My son texted me a post and then read it to me over FaceTime.

He’s at college. The post was from an anti-Zionist friend of his, comparing what is happening in Gaza to Chapter 9 of the Purim story.

If you know the Megillah, you know the chapter. The counter-violence. The enemies struck down. The numbers.

The implication was clear: Purim is a story of Jewish vengeance — and what is happening now is its inversion.

I didn’t react with outrage. I didn’t argue.

I said something else: If we’re going to do Purim politics, we should at least get the geography right.

The story of Purim takes place in Persia.

Persia still exists. We call it Iran.

And right now, the Iranian people are living under a regime that has shown, once again, that it will use overwhelming force against its own citizens.

What Happened Last Month

In January, protests erupted across Iran. The immediate causes were economic hardship, political repression, and a growing sense among many Iranians that their future is being dictated by a ruling elite that governs through fear.

The state responded the way it has before — with a brutal crackdown.

An internet blackout followed. Communications were severed. Documentation became extraordinarily difficult. Human rights groups reported mass unlawful killings. The official government death toll sits in the thousands. Independent monitoring organizations report higher numbers. Some internal health sources have suggested the toll could be........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)