I’ve now read enough to feel confident in saying that the Canada National Post story about Jews in Iran being forced to wear yellow badges is almost certainly bunk. The Jewish delegate in Iran’s pseudo-parliament denies it. A Human Rights Watch activist who has studied the legislation in question writes the following:
[The law] includes only generalities with regard to promoting a national dress code and fashion industry that should be subsidized and supported by the government. It is a troubling development; its main target is most probably Iranian women. But there is absolutely no mention of religious minorities. If the people behind the National Post article have some insider knowledge of how this legislation will be implemented, they should note their sources. Otherwise the legislation itself has nothing in it relating to what is being reported about mandates for religious minorities.
Was this active disinformation? If so, who was behind it? And for what purpose? That seems to me to be the next salient question.
(Photo: Lynsey Addorio/Corbis.)
The Dish 