Unintended Consequences

Abstract

The ultimate success of the nation-building project, led by the Shah, was evident in the decade leading up to the revolution—when the Jewish community in Iran finally achieved its release from traditional loyalties and viewed itself, first and foremost, as Iranian. This chapter explores the first manifestations of Jewish revolutionary discourse and actions and discusses postrevolutionary Iran and a new nation-building paradigm that Jews faced following the Islamic revolution. This chapter follows the Jewish response to the rapidly unfolding events: from the Shah’s overthrow through the redefinition of the Iranian national identity, from the Iran-Iraq War to the post-Khomeini period. In the post-Khomeini era, Iranian Jews had to navigate between their religious ancestral homeland (Israel) and their national and political homeland (Iran). They had to deftly maneuver between the misinterpretations and deceptions that characterized the harsh rhetoric between Israel and Iran.