On the Holocaust Conference Sponsored by the Government of Iran

To the Editors:

We the undersigned Iranians,

Notwithstanding our diverse views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict;

Considering that the Nazis’ coldly planned “Final Solution” and their ensuing campaign of genocide against Jews and other minorities during World War II constitute undeniable historical facts;

Deploring that the denial of these unspeakable crimes has become a propaganda tool that the Islamic Republic of Iran is using to further its own agendas;

Noting that the new brand of anti-Semitism prevalent in the Middle East today is rooted in European ideological doctrines of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and has no precedent in Iran’s history;

Emphasizing that this is not the first time that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has resorted to the denial and distortion of historical facts;

Recalling that this government has refused to acknowledge, among other things, its mass execution of its own citizens in 1988, when thousands of political prisoners, previously sentenced to prison terms, were secretly executed because of their beliefs;

Strongly condemn the Holocaust Conference sponsored by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tehran on December 11–12, 2006, and its attempt to falsify history;

Pay homage to the memory of the millions of Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and express our empathy for the survivors of this immense tragedy as well as all other victims of crimes against humanity across the world.

Delnaz Abadi, Filmmaker, USA

Shahla Abghari, Professor, Life University, USA

Siavash Abghari, Professor/Chair, Department of Business Administration, Morehouse College, USA

Janet Afary, Faculty Scholar/Associate Professor of History, Purdue University, USA

Gholam Reza Afkhami, Senior Scholar, Foundation for Iranian Studies, USA

Mahnaz Afkhami, Executive Director, Foundation for Iranian Studies/Women’s Rights Advocate, USA

Mahasti Afshar, Arts/Culture Executive, USA

Ali Afshari, Human Rights Advocate/Political Activist, USA

Ramin Ahmadi, Associate Professor, Yale School of Medicine/Founder, Griffin Center for Health and Human Rights, USA

Farideh Akashe-Bohme, Social Scientist/Writer, Germany

Hamid Akbari, Human Rights Advocate/Chair/Associate Professor, Department of Management and Marketing, Northeastern Illinois University, USA

Payam Akhavan, Jurist/Senior Fellow, Faculty of Law of McGill University, Canada

Shadi Amin, Journalist/Women’s Rights Activist, Germany

Bahman Amini, Publisher, France

Mohammad Amini, Writer/Political Activist, USA

Kurosh Amjadi, Human Rights Advocate

Mary Apick, Actress/Playwright/Producer/Human Rights Advocate, USA

Daryoush Ashouri, Writer/Translator, France

Akbar Atri, Student Rights and Political Activist, USA

Hossein Bagher Zadeh, Human Rights Advocate/Former Professor, Tehran University, Great Britain

Abbas Bakhtiari, Musician/Director, Pouya Iranian Cultural Center, France

Monireh Baradaran, Human Rights Advocate/Writer, Germany

Massoud Behnoud, Writer/Journalist, Great Britain

Jaleh Behroozi, Human Rights Advocate/Iranian Mothers’ Committee for Freedom, USA

Niloofar Beyzaie, Theater Director/Playwright, Germany

Ali-Mohammad Boroumand, Lawyer, France

Ladan Boroumand, Historian/Research Director, Boroumand Foundation, USA

Roya Boroumand, Historian/Human Rights Advocate, USA

Chahla Chafiq, Sociologist/Writer/ Women’s Rights Advocate, France

Javad Dadsetan, Filmmaker

Abbas Daneshvar, Chemist, Netherlands

Hassan Daneshvar, Mathematician, Netherlands

Reza Daneshvar, Writer, France

Arta Davari, Painter, Germany

Mohammad Reza Djalili, Professor, L’Institut Universitaire de Hautes Études Internationales, Switzerland

Farah Ebrahimi, USA

Ahmad Eskandani, Entrepreneur, France

Reza Fani Yazdi, Political Activist, USA

Fariborz Farahmand, Engineer, USA

Fahimeh Farssai, Writer, Germany

Keivandokht Ghahari, Historian/Journalist, Germany

Farhang Ghassemi, Professor in Strategic Management, France

Ghodsi Hejazi, Professor/Researcher, Frankfurt University, Germany

Hormoz Hekmat, Human Rights Advocate/Editor, Iran Nameh, USA

Ali Hojat, Entrepreneur/Human Rights Advocate, Great Britain

Dariush Homayoun, Writer, Switzerland

Didier Idjadi, Professor/Associate Mayor, France

Golroch Jahangiri, Women’s Rights Advocate, Germany

Marjan Jahanshahi, Professor, Institute of Neurology, University College London, Great Britain

Center for Persian Studies, University of Maryland, USA

Kazemi, Monireh Karimi Hakkak, Director, Women’s Rights Advocate, Germany

Minoo Khajeh Aldin, Painter, Germany

Nasim Khaksar, Writer, Germany

Nahid Khazenie, Remote Sensing Scientist/Program Director, NASA, USA

Zari Khodaparast Santner, Landscape Architect, USA

Mehrdad Khonsari, Political Activist, Great Britain

Hadi Khorsandi, Poet/Writer, Great Britain

Azar Khounani, Educator/Human Rights Advocate, USA

Massoud Mafan, Publisher, Germany

Sirus Malakooty, Composer/Chairman, Artists Without Frontiers, Germany

Alireza Manafzadeh, Writer, France

Ahmad Mazahery, Engineer/Political Activist, USA

Lily Mazahery, Lawyer, President of the Legal Rights Institute/Human Rights Advocate, USA

Mariam Memarsadeghi, Freedom House, USA

Iraj Mesdaghi, Human Rights Advocate/Writer, Sweden

Abbas Milani, Director, Iranian Studies Program, Stanford University, USA

Samira Mohyeddin, Graduate Student, University of Toronto, Canada

Mohammadreza Moini, Journalist/ Human Rights Advocate, RSF, France

Afshin Molavi, Journalist, USA

Faeze Monzavi, Women’s Rights Advocate, Germany

Golmorad Moradi, Political Scientist/Translator, Germany

Homa Moradi, Women’s Rights Advocate, Germany

Ziba Moshaver, London Middle East Institute, SOAS, Research Fellow, Great Britain

Shahrokh Moshkin-Ghalam, Ballet Dancer/Actor, France

Khosro Mourim, Sociologist, France

Mehdi Mozaffari, Professor of Political Science, Denmark

Majid Naficy, Poet/Writer, USA

Azar Nafisi, Writer/Johns Hopkins University, USA

Reza Nassehi, Human Rights Advocate/Translator, France

Jahan Pakzad, Teacher/Researcher, France

Bagher Parham, Writer/Translator, France

Shahrnush Parsipour, Writer, USA

Mohammad Parvin, Human Rights Advocate/Founding Director of Mehr/Adjunct Professor, California State University, USA

Jaleh Pirnazar, Professor, Iranian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Farideh Pourabdollah, Human Rights Advocate, USA

Saeid Pourabdollah, Human Rights Advocate, USA

Shahrouz Rashid, Poet/Writer, Germany

Yadollah Royaie, Poet, France

Mihan Rusta, Human Rights Advocate/Refugee Adviser, Germany

Hamid Sadr, Writer, Austria

Houman Sarchar, Independent Scholar, USA

Homa Sarshar, Journalist, USA

Marjane Satrapi, Writer, France

Parviz Sayyad, Actor/Playwright, USA

Sheila Shahriari, World Bank, USA

Parvaneh Soltani, Actor/Theater Director, Great Britain

Shahran Tabari, Journalist, Great Britain

Ahmad Taghvaie, Founding Member, Iranian Futurist Association, USA

Roya Toloui, Human Rights Advocate, USA

Hellen Vaziri, Germany

Wahied Wahdat-Hagh, Social Scientist, USA

Fathieh Zarkesh Yazdi, Human Rights and Refugee Rights Advocate, Great Britain

Arsalan Ziazie, Writer, Germany