Maurice Motamed
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Maurice Motamed (born 1945; sometimes transcribed from Persian as موریس معتمد) was elected in 2000 and again in 2004 as a member of the Iranian Parliament, representing the Jewish community which has by Iran's constitution retained a reserved seat since the Persian Constitution of 1906.
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[edit] Career
In Parliament, he has been active in suppressing discrimination against Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians, e.g., the different amounts of blood money (diya) prescribed for Muslims and non-Muslims. He also played a prominent role in the efforts to alleviate the sentences against some members of the Jewish community for alleged spying or illegally trying to flee the country. He also served as a member of the Parliament's Energy Committee.
While on a trip to the US in 2000, Motamed claimed that the lives of Jews in Iran was far better than that of other Iranians and even invited the wealthy Iranian Jewish community to return to Iran. According to Pooya Dayanim, the president of the Iranian Jewish Public Affairs Committee, Maurice Motamed donates one month's of his MP salary every year to the Palestinian struggle to “liberate Jerusalem.”
In various media, Motamed has regularly expressed his support for the official positions of the Iranian government on international affairs in order to stress the national loyalty of Iranian Jews for the country, including support for Iran nuclear program (he is member of Majlis energy commission). It is claimed that when he was interviewed by the Forward during his trip to the United States in February 2003, there were Iranian diplomats present and the interview took place at the residence of Iran's Ambassador to the UN.
With regard to recent anti-Israel comments and Holocaust denial by Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Motamed has expressed significant concerns, though, noting that "Denial of such a great historical tragedy that is connected to the Jewish community can only be considered an insult to all the world's Jewish communities." He also criticised Iranian television for broadcasting antisemitic programmes. [3]
[edit] Miscellaneous
- He works for the government as a civil engineer and urban planner.
- His predecessor (1996-2000) was Manouchehr Elyasi.
- His mother and four sisters live in Los Angeles.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-dayanim011603.asp
- ^ http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2003/March/Jews/index.html
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Reuters, Iran's religious minorities waning despite own MPs, February 16, 2000
- Agence France Presse, Islamic republic's non-Muslims stand behind Khatami, June 2, 2001
- Associated Press, Iran O.K's Equalizing 'Blood Money', November 3, 2002
- Morris (Maurice) Motamed, A report on the activities of Iranian Jewish member of The Islamic Parliament, Ofegh Bina (Quarterly Magazine), Vol. 5, No. 21, Autumn 2003, pp.61-62
