New York, June 13, 2013 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called out the “raw, full-throated and unadulterated anti-Semitism” in a Facebook posting by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Appearing on the eve of Iran’s June 14 presidential elections, the Iranian leader’s Facebook profile featured a visual representation the classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theory of Jewish control of the United States government.
The visual includes the logo of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and an arrow pointing at a group of suited men, presumably America’s leaders, with text underneath reading “the U.S. president is being elected from only two parties while Zionist regime is controlling everything behind the scenes.”
Next to this visual is a representation of the Iranian electoral system, with a line of voters and an arrow going to one leader, with text suggesting that, “In Iran, there have been many presidents being elected in a pure democratic process from ordinary people even without any affiliation to a party.”
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
Shame on the Ayatollah for yet again giving voice to raw, full-throated and unadulterated anti-Semitism this time in a forum where millions of ordinary Iranians see and share his message on the eve of national elections.
As Iranians head to the polls to choose from a roster of presidential candidates that were hand-selected and approved by the Supreme Leader and his cohorts, the notion that the American system is driven by Jewish control not only shows their ignorance of the true nature of democracy but exposes the bigotry and utter hypocrisy of this regime and its leaders.
The world knows that whoever is chosen to replace departing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be expected to comply with the regime’s policies, ideologies and approaches – including the regime’s entrenched anti-Semitic beliefs. No amount of anti-Semitic fear-mongering can pull the wool over the eyes of the world when it comes to the evil intentions of the Iranian regime.
The Ayatollah’s Facebook post also quotes from a speech he gave in February 2010 claiming that Zionists are “… the same dominating class that also controls the U.S. system, government and elections.” The semi-official Mehr News Agency also posted the same message on Twitter.
ADL has documented extreme anti-Semitic statements by Iran’s leadership, highlighted anti-Semitic cartoons in the Iranian press, and denounced the anti-Jewish propaganda on Iran’s Press TV (PDF).