After 35 years of being stripped of their civil rights and fleeing the virulent Anti-Semitic persecution of the Iranian regime, Iranian Jews who number 40,000 strong in Los Angeles are to once again endure the Anti-Semitic bigotry propagated by the Iranian regime.

The Farsi word “Johood” is an extremely derogatory slur name for Jews. Normalizing the usage of this word is a reminder of the harsh discrimination and disregard for Jews’ rights to a life of dignity. With the Ayatollah Khomeini coming to power in 1979 in Iran, religious minorities—particularly Jews were reduced to third class citizens, many were stripped of their assets by the regime and forced to endure humiliating societal and government Anti-Semitism. As a result of this uncontrolled Anti-Semitism, for the past 35 years Jews have fled Iran to escape the hate, humiliation, violence and lack of freedom perpetuated by the Iranian regime. Today we have witnessed the vast usage of this term Johood in the Iranian media, films, speeches and more than ever, social media of the Islamic regime’s proponents. Now, the supporters of the Iranian regime are unabashedly planning to import this culture of hate into Los Angeles and the rest of United States.

Akbar Abdi is one of the few popular comedic actors who is permitted to act within the restrictive Iranian cinema. He frequently and unapologetically uses derogatory language against Jewish people and promotes anti-Semitic violence. In 2013, Abdi was awarded a prize at an Iranian film festival, by then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Abdi congratulated Ahmadinejad for his courage in speaking out in the United Nations, which – in a blatant display of anti-Semitic dogma – Abdi referred to as the “House of Johoods”. “You were not afraid of the Johoods,” he affirmed the President.  In his movie, Snow Man, made in 1994, he states, “God did not make me a Johood, so I could get a visa and leave this country.”  This remark implies that the Jews left Iran voluntarily, completely denying the reality of the Jewish refugees who were forced to escape, in fear of their lives and civil liberties. Click here to view the acceptance speech.

The U.S State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism defines Anti-Semitism as “making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as a collective”.  Despite engaging in public displays of Anti-Semitism, the U.S. State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs has granted Akbar Abdi a visa to visit and perform in Los Angeles, California - home to the largest Persian Jewish community in the United States.

As Jewish citizens concerned by the import of Anti-Semitic rhetoric, attitudes, and culture from Iran, we are are distressed by the hypocrisy evident within the State Department's policies and commitment towards combatting Anti-Semitism and we are outraged that the State Department would issue a visa to an Iranian public figure who encourages discrimination and violence against Jews. Join us in requesting the U.S. State Department demonstrate their commitment to combatting Anti-Semitism by:

1) Immediately revoking the travel visa issued to Akbar Abdi.

2) Artists, Filmmakers or Performers who have publicly exhibited Anti-Semitic comments, attitudes, and rhetoric, specifically from Iran  - a country that the United States does not have normalized relations with, should not be granted visas to enter the United States.