"Iranian President's Surprising Message To Jews"

[applegrove]

Iranian President's Surprising Message To Jews

By Daniel Burke and Mitra Mobasherat, CNN

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/04/iranian-presidents-surprising-message-to-jews/?hpt=hp_t2

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(CNN) - Marking a sharp shift from his Holocaust-denying predecessor, new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday wished "all Jews" a "blessed Rosh Hashanah" on his English-language Twitter account.

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Rosh Hashanah, of course, is the Jewish celebration of the new year. As Rouhani mentions, it begins Wednesday at sundown. The image in the tweet is reportedly taken from a synagogue in Tehran.

Rouhani, a Shiite Muslim cleric, was elected president in June. He is widely seen as more moderate than Ahmadinejad, though his goodwill gesture on Wednesday stunned even veteran Iran watchers.

“Not even under the monarchy do we remember such a message,” Haleh Esfandiari, a native Iranian and director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, told Al-Monitor.


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[Tx4obama]

1. New president. Perhaps there is hope for new change. n/t

[itsrobert]

2. Actions speak more loudly than mere words.

n/t

[MFrohike]

3. He should

Jews are protected in his constitution. Nice to see he can take a stab at decency.

[1-Old-Man]

4. My god that's good news. With just a few words the world improves.

Our war mongers should take note, missiles and bombs are not the only way nations who seem at odds with one another can communicate or at least begin to open lines of communication. Death is certain but that gives no one the right to kill.

[eridani]

5. Jewish history in that part of the world dates back to the Babylonian Empire

Given the option of return after the captivity, plenty of they stayed put, and became a major center of Jewish intellectual life. Glad to see someone in power acknowledging that.

[LearningCurve]

6. Oh my

I am predisposed to give the benefit of the doubt. Let's hope "People of the Book" holds.

[jessie04]

7. Wow....I got goose chills.

Now open up those damn ass nuclear sites to the IAEA !!!!!

[Cha]

8. Mahalo applegrove~

[Bonobo]

14. Are you a native Hawaiian? Nt

[stevenleser]

9. We really need direct talks with this guy as soon as possible. I've been saying this since before he

took office. We need to seize the opportunity.

[KharmaTrain]

13. Who Says It's Not Going On??

...the best kind of diplomacy is the quiet kind. Seems the war of words between Teheran and Washington have died down since he took office. The problem is and always has been his boss...the Ayatollah who still abides by a "death to Israel" dogma and the U.S. as the "great satan".

I find this a very positive sign but there's a long way to go; especially in light of Iran's involvement in the Syrian war. Here's hoping there's back-channel negotiations going on in bringing a resolution to this carnage...

[stevenleser]

15. You're right, it might be. I hope it is. nt

[Skidmore]

10. Greetings to other "People of the Book".

Don't find it odd at all. People should really educate themselves both to actual cultures and to recognize the efforts of those who step outside of the radicalized fundmentalisms of the world for their efforts.

[JustAnotherGen]

11. That's nice

Maybe it's the beginning of a lot of little things adding up to one big good thing!

[oberliner]

12. "Warm Ramadan Greetings" From President George W. Bush.

That kind of thing?

[AverageJoe90]

17. That is some great news indeed. Thank you, Mr. Rouhani.

Truly, there is hope for change in Iran, then.