British Jews stand in solidarity with Iranian dissidents against Islamic Republic at London rally - The Jewish Chronicle

With tens of thousands of people in Iran filling the streets to speak out against the regime there, over 100 British-Iranians gathered outside the nation's embassy in west London in solidarity on Saturday. Among them were dozens of Jewish people, who turned out to support the Iranian people “like they have supported us”, as one of those who attended put it.

One Jewish man, who did not want to give his name, said: "I am here to support the Iranian people who want to have a free Iran. These people have come to all the pro-Israel protests in London and elsewhere. I support them."

Discussing last summer’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the man said: "A lot of Iranians who are pro-freedom and want democracy in their country [realised] they actually support Israel and what it is doing in order to rid the area of extremism.

He said that although Iran is viewed as an enemy of Israel, in his opinion, the majority of Iranians do in fact support the Jewish state.

Afshin Fathi, an Iranian Muslim originally from the city of Shiraz, also attended the rally, where he waved an Israeli flag. Fathi said he despised the regime and blamed it for losing his childhood Jewish friends.

Shouting to be heard over the noise of Iranian and Israeli music, he said: "We are here to support Iranians who have been suffering for over forty years.

Fathi continued: "For decades, all the excuse for the mullahs was fighting for Islam, however Islam is not supportive of them. They [create] a special Islam for themselves to interpret it in a way which is not only [against] Israel but against all the Jews, all the West, all democracy and all civilisation."

The pre-revolution Iranian flag and the Israeli flag side by side[Missing Credit]

Reflecting on the mass protests in Iran, he said: "After 40 years, people are slowly seeing the regime's mask [slip]. Everybody wants to go back in time to before when we were lucky to share a nation with Jewish people."

That "shared" nation, however, has all but evaporated over the past half a century. Before the 1979 Islamic revolution, an estimated 100,000 Jews called Iran home. Over the decades since, religious persecution there has seen this number tumble to around 10,000.

Fathi said: "I have very sweet memories of the Jewish community which was very strong in my city. Growing up, I had Jewish friends – but none of them stayed because of the fighting and the radical ideology. I really miss them ... I hope some day I will see them again."

Those flying the Iranian flag made a point of choosing the pre-revolution version.

Another attendee was Paul Martin Gurnett, who had no connection to Iran or Israel and was neither Muslim nor Jewish, but feared that, as a UK citizen he might be in danger if the Islamic Republic is not thwarted.

"Iran is a global jihadist movement which wants to overthrow the West and bring sharia law everywhere - there is nothing hidden about it," he claimed.

"They want us dead and to think otherwise is dangerous.”"

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Iran