Jews join Iranian rally in solidarity

More than 2,000 people rallied outside Victoria’s State Parliament on Sunday afternoon against the Islamic Republic of Iran and in support of restoring the country’s monarchy.

The joyful spectators displayed Iran’s old flag, which had a gold lion and sun, and yelled “Death to the Islamic Republic” and “Long Live the Shah” to support Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s bid to retake his father’s throne.

The demonstration was part of a worldwide effort by Iranian communities to draw attention to ongoing political unrest in Iran, where riots and protests against the Islamic regime have erupted in recent days despite reported government crackdowns.

A significant contingent from Melbourne’s Jewish community attended, with several Israeli flags flown alongside the Iranian lion and sun flags.

Rabbi Daniel Rabin of Caulfield Shule offered words of support to the crowd.

“I attended the rally today as the Jewish people know, perhaps better than most, what happens when the world stays silent while a government brutalises its own citizens,” he told the AJN.

“Over the past two years, as Israel and the Jewish community faced hatred, violence and a frightening rise in antisemitism, many in the Iranian and wider community stood with us, spoke up and showed real solidarity. We have not forgotten that.”

Rabbi Rabin said when Iranians were being beaten, imprisoned and killed for demanding dignity, freedom and a future for their children, the Jewish community could not look away.

“This is not about politics. It is about human life and moral responsibility,” he said.

He noted his wife’s grandmother in New York gave refuge to Jews who fled Iran after the revolution.

“Standing with the people of Iran is an expression of the deepest Jewish values, rooted in our history, our memory, and our belief that every human being is created with dignity,” Rabbi Rabin said.

Jewish community activist Sharon Kuper also addressed the rally, contrasting Iranian protesters with Western activists “chanting for a distant Palestine they’ve glimpsed in viral clips.”

“These are real heroes, taking on the tyrants on their home soil: women unveiling their hair, men standing shoulder to shoulder, all risking arrest, torture, or death for a free Iran,” she told the crowd.

Kuper told the AJN afterwards: “I feel like we are on the precipice of history. That energy in Melbourne was beyond anything I’ve ever felt, so the determination of the people in Iran must be unstoppable.”

And on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Sydney, outside the city’s Town Hall, about 200 people – mostly Iranian Australians – attended a moving gathering, calling for freedom for the Iranian people and the ousting of the regime.

Co-organiser, Ryde City councillor Tina Kordrostami, commented on Instagram following the rally, “Together, we will be back.”