from deep darkness to a great light” (Hebraic Section, Library of Congress Photo).

The work was carried out under the watchful eye of a rabbinical committee. During the proofreading of the galley proofs, numerous errors were corrected; those that remained would be eliminated in subsequent editions. As for the photogravure reproduction, it too proceeded with difficulty, not least on account of the incessant power cuts. Approximately 500 complete folio sets, each comprising 19 volumes, eventually came off the presses.

This Talmud would henceforth bear the Hebrew name Talmud She’erit ha-Pletah, which might be translated as the “Talmud of the Survivors.” The cover page of each volume depicts a Nazi labor camp surrounded by barbed wire alongside an idyllic Mediterranean landscape evoking the Land of Israel. A few words in Hebrew give meaning to these images: “From slavery to freedom, from darkness to a great light.” The Joint Distribution Committee, bringing together the various organizations that had participated in the endeavor, decided — with the agreement of the German government — to allocate 40 copies to German Jewish libraries and institutions, and to send the remainder to those throughout the world, including in Mandatory Palestine. Paradoxically, those for whom it had originally been intended numbered no more than 10,000 to 15,000 by 1950, as the displaced persons camps had gradually emptied.

The “Survivors’ Talmud” (or U.S. Army Talmud) is a 19-volume edition of the Babylonian Talmud published in Germany (1946–1949) for Holocaust survivors in displaced person (DP) camps. Initiated by survivor rabbis and funded by the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), it was printed in Bavaria on presses that formerly produced Nazi propaganda, symbolizing the triumph of Jewish resilience.

Today, the standard reference Talmud (nussach, or authoritative text) remains the Vilna edition of the nineteenth century. It is readily accessible to all, benefiting from the contributions of scholarly research and the most modern techniques, including digital technology. The “Talmud of the Survivors,” by contrast, is now found only in a handful of museums and private collections. And yet the memory of the work accomplished remains vivid. This transmission of knowledge embodies the resilience of the “People of the Book” in the face of the Shoah, and stands as a testament to its rebirth from the very ruins of its suffering.

A DP camp in Vienna with survivors from across Eastern Europe.

About the writer:

Michel Levine is a historian of Human Rights and the author of a work dedicated to the major cases of the League of Human Rights (Unclassified Cases. Unpublished Archives of the League of Human Rights, Paris, Fayard, 1973).
Further publications include a historical investigation on the repression of Algerian demonstrations in Paris in October 1961 (The October Ratonnades. A Collective Murder in Paris in 1961, Paris, Ramsay, 1985; reissue Jean- Claude Gawsewitch Publisher, 2001.)

THE CONTEXT BEHIND THE CARDINAL DENIED ENTRY TO JERUSALEM’S HOLY SEPULCHRE

Sometimes missile attacks from Iran can not only shatter buildings and lives, but even a status quo.

By Jonathan Feldstein

As soon as I read reports of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa being prevented from entering Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre my heart sank.

My immediate reaction was affirming something I have long believed and articulated frequently: that the State of Israel has a unique responsibility and obligation to protect Christian holy sites and ensure freedom of worship for Christians throughout Israel.

**Cardinal Error**. Ignoring the security situation in a time of war with missiles raining over Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa quickly jumped to characterize a life-saving restriction as an “extreme departure … of reasonableness” and “freedom of worship.”

My second reaction was dismay in knowing that whatever transpired and why, Israeli officials probably could and should have done better. Both because we have that obligation, but also because it could have prevented the inevitable bad PR. Yes, we’re at war and things slip through the cracks, but still.

Third was seeing the reflexive negative and even antisemitic reactions from across the world, some that added fuel to the fire of repeated (and false) accusations that Israel discriminates against Christians, and some that were simply another excuse to find fault with the current government and Prime Minister.

Make no mistake, Israel can and should have done better. But through this mistake, lessons have been learned and will hopefully prevent future such mistakes. As of writing this, an agreement for which has been reached between the parties.

As I am writing on the anniversary of the murder of the Christian Israeli Arab policeman Amir Khoury who is still celebrated as an Israeli hero, I know that while a small minority, Christians in Israel are not only not discriminated against but are the only community of Christians in the Middle East whose population is growing steadily, and can worship and live freely without fear of persecution.

In case you didn’t hear, on Palm Sunday, March 29, Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pizzaballa, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass. The negative international response was immediate and widespread. Church authorities described it as the first such denial of the senior Catholic leader in Jerusalem from entering the site on the day commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

Initial reports were only of his refused entry, without any context. But context matters, and subsequent reports shed light on this. The incident occurred amid heightened security restrictions related to Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, and subsequent Iranian missile attacks across Israel and on Jerusalem specifically. These measures include strict limits on public gatherings across the Old City, affecting Christian Holy Week observances, as well as Jewish Passover and Islamic Ramadan celebrations.

Missile Fragments Rain Down Near Jerusalem’s Holiest Sites

Israel’s Home Front Command imposed sweeping rules: gatherings limited to 50 people in locations with adequate bomb shelter access. Jerusalem’s Old City’s narrow streets further complicate emergency vehicle access in the event of a mass-casualty event. It’s important to note that since the 1990s, when bomb shelters became mandatory in new construction, the Christian denominations that control the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and cannot agree who has the authority to move a ladder in a window for centuries, could not come together to create a safe room in the holy site to protect against modern threats. A bomb shelter could have precluded this conflict.

**Ladder of Revelations**. It is revealing that while bomb shelters are mandatory in all new construction in Israel, the Christian denominations that control the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and cannot agree who has the authority to move a ladder in a window that has been here for centuries (see above), are as well unable to collectively agree to create a safe room to protect against modern threats. Instead, blame Israel! (Photo: Wikipedia)

Security precautions limit the number of people who can assemble for public gatherings including Passover prayers. Israeli Jews are being told to limit the number of guests at their Passover Seders to safely correspond with enough places in their bomb shelters. The traditional Festival “Birkat Kohanim”, (Priestly Blessing) has also been restricted from what can draw thousands.

**Hardly Enlightening**. Light may well shine over the Edicule, traditionally believed to be the burial site of Jesus Christ at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, however very little media ‘light’ was shone by the international press on the true nature of the incident, playing down the dangers from incoming Iranian missiles. (Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP / Getty)

The context is even broader. Since February 28, Israeli authorities closed major holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City — including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound — for security reasons. Iranian missiles had targeted the area, with shrapnel striking near the Holy Sepulchre in one incident, and near the Al Aksa Mosque in another.

Just as many Jewish events have been canceled, the traditional public Palm Sunday procession was canceled. Other events have been shifted to private or virtual formats for Easter. Despite reported prior coordination, police reconsidered and halted the Cardinal’s group en route under the prevailing security guidelines. The Patriarchate issued a statement describing this as “manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate.” Cardinal Pizzaballa later led an alternative prayer service at the Church of Gethsemane, outside the Old City.

**Unholy Alliance**. One of the holiest sites in Christianity, the Holy Sepulchre does not have a bomb shelter/ safe room due to internal disagreements within the church management that might have prevented the restriction. This however was not disclosed by the international media who was more inclined to find reasons to besmirch Israel.

Israeli authorities defended the decision on safety grounds. Police cited the Old City’s vulnerability to mass-casualty incidents. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office stated there was “no malicious intent whatsoever, only concern for his safety and that of his party.” It acknowledged the symbolic importance of Holy Week and announced that security agencies were developing a plan to be announced imminently to allow church leaders limited worship access.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog not only commented publicly but called the Cardinal privately. “The incident stemmed from security concerns due to the continuous threat of missile attacks from the Iranian terror regime against the civilian population in Israel, following previous incidents in which Iranian missiles fell in the area of the Old City of Jerusalem in recent days.” He called Pizzaballa to “express my great sorrow over this unfortunate incident in the Old City of Jerusalem,” and “reaffirmed the State of Israel’s unwavering commitment to freedom of religion for all faiths and to upholding the status quo at the holy sites of Jerusalem.”

Later Cardinal Pizzaballa sounded a conciliatory tone, noting:

“There were no clashes, everything was done in a very polite manner… we want to use this situation to clarify better in the coming days what to do in respect for everyone’s safety but also in respect for the right to prayer.”

**Church in the ‘Cross’hairs**. Firing missiles toward Jerusalem shows a dangerous disregard for the sanctity of holy sites and the people who gather there to pray as evident here (see above) when missile debris from an Iranian attack landed just feet from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (Photo: Israel police)

Before any context and clarifications, the damage was done. Swift international condemnation followed. The Vatican, Catholic leaders worldwide, and European governments voiced concern, even condemnation. Arab officials predictably decried it as further encroachment on “Christian rights in occupied East Jerusalem.” Critics argued that while security is paramount, the blanket application of rules to a handful of senior clergy undermine the delicate status quo governing Jerusalem’s holy sites, shared among Christian denominations and long protected under international norms.

This incident was placed under the microscope of those who claim that Christians and Christian rights are under attack, but without the broader context and reality of the war and necessary security precautions. The Palm Sunday incident highlighted how even minimal, pre-approved religious observance can clash with emergency protocols amid active missile threats from Iran. Unfortunately, sometimes missile attacks from Iran can not only shatter buildings and lives, but even a status quo.

An agreement for the remainder of Holy Week, learning from this incident and potentially easing access for clergy while maintaining crowd limits is imminent. The problem, as this incident showed, is that if God forbid there were to be a security incident and mass casualty event at one of the Christian sites, Israel would be blamed by the same people who are now criticizing it for maintaining these security precautions to begin with.

That’s just some of the context with Passover and Easter around the corner. Hopefully when the war is behind us and things get “normal” again, protocol can be developed to prevent any similar future conflicts.

About the writer:

Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Journal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.

*Donations to provide bomb shelters in Jerusalem’s Christian Quarter and other sites can be made here.

LONDON’S DIRTY SECRET: HOW STOLEN REGIME FUNDS FLOW THROUGH THE UK

Britain cannot claim to confront the Iranian regime while simultaneously serving as a repository for its money.

By Emily Schrader

The United Kingdom likes to pretend it is still a defender of democracy and a leader in confronting authoritarian regimes. Yet when it comes to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Britain’s policies reveal a far more uncomfortable reality.

Despite years of warnings from security officials and lawmakers, the UK government has still failed to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, even after the European Union has done so. There are a litany of excuses offered as to why, but one possible factor is increasingly difficult to ignore: Islamic regime-linked wealth has become deeply embedded inside the British financial and property system.

Recent reporting illustrates just how extensive these connections may be. Investigations into the financial network surrounding the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have linked him to a series of luxury properties in London. Property records indicate that two high-end apartments in Kensington were purchased in 2014 and 2016 for roughly £50 million. The apartments are located just meters from the Israeli Embassy. The properties were reportedly registered through companies tied to Iranian businessman Ali Ansari, a longtime associate of regime elites who has since been sanctioned by the British government for his alleged role in helping finance activities linked to the IRGC.

**Too Close for Comfort**. Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei (left) reportedly owns two London apartments on same street as the Israeli embassy (right). Only 50 yards away, it enables easy surveillance, constituting a ‘serious security breach’.

Further reporting suggests these apartments may represent only a fraction of the assets connected to that network. Investigations have identified a broader web of London properties linked through intermediaries and shell companies, including homes on Hampstead’s Bishops Avenue, often called Billionaires’ Row. The combined value of these properties has been estimated in the hundreds of millions.

At the center of this network is Ali Ansari, an Iranian banker and businessman who built a vast property empire across some of London’s most expensive neighborhoods. Yet by the time sanctions were imposed, many of the assets connected to his business network had already been absorbed into the British property market through offshore companies and complex ownership structures – something which works to the benefit of nefarious actors like the Supreme Leader.

The financial power surrounding the Supreme Leader’s office is enormous. A 2013 Reuters investigation estimated that Setad, the conglomerate controlled by the Supreme Leader and formally known as the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, oversees assets worth roughly $95 billion across industries including telecommunications, banking, pharmaceuticals, real estate, and energy holdings. Setad was originally created after the 1979 revolution to manage properties confiscated from Iranians who fled the country, including businesses and land seized from political opponents and religious minorities. Over time it evolved into a vast corporate empire operating largely outside public oversight and answering directly to the Supreme Leader’s office.

**Tentacles of Terror**. Iran’s new Supreme Leader’s London properties were reportedly registered through companies tied to Iranian businessman Ali Ansari (above) who has been sanctioned by the British government for his alleged role in helping finance activities linked to the IRGC.

Setad is only one component of the broader economic structure controlled by Iran’s ruling elite. Religious foundations known as bonyads, which also report directly to the Supreme Leader, control an estimated 10 to 20 percent of Iran’s economy. These organizations operate with minimal transparency and enjoy sweeping tax exemptions while managing massive portfolios of real estate, industrial assets, and financial investments.

Analysts have long viewed Mojtaba Khamenei as a key figure inside this financial and political network. For years he has been widely described by Iran experts as a power broker within the Supreme Leader’s office who maintains close ties with senior commanders of the IRGC. Together, the economic empires of Setad, the Bonyads, and IRGC-linked business networks control significant portions of Iran’s economy, creating a system where political authority and economic wealth are tightly intertwined.

The IRGC itself operates one of the largest economic empires in the Middle East. Analysts estimate that companies connected to the IRGC control between 20 and 40 percent of Iran’s economy, with holdings in construction, telecommunications, banking, energy, transportation, and shipping. The Guard’s massive engineering conglomerate, Khatam al Anbiya, has secured billions of dollars in infrastructure and energy contracts across the country. Because many of these businesses operate through private companies, front organizations, and intermediaries, the financial networks tied to the regime frequently extend far beyond Iran’s borders.

This financial ecosystem intersects with another vulnerability inside the British system. London’s real estate market has become one of the world’s most attractive destinations for opaque foreign capital. Transparency advocates have warned for years that Britain’s property sector functions as a global laundromat for politically exposed wealth. According to Transparency International, more than £5.6 billion in suspicious funds has been invested in UK property linked to corruption or politically exposed individuals.

A major reason for this vulnerability is the widespread use of offshore ownership structures. Prior to recent transparency reforms, roughly 90 percent of foreign-owned property in London was held through offshore shell companies registered in secrecy jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands or Panama. Even today, more than 90,000 properties across the United Kingdom remain owned through offshore entities, often making it extremely difficult to identify the ultimate beneficial owner. These structures have allowed politically connected elites from around the world, including figures linked to sanctioned regimes, to quietly park wealth in Britain’s property market.

Members of the Islamic Republic’s ruling families have also established personal and professional footholds in the United Kingdom. Hadi Larijani, the son of senior Iranian regime official Mohammad Javad Larijani, works as a professor at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. Another Larijani family member, Zeinab Ardeshir Larijani, is listed in UK corporate filings as a director of British companies. The Larijani family is one of the most powerful political dynasties in the Islamic Republic. Several brothers have held top positions in the regime including speaker of parliament, head of the judiciary, and senior adviser roles to the Supreme Leader.

The contradiction is striking. While the Iranian regime arrests protesters, suppresses women’s rights, and funds militant proxies across the Middle East, relatives of senior officials appear able to live, work, and conduct business in Western countries including Britain.

This reality raises an uncomfortable question. If the UK government were to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization and aggressively dismantle the financial networks tied to the regime, what else, and who else, might be exposed inside Britain’s own economy?

For years, London has benefited from its role as a global financial hub. But that openness has also created vulnerabilities. The same system that attracts legitimate international investment has also provided opportunities for authoritarian elites to shield their wealth abroad.

Britain cannot claim to confront the Iranian regime while simultaneously serving as a repository for its money. If the UK is serious about countering Tehran’s destabilizing activities, it must begin by addressing the regime-linked financial networks operating within its own borders.

Until that happens, the message from London will remain painfully clear:

The Islamic Republic may be condemned in speeches and sanctions lists… but its money is still welcome.

About the writer:

Emily Schrader is an American-Israeli journalist, human rights activist, and the founder of the Iran Israel Alliance. She is an an anchor at ILTV News, and the host of Axis of Truth on JNS. Emily also is a cofounder of the Cyrus Strategic Fund, and she sits on the executive board of the Institute for Voices of Liberty, a think tank focused on European and American Iran policy, and has advised lawmakers across North America and Europe on Iran policy. In 2025, she released her first book, 10 Things Every Jew Should Know Before They Go To College and has lectured all over the world on the topic of rising antisemitism. Emily is the winner of the 2023 Nefesh b’Nefesh Bonei Zion award for outstanding immigrants to Israel, and in 2025, she was given the Women of Iron award by Chochmat Nashim for her dedication to women’s rights.

IRANIAN WOMEN’S COURAGE MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Being a woman in Iran means enduring barbaric inhuman behavior in every facet of life.

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

While we celebrated the International Women day on March 8^th, we must remember the many brave Iranian women who have endured decades of hardships under the harsh rules of Islam, imposed on them by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Today we are seeing the fruits of their struggles and suffering, praying that by the time you read this the Islamic Republic will have fallen – but the job is not done, and their suffering has not ended.

Under Islamic rules, Iranian women have been subjugated and suppressed for more than 47 years since the satanic Ayatollah Khomeini took power in Iran. Iranian women lost all their rights after the revolution in 1979. The regime started suppressing women systematically and publicly through many misogynist laws making women and women’s rights only half of that of men. The humiliation of women under the Islamic Republic runs deep in the regime’s DNA:

– Women are forced to wear a hijab from the age of seven.

– Iranian women cannot sing or dance in public, or have custody of their children after getting divorced.

– Women cannot travel or obtain a passport without the permission of their fathers or their husbands.

– Women cannot get government jobs or hold other important positions.

Under rulings of the Islamic regime, women are treated like property of men. Their testimony in court is equal half of that of men because under Islam, a woman’s brain is considered half of that of men. Women’s inheritance is half of men. However, under these same Islamic rules, girls as young as nine are mature enough to be married to old men because their prophet Mohammed married his wife, Aishia, at the age of seven.

**Murdered by the State**. Demonstrators protest in September 2024 in New York outside United Nations headquarters against the Iranian government behind placards featuring the faces of women who have been executed in Iran. (Photo: AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Many Iranian girls and women have been murdered by their fathers, brothers, or husbands in what they call “honor killings” for which the men face no severe consequences because under Islamic rules there is no capital punishment against a male who kills their female relative for the purpose of their honor. One of my personal examples is most telling. After I talked to my brother about my conversion to Christianity, he talked to a mullah about his confusion between Islam and Christianity and mentioned my conversion to Christianity. The mullah told my brother to kill me, and he promised him there will be no punishment for him under the law of “honor killing.” There are countless other examples.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranian women have been arrested in the streets, beaten up in public by “morality police”, and humiliated only because of not having a proper Islamic hijab. One prominent example is Mahsa Amini who was murdered in 2022 for allowing her hair to show. She was beaten mercilessly after her arrest, went into a coma, and died at the hands of her torturers.

**Fighting Back**. An Iranian woman protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the morality police in Tehran in September 2022 for improperly wearing a hijab. Her death ignited protests that exposed the regime’s use of sexual violence as a weapon of repression. (Photo: obtained by AP)

The Islamic regime also deliberately disfigures the face of many Iranian women by throwing acid at them, or shooting them, for disobeying the Islamic rules and not following the “proper” Islamic dress code. We have seen that abundantly during the recent protests across Iran.

Many Iranian women were raped in prison and were subject of sexual abuse by prison authorities. I personally witnessed this kind of abuse during my imprisonment at Evin prison in 2009 where I was sentenced to death by hanging just for being a Christian. One of my cellmates who got a job at the prison clinic, found the real job was to go there every day and to give sexual pleasure to prison authorities and government officials. They threatened her if she refused, they would kill her. I went through many psychological pressures and hardships to deny my faith in Jesus. I witnessed the execution of my best friend, Shirin Alamhooli, and many of my cellmates. I heard many stories of rape and sexual abuse from my cellmates who did not have any voices. I witnessed the torture and humiliation of women regularly.

**Beauties and the Beasts**. Former Iranian prisoners, the writer, (left), and Maryam Rostampour (right) were sentenced to death in 2009 for spreading the message of Christianity but were finally released following intense international pressure. Many of their friends and cellmates were executed.

One of the most obscene ways in which women are subjugated, there is a perversion under the Islamic rules it is not legitimate to execute a virgin. So according to a fatwa (religious command) by Ayatollah Khomeini, virgins must be raped before their execution. Under the Islamic rules, raping virgins before their execution prevents them from entering heaven. This law is just an excuse and a reward to prison authorities for having sexual pleasure with innocent women before executing them. Under Islamic rules women have zero value.

**Behind Bars for Beliefs**. Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison where peaceful activists, journalists, intellectuals, human rights lawyers and Christians like the writer were imprisoned, tortured, sexually abused and many executed.

When I think about International Women’s Day, it reminds me of the suffering of millions of Iranian women like me. It makes me sad because it reminds me how much I was disrespected and humiliated in my birth country. It reminds me how much Iranian women are insulted, disrespected, and have suffered. It reminds me many horrible memories of being insulted and punished in school, and even at home by my brothers who were brainwashed by the Islamic regime to see me and all women as inferior. It reminds me of the gross harassment by men who would look at me as a whore and the challenges I faced because I lived independently without being under a control of a man. It reminds me that I lived 30 years in Iran, but I never had a chance to travel around my beautiful country because hotels would not permit women to book a room alone.

**War on Women**. Iranian women prisoners sit at their cell in Tehran’s Evin prison. While allegations of sexual abuse and rape against Iran prison officials have been made by former female political prisoners, information about the alleged number of rapes committed by IRGC officials in Iran’s prisons remains unclear.

It reminds me of the terrible stories of my students who must accept the sick sexual advances and extortion by judges to be able to receive a divorce from their abusive husbands. I experienced that too. Under Islam, if women are abused or beaten by their husbands, there are no laws to defend them. There is a verse in the Koran (Al Nisa surah) that actually gives permission for men to beat their wives.

Despite all these misogynist Islamic laws, millions of Iranian women bravely fought against these harsh rules and did not submit. Many of them never gave up and tried to stand for their rights at any cost, even losing their lives.

This year alone, the Islamic regime killed over 32,000 protesters in just two days in January. The regime intentionally targeted young women and men who were beautiful and athletic to punish the families. They believe if you target the children, you have killed the parents as well – ensuring they will not stand up against the regime in the future.

We should not forget that the brave mothers of all these young children who were killed by the regime who have turned their mourning to another form of defiance against the regime. Instead of crying, many mothers displayed their defiance by dancing in the funeral of their children. It is unbelievable where they found the courage to turn their sorrow and mourning to dance, to tell the Islamic regime that even the death of their children cannot stop them fighting for their rights and freedom.

Brave Iranian Women Who Turned Their Mourning to Defiance (Dance) Against the Islamic Regime, 2026!
Under Islamic rules, women are not allowed to sing and dance in public, but brave Iranian women are singing and dancing for their loved ones who were massacred in the nationwide uprising in January 2026. There are no more Islamic rituals or citation of Koran verses. This is another form of revolution against 47 years of indoctrination with Islamic laws

While dancing and singing in public is forbidden for Iranian women, the mothers and sisters of those who were murdered by the regime held back their tears and began to dance and sing loudly in public to show defiance. They stand as a symbol of courage for all women around the world.

Being a woman in Iran means enduring barbaric inhuman behavior in every facet of life. It means having remarkable strength, being made of steel, to survive all those brutalities one faces daily.

It is a shame that instead of making the Islamic regime accountable for what they do to Iranian women, the United Nations rewards them by giving them a seat to monitor women’s rights around the world. This is an obscene joke, and another type of insult against Iranian women by the clowns and buffoons at the UN to close their eyes to the misogyny and brutalities against Iranian women.

**Defiance**. Despite the threat of arrest and execution, an Iranian woman without a mandatory Islamic headscarf flashes a victory sign as two veiled women walk by at a market in Tehran in June 2024. (Photo: AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

On International Women’s Day, we must remember brave Iranian women who have no rights and have been targets of discrimination and abuse for so many years. We must remember the high price that they are paying every day just to survive. We must remember many Iranian women who have no voice and their lives have been ruined by the Islamic regime. We must remember hundreds of thousands of mothers who are mourning for their children in hiding, while dancing in public to undermine and humiliate all the Islamic laws against them and say “No” to five decades of indoctrination.

My heart pains me this International Women’s Day when I think about all the atrocities Iranian women have suffered and are suffering still. My heart pains me when I remember, like millions of Iranian women, how much I was insulted, disrespected, and ignored just because of being born as a woman in Iran under the Islamic Republic government. I cannot hold back my tears for Iranian women who are still living under this tyranny and suppressions and are paying the price with their lives.

**Reign of Terror**. Activists in red ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ robes hold placards with portraits of women who were killed in Iran during an International Women’s Day demonstration in London in March 2023. (Photo: AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

I salute Iranian women on this day for being the true symbol of courageous resistance and dignity under the most barbaric Islamic rules imposed on them every day. I pray that they will have their relief, their rights, and freedom soon. It cannot come soon enough.

This International Woman’s Day we must not forget. We must be the voices of and bear witness for Iranian women. We must pray that by this time next year, Iran, and Iranian women, will be free.

About the writer:

WHY THE WAR AGAINST IRAN IS NOT ONLY RIGHT BUT ESSENTIAL

Since its inception, the Islamic Republic has been deceiving and lying to the West as its centrifuges churned away enriching uranium to a level only required for a weapons program.

By Marziyeh Amirizadeh

Just a few months after I was born in Iran, the Islamic (Demonic) Revolution took place, hijacking the country of my birth and, today 90 million Iranians, giving birth to the Islamic Republic. Make no mistake, the Islamic Republic was conceived by evil, born in sin, and against the United States to the core of its DNA. Anyone who thinks that a war against the Islamic Republic and the ayatollahs is wrong, does not know the history and does not understand the dangerous threats that it poses to all Americans.

At its inception, the Islamic Republic never provoked people to chant “All for Allah” or “Sharia Now”. The chants that three generations of Iranians have been brainwashed by are “Death to America”. It’s not just a catchy slogan but the game plan of the Islamists. They mean it. They have demonstrated it in many ways for nearly five decades.

Americans must never forget the hijacking US embassy on November 4, 1979, when 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, 52 of whom were held for more than 400 days until January 20, 1981.

The Islamic Republic is the head of the octopus of a global axis of terror that has been responsible for indoctrinating, funding, and arming countless Islamic terrorists who have the blood of thousands of Americans on their hands.

Extremist Islam is not compatible with American and western Judeo-Christian values and Democracy. They seek not just to live by Sharia law, which is non-Western and anti-democratic, they seek to impose it on others. Islam subjugates women and minorities through intolerant and even evil misogyny that affords women rights with half those of men. As a woman and a Christian, I experienced this in countless ways before and during my arrest and imprisonment because of my faith. Anyone who cherishes democratic values and gives Islamic regimes like Iran a pass, is undermining the very spirit of democratic values.

From the beginning, the Islamic regime has strived for nuclear weapons, deceiving and lying to the West as its centrifuges churned away to enrich uranium at a level that can only be used in a weapons program. A nuclear Iran under the ayatollahs is an existential threat to the US and the world because they will use it.

**Neutralizing Nuclear**. The war waged against Iran today is preventing the far more dangerous war with a nuclear Iran of tomorrow.

A nuclear Iran will also trigger a nuclear arms race in the Arab/Islamic world, none of which can be trusted to have this most dangerous weapon, and each of which would feel the need to have them to defend themselves from Iran. The global nuclear threat to human life, and the world’s environment, would be radical and irreversible.

Indeed, America’s first, second, and third priority should be protecting American lives and interests. Americans need to understand a decisive war on the ayatollahs and IRGC is not optional but essential. Yes, Iranians would be free which is also a good enough reason. But Americans would also be free of this threat that, if they achieve, they will use.

The Islamic regime has not only openly declared its hostility toward the United States and spent years attempting to expand its influence, funding networks and seeking to infiltrate systems that safeguard our democracy. Its reach has extended beyond its borders, even exploiting criminal channels through agents in the US and around the world who have infiltrated themselves into positions of influence in politics, civic roles, media, and more. Eliminating the Islamic regime influence will force its agents out of business. That cannot happen soon enough.

**Buying Time**. Ready to once again lie and deceive, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi smiles while on his way to the first round of talks with the USA in Geneva. Within days, the US called his bluff as war broke out. (Photo:Bild: -/Iranian Foreign Ministry/dpa/sda)

This is not just a geopolitical challenge — it is an ideological one. The danger lies not only in weapons, but in ideas designed to erode values from within. History shows that destructive ideologies, when ignored, spread quietly until they become far more dangerous than any conventional threat, more than missiles or bombs.

If we care about the world our children will inherit, we must take this threat seriously. America is facing an adversary that openly calls for its destruction, and works to influence minds against the very principles that define our nation. To have ignored such a threat would not have made it disappear; it would have allowed it – like a cancer – to grow stronger.

Americans and the West must understand that removing the Islamic regime is not only about saving the Iranian people, but also about protecting the world and the future of their children from a serious threat that is spreading rapidly globally.

The Islamic Republic constantly worked to undermine US National Security interests. They have the blood of thousands of Americans on their hands. They have penetrated the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the United States. They have never stopped trying to achieve nuclear weapons, destabilizing the Middle East and the West. They sell cheap oil to China and drones and weapons to Russia, strengthening American adversaries.

**Death on Display**. May the nightmare soon come to an end like public executions in a bid to intimidate the Iranian people.

This is a historic opportunity to destroy them, and history and our children will not forgive us if we close our eyes to the threats that if not eliminated, future generations will inherit, or become victim to.

We cannot make a deal with an Islamic enemy that seek our destruction. They will lie, employing the Islamic principle of taqiyya, and hide their intentions at every turn, and wait to pounce until a leader of less fortitude is on the other side of the table. Defeating the Islamic Republic today is essential to defend humanity, preserve democracy and freedom for the future.

**Brutal Crackdown**. Iranian authorities responded to anti-government protests with an unprecedented deadly crackdown resulting in mass killings and serious injuries.

About the writer:

COULD WE GO FROM GAZA’S LAST HOSTAGE TO COEXISTENCE?

Tensions between Muslims and Jews has not always defined their relationship. Can shared roots and cultural commonalities provide a favorable way forward?

By Steven Gruzd

(First published in the SAJR)

Now that the body of the last hostage in Gaza has been returned to Israel, there is a deep hope that the Jewish state can move on.
Jewish and Muslim communities around the world estranged because of the Middle East conflict, and especially after the 7 October 2023 terrorist attacks on Israel and ensuing war in Gaza, also need to heal.

Now 14.5 million Israelis and Palestinians must figure out how to live together in the tiny sliver of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The communities in the diaspora must also seek common ground. This is not going to be easy in the current climate of hate and we shouldn’t be naïve, but understanding the long, complex relationship between Judaism and Islam, which began in the 7th century, offers important insights.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are dubbed “Abrahamic” religions, because of the centrality of the biblical ancestor Avraham/Abraham/Ibrahim.

While Jews believe that it was Avraham’s son, Isaac or Yitzchak, that his father was going to sacrifice, the Muslims believe it was his other son, Ishmael (Ismāʿīl). Both fathered great religions. The Tanach – the collection of Jewish texts including the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings – forms an integral part of all three faiths. Many biblical figures, including Noah (Nuh); Moses (Musa); David (Dāwūd); and Jesus (Isa) from the Christian tradition are considered prophets in Islam, superseded in importance by Mohammed, whom Muslims believe received G-d’s final revelation.

Mohammed had many encounters with Jews in his life in the 600s CE – and not always negative ones. From the teachings of the Qu’ran – Islam’s holiest text – and the Hadith, later interpretations of the Qu’ran, emerged the concept of Jews as dhimmi, literally meaning “protected people”. These are non-Muslims living in an Islamic country. They are granted some rights, legal protection, and the ability to practice their religion in exchange for paying a tax called the Jizya. While Jews underwent verbal and physical humiliations when paying the Jizya in Muslim lands, and were certainly second-class citizens, they generally fared better than under oppressive, murderous Christian rule over the centuries.

In the early Middle Ages, Arabic writings and society had marked influence on rabbinic culture, literature, and learning, especially on Jewish poetry and philosophy.

The Convicencia (“coexistence”) refers to the positive relationships between Jews, Christians, and Muslims that emerged after the latter conquered southern Spain in 711 CE from the Christian Visigoths. Life improved considerably for Jews in the area. Jewish figures like Hasdai Ibn Shaprut and Samuel Ibn Nagrela rose to become royal advisers as well as community leaders in Muslim Spain. But life got worse again for Jews when more extremist Muslims from North Africa invaded the Iberian Peninsula, as seen in the writings of the Rambam and Yehuda Halevi.

**Golden Age of Spain**. Hasdai Ibn Shaprut marks the beginning of the florescence of Andalusian Jewish culture and the rise of poetry and of the study of Hebrew grammar among the Spanish Jews. His illustrious carreer included his appointment as physician to the calif ‘ governed by Abd al-Raḥman III.

Jewish life again flourished under the tolerance prevalent in the Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries. Jews and Muslims had lived side by side for hundreds of years. They spoke the same language, dressed the same, and exhibited similar social and political values. But as European influences and colonialism accelerated, bringing new and radical ideas, this distanced Jews and Muslims in the Ottoman Empire. The rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism widened the rift between the two communities. By the 1920s, after the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the growth of Jewish emigration to the British Mandate of Palestine, Arab intellectuals increasingly characterised Zionism as a form of European imperialism. Tensions over competing claims for the Holy Land have infused Muslim-Jewish relations ever since. The communities have nevertheless lived and worked together, often by skirting issues related to politics and the Middle East. The practice of “Don’t mention the war” prevails.

There are many similarities between Judaism and Islam. Both are monotheistic religions believing a single, indivisible G-d. They believe the divine plan was revealed to human beings. Halacha and shari’a govern religious law and practice. Both encourage daily prayer, and follow the lunar calendar. There are fasts and feasts in the annual cycle. The words and concepts of charity – tzedakah and zakat – are similar.

**Jewish Vizier**. Samuel ibn Naghrela, known as Samuel HaNagid, was a remarkable figure in medieval Spain, transcending the constraints of his Jewish heritage to become a prominent statesman and military leader, notably the vizier and military commander under the Berber Zirid dynasty.

And there are concrete examples that offer hope. The common ancestor, Avraham/Ibrahim, has inspired agreements between Israel and Muslim states and an enormous interfaith compound in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Abraham Accords, signed in September 2020, normalised relations between Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE. They later incorporated Morocco, but civil war in Sudan derailed the improvement of its ties with Israel. It is hoped that Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Muslim world will eventually join the Abraham Accords.

**The Future is Ours to See and Ensure** – The signing of the Abrahams Accords at the White House in 2020 between Israel and several Arab nations — namely the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco – aims to foster regional peace, stability, and prosperity by promoting trade, technological cooperation, and interfaith dialogue.

The Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi in the UAE incorporates a mosque, a church, and a synagogue side by side. Opened in February 2023, this magnificent complex aims to promote unity and interfaith dialogue among Muslims, Christians, and Jews. The design reflects architectural elements of each religion, making it a unique symbol of tolerance and coexistence.

**Building Bridges**. Inaugurated in 2023, the **Abrahamic Family House** in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates which houses a mosque, church and a synagogue seeks to represent interfaith co-existence, preserves the unique character of the religions represented and build bridges between human civilization and the Abrahamic messages.

Like human beings sharing 98.8% of their DNA with chimpanzees, there is more that ultimately unites Jews and Muslims. The communities need to recapture the coexistence and tolerance that characterised large swathes of their common history.

And there is no more important time than now.

About the writer:

Steven Gruzd is teaching a 10-week online course titled “The Star and the Crescent: The Long Relationship of Judaism and Islam”.
To register or for more info: lauren@snitcher.org or www.meltoncapetown.org or viv@vivanstey.org (Director).
Also, to learn more, watch this brief video clip about the course: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/n6wi80icc26mv6pytpfh7/Star-Crescent-Steve-Gruzd-Video-Clip-2025.mp4?rlkey=uka6w637d3gkhmskvr7k4cmif&dl=0

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