Tehran wants you to forget: The Israelis and Iranians were once friends
Walk through a diaspora protest in London, Los Angeles, or Toronto, and you will spot something that shatters decades of state propaganda. Right beside the ancient Persian Lion and Sun flag flies the Star of David. This isn’t a cheap political stunt. It’s a raw, spontaneous nod to a shared history stretching back thousands of years. The people holding those flags are entirely ignoring the modern borders and religious ideologies designed to keep them apart.
TL;DR
- Diaspora protests in London, Los Angeles, and Toronto feature Israelis and Iranians displaying both the Star of David and the ancient Persian Lion and Sun flag.
- This display signifies a shared history of thousands of years, disregarding modern borders and religious ideologies.
- Over 135,000 Israelis have Iranian descent, with some estimates reaching a quarter-million, and many consider Iran their cultural home.
- Cyrus the Great freed Jewish exiles from Babylon in 539 BC and funded the reconstruction of their Second Temple, as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder and in the Book of Ezra.
- The Hebrew Bible refers to Cyrus as an anointed one, the only non-Jewish ruler to receive this title.