Last week on the MUslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the “supreme leader of Iran”, gave a speech in which he compared Iran to Moses.
The Quran says Prophet Moses (pbuh) was frequently persecuted by the Israelites. Our enemies too, some of whom are also descendants of the Israelites, seek to persecute our nation that follows the Prophet of Islam, Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus, & the rest of the prophets (pbut). pic.twitter.com/2q5YXiacon
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) August 3, 2020
“The first ten days of Dhul Hijja are basically full of memories,” the Ayatollah said. “The problems that Prophet Moses went through are obvious in these memories. There were the great struggles that Moses went through in Egypt, such as his confrontation with Pharaoh and problems in connection with the people of Bani Israel, the magicians, and others. After that, the great miracle happened where the sea split open. And the enemy of Bani Israel and all his forces drowned in front of their eyes. These should have strengthened the faith of the Bani Israel, but they didn’t.
“‘Oh, Moses, fashion for us Gods like unto the Gods they have,'” the Ayatollah said, quoting the Koran. “They pursued polytheism, idol-worshipping, and the like. They missed having idols. This was the beginning. After that, the incident related to the golden calf. took place. What a great tribulation this is for a prophet. Someone is inviting to God, He helps people to come on the path of god and he induces faith in them. However, they turn back from their faith with the slightest provocation.”
“The holy Koran relates to this in at least two places. These verses show that the Bani Israel vexed Moses to a great degree. In the same way that the Bani Israel bothered Moses, our enemies too want to bother our people who follow the holy prophet [Mohammad], Moses, Jesus, and other prophets.”
“When they want to bother us, we should gather all our forces, organize and struggle hard.”
Elder of Ziyon, a pro-Israel blogger, commented on the context of the Ayatollah’s statements.
“Jews persecuted the prophets and now they are persecuting the followers of prophets, the blogger said, paraphrasing the Ayatollah’s outrageous claim. “This is a slight watering down of popular antisemitic theme one sees in Muslim countries, where Jews are vilified as ‘killers of prophets’ and therefore irredeemably evil.”