The Guardian: Ahmadinejad Not Jewish, Family Didn't Convert

Just a couple weeks ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to the podium inside the U.N.'s grand hall and suggested that there was a worldwide Jewish conspiracy.

But a story published Saturday by The Daily Telegraph stood to turn Ahmadinejad's conspiracy theory on its head. According to the newspaper, Ahmadinejad, a practicing Shia Muslim, is descended from Jews and his family converted to Islam, changing their name from Sabourjian to Ahmadinejad.

Just two days later, fellow U.K. daily newspaper The Guardian has published a report refuting the Telegraph's report. According to The Guardian's Meir Javedanfar, Ahmadinejad has no Jewish roots. Ahmadinejad's mother is even thought to be a descendant of the prophet Mohammed.

The Daily Telegraph's Damien McElroy and Ahmad Vahdat based some of their argument on a photograph of Ahmadinejad's identity card, which showed he was previously known as Sabourjian. They wrote that Sabourjian was a "Jewish name meaning cloth weaver."

The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.

The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad's birthplace, and the name derives from "weaver of the Sabour", the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran's Ministry of the Interior.

The Guardian's Meir Javedanfar:

"There is no such meaning for the word 'sabour' in any of the Persian Jewish dialects, nor does it mean Jewish prayer shawl in Persian. Also, the name Sabourjian is not a well-known Jewish name," he stated in a recent interview. In fact, Iranian Jews use the Hebrew word "tzitzit" to describe the Jewish prayer shawl. Yeroshalmi, a scholar at Tel Aviv University's Center for Iranian Studies, also went on to dispute the article's findings that the "-jian" ending to the name specifically showed the family had been practising Jews. "This ending is in no way sufficient to judge whether someone has a Jewish background. Many Muslim surnames have the same ending," he stated.

The story was posted to The Huffington Post on Saturday and received tens of thousands of pageviews. Huffington Post's headline credited the 124-year-old The Daily Telegraph for the report.

Comments

[Sidney harry]

The business about AN's mother being a Sayyeda ... it reminds me of the story of Magic Box in an Idries Shah book whose title I can't recall, where a market trader buys a piece of cloth cheaply from a beduin by knocking it down and saying it was worthless, then moments later he is seen selling it as a priceless work of art. Someone approaches him and says " Merchant! Please put me in your magic box that turns the worthless into the priceless.­''

When this character first appeared the Iranian media told us he was the son of a blacksmith and of humble working class roots. Now they have changed all the detail.
One minute he was a nobody of dubious origins- the next minute, when he has taken political power, he becomes a Sayyed and Royalty.

One thing is certain from Meir Javedanfar's tone that Ahmadinejad is right now Israel's greatest asset. By playing up to the 'Existential Threat'' scenario, he allows Israel to conduct business as usual. A Moussavi victory would have been a nightmare for the Israelis and their allies.

[Howey]

Thanks for putting this out in the mainstream! I just published a trail of how this silly story came to be on my blog:

http://theworldofhowey.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/the-boys-who-cried-wolf/

[chaya]

Oh, thank goodness he's not a Jew. I was so embarrassed.

[JeffMaylor]

OK, so I am confused about where the Left stands on Jews and Anti-Semitism. Does the Left believe Israel is basically an outlaw nation? Does the Left think that there is too much media power in Jewish hands? Seems like I am hearing that vibe more and more.

[VivaZapata]

the whole question of a Jewish fatherland and where it should be and Israel's legitimacy coupled with Palestinian displacement and relegation is too tangled to answer in the manner in which you ask the question. furthermore, the left does not have one single-minded position. it doesn't need to. hopefully, the same is true on the right.

[TheLonelyGod]

The far left can be just as antisemitic as the far right.

To quote a phrase: "Jews have always been caught between the black (fascism) and the red (communism­)."

Put another way, if there's one thing the far left loves it's conspiracy theories. Just see the 9/11 truther movement (and the birther movement on the other side). And they'll find quite a bit of traction for conspiracy theories where Jews are involved, just see the "Protocols­."

[Blackorpheus]

I knew it. Ahmadinejad is Jewish. So is Osama bin Laden, by the way; his grandfather on his father's side changed his name from "Cohen."

[VivaZapata]

Religion: #1 in destructiveness. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus. You all make the world unsafe and cruel.

[JeffMaylor]

True, although in the 20th century, Marxism trounced all of them combined.

[VivaZapata]

not marxism per se, just the misapplication of it, and how accurate is your statement anyway? have you conducted interviews with survivors of Auschwitz, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, Chile, Spain to make the supportive comparisons?

[outnow]

Ahjaminijad correctly point out that the holocaust claimed victims such as Gypsies, Poles, Czechs, Russians and a few hundred thousand or million Allied troops. Many Japanese and Germans were interned right here during the war. Slavery in the US was a bigger holocaust.

History is where these facts should be relegated to; instead not a single day passes without someone tryinng to take advantage of the suffering of WW II for political reasons, either by miminizing or reminding us one way or the other. Both sides are to blame, IMHO.

Newks were dropped on two Japanese cities where there were unprotected civilians. Dresden was firebombed as was Tokyo. All civilians. Do none of these people's deaths and suffering count?

The denying the existence of Israel is another false argument. Who cares if the guy is Jewish or not. He is exacerbating the situation with ethnic slurs and threats. He does his cause great damage by his behavior and provocative language. But he is not the pwoer in Iran, the Supreme Ayatolla is - this guy's just a mouthpiece for the Revolutionary Guard and other reactionary groups.

[MosheDayanHero]

Fact:Holocaust is specific term invented to describe the destruction of European Jewry.
I an European ,and while growing up I NEVER heard this term used. Not by Russians or Ukrainians; not by Poles or Roma; not by Yugoslavians or anyone else.
Attempt to subvert this term is directly attributed to certain segment of Muslim population who are not only envious of Jewish success, but inexplicably, the Jewish suffering. Some sheeple in the West just mindlessly repeat the same nonsense.
Next subject...

[S Cooper]

Fact: the word holocaust far predates what we have come to call "The Holocaust". It was not "invented to describe the destruction of European Jewry". Just because you never heard it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. In fact, its roots are in ancient Greek, and mean "sacrifice by fire".

You can argue the Israel thing to death and I couldn't care less, but don't go posting nonsense about language.

[MosheDayanHero]

"Who cares if the guy is Jewish or no."
Totally Wrong.
Ahmadineajd cares, Iranian theocracy cares: people who would turn away from him all over the Muslim world East out of racism care; the Holocaust deniers and neo-nazis who sympathize with his words care..
Only hopelessly naive don't understand this.

[riff4u]

I thought he might be Jewish when he started to complain about the ac at the UN.

[MosheDayanHero]

If Ahmadinejad was really Jewish, he wouldn't display such disdain fro truth. And his mom wouldn't let him wear that toupee and that Members Only jacket.

[riff4u]

The jacket sucks but the hair is real.

[davidwayneosedach]

What a bout the blood in his veins? Did he get a transfusion?

[MosheDayanHero]

Phew.. that was a close call.

[MARNIE2]

What can be said about this fellow [Ahmadinejad] who speaks his mind .....a waterfall of hate from his lips to our ears .....wow..­.can he ever ..... ! a lot of aggressive talk ? can talk turn.. into misdeeds ?
The call for the Annihilation of Israel .......is it a Islamic Predestenation [ for shadow-ing of end times]
Words from the heart ........ what can we gleem from HIS mind set ? .....IF ..they achived the nuclear prize... ? .... a nuclear warhead ?...why was it sooo important ...to STEAL THE ELECTION 'S .....TO
ALMOST TOPLE THE REGIME... ?.....WE ..Western Nation's are HOPELESSLY ..BOXED IN .......IN ARE ..NEEDFULN­ESS ....OF....­.. {.OIL } !.......WE WILL TALK..... & RE-TALK...­. & they will by-same-time untill..- the deed is done !... ?......WHO WILL BE..NEXT..­.... ? IN A NUCLEAR.MI­DDLE EAST.. ?
.....but ....back in the ..days gone by........­.GOD CHOOSE A GREAT KING TO FREE..ISRA­EL [A PERSIAN
KING] .....CYRUS !.......EM­AGINE THAT !

[lastpost]

“The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.”

I suppose something like that happening, could cause someone to question their faith.

[seattle music]

LOL-ing. I'll bet they felt a lot like Rosemary, eh?

[VivaZapata]

Who cares? this is enough to make you think that local news about murder, rape and celebrity foolishness is substantial. If he has Jewish roots, will he be taken more seriously? What's the point, or at least the angle, here?

[seattle music]

The point is that he is virulently anti-Jewish and a Holocaust denier.

The point is irony of galactic proportions.

[VivaZapata]

actually, he has not denied that the Holocaust didn't occur; he has questioned the validity of certain reported statistics. he has acknowledged that there was significant brutality (ie a holocaust).

secondly, it is not ironic; there have been many cases of self loathing people who have turned against there own. it would be ironic if he thought he was a proponent of Judaism and then through some action ended up hurting the religion/culture.

[wereeverywhere]

Zapata you're wrong about the holocaust and Ahma. From http://www.juancole.com/2009/09/ahmadinejad-spews-raving-lunatic-anti.html

"...The US press coverage of the speech has focused on Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust, which seems more complete than before (he has in the past said that the number of dead, 6 million, has been 'exaggerated'). He said this time, "Four or five years after the Second World War, all of a sudden they claimed that during this war, the Holocaust had occurred. They claimed that a few million Jews had been burned in the crematorium furnaces. They institutionalized two slogans. One was the innocence of the Jews. They used lies and very sophisticated propaganda and psychological ploys and created the illusion that they (the Jews) are innocent. The second goal was that they created the illusion that the Jews needed an independent state and government. They were so persuasive and convincing that many of the world's politicians and intellectuals were deceived and persuaded.­" Elsewhere he called this 'pretext' a "lie" and a "myth" (afsaneh).

He then went on to repeat his bizarre claim that researchers are prevented from researching the Holocaust. Surely no event in history has been better documented by historians from primary sources.

I just felt a chill, and frankly then nausea, as I read this sewage."

[Academic]

What a turn up for the books. Right wing, neo-con, Jewish/zionists and Christian fundamentalist supporters of Israel want us to believe that to be Jewish necessitates being born with a distinctive "JEWISH" DNA. Those who know the facts as distinct from the virulent propaganda know this to be a blatant lie. For there are many strands of Judaism: Falasha (Ethiopian and the world's oldest Judaist sect); Sephardim; and European Jews (distinctly Caucasian and Non-semitic) who converted to their preferred religion Judaism as their kindred did to Christianity.

Now we’re being fed the equally odious propaganda that Ahminejad can’t be a Jew because his family didn’t convert to Judaism. Now if conversion is a prime element of being a Jew where does European Judaism, which dominates Israel and is the reason d’être for its existence, equate with this supposedly 3000 year old DNA entitlement?

Just asking!

Professor Dr. Stanley Collymore.

[CigarGod]

Religious gymnastics are a characteristic of the desert dogma's.

[Hedonist]

For a self-appointed academic your reading skills are surprisingly deficient. This article debunks the story that Ahmadinejad's family was originally Jewish who then converted to Islam. The original story was not as you suggest in your convoluted way that his family had converted to Judaism. Also, the Khazarian theory of Ashkenazim has been thoroughly debunked but has not lost its popularity among certain ilk.

[LAThinker]

European Jews (distinctly Caucasian and Non-semitic)? for someone called Academic the hole in your education is stunning or is it propaganda over science?

[Ayrshirelass]

The truth has a nasty habit of making idiots quite uncomfortable I know. And please, Yanks, don't lecture a Brit on English. As a Scot and Professor Collymore being English it IS our language. Stick to your bastardization of OUR language all you want but don't tell us how we should use what is quintessentially ours and will permanently remain so. It’s almost as mindboggingly audacious, just as arrogant and exceedingly stupid if Californian grape growers were to pompously decide to lecture the French on the intricacies of Champagne making.

Just not cricket old boys to use a characteristic English metaphor. So toddle off and do your homework like good, obedient kids do if they aspire to ever making anything substantial of their lives, which so far in your case you seem to have miserably failed at achieving anything of substance in your pathetic existences HEDONIST and LATHINKER. Do I detect some envy of the professor ON YOUR collective PART?

[Macready]

duh .. . .