Fassihi on Muslim-Jewish Relations in Prerevolutionary Iran
Dr. Michael Fassihi writes concerning his own family’s experience of Muslim-Jewish relations in Iran:
Today I came across the comment made via email to you by one of your readers, regarding the Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, that I think I should respond citing my personal experience, and let the readers make their own judgments.
I am 68 years old , and came to the US at the age of 25 from Iran, and am not a very political individual.
My father was a civil engineer working for government and we moved around the country from town to town and city to city quite frequently.
When I was 11 years old ( 1948?) we moved to a small city called Golpayegan. An old city with a Minaret at the center of it, probably centuries old. The city is only a few kilometers from Khomein, the birth place of the Ayatollah.
The family rented a house next door to the city’s Rabbi, and we became neighbors. I used to go to their house and light their little lantern every Saturday ( there was no electricity in the town ). I would be treated with candies and cookies. They would treat me as they would their own child. They became the closest friends we had in this town. My father and the rabbi became very close friends for the two years that we lived there. My greatest memories, and those of my family from Golpagegan, were our neighbors, the Jewish family and the wonderful time we had together
By the way, my family was a very strict Muslim family. There was a small Jewish community in Golayegan, and you might want to research this, Golpayegan in one of the oldest Iranian towns located centrally.
So much for the comment from your reader who said: ” Muslims have always hated Jews in the Middle East!?”.
What an ignorance!
Michael M. Fassihi, M.D.