Israelis rally in Holon to support Iranian anti-government demonstrators, waving flags and chanting slogans for change in the Islamic republic
HOLON: Around 100 people rallied in a central Israeli city in support of Iranian protesters, as the Islamic republic faces more than two weeks of anti-government demonstrations.
Demonstrators in Holon, a city near Tel Aviv, waved Israeli flags next to pre-1979 Iranian flags. A sign read “Be the voice of the Iranian people” in Hebrew and Persian.
Protests in Iran erupted last month, moving from economic grievances to demands for a wholesale change from the country’s clerical system.
Shuli Israel, a 68-year-old born in Iran, attended the rally to show solidarity. “My heart is with the Iranians. Their pain is our pain… I can’t stop crying,” she said.
She told AFP her Jewish acquaintances in Iran were living in fear and were unable to go out without being identified as Jews.
The crowd repeatedly chanted “long live the shah”, a slogan used by protesters inside and outside Iran. Some waved pictures of Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah.
Miriam Kayam, who moved to Israel from Iran in 1980, said she came to support them. “People in Iran have no bread, no life, no freedom,” she said.
Arch-foes Iran and Israel fought a 12-day war last year, with Israel striking Iranian nuclear facilities and Iran responding with drone and missile attacks.
