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Iranian Israelis marching in Tel Aviv<\/p>\nWeeks ago on a bright afternoon along the Tel Aviv boardwalk, a group of Iranian-Israelis gathered beneath blue-and-white flags and the pre-revolutionary lion-and-sun flag of Iran. They sang\u00a0Hatikvah. They held signs reading \u201cFree Iran\u201d and \u201cTrump Act Now.\u201d And they marched toward the American and French embassies with a message that carried both urgency and hope.<\/p>\n
For Yasmin Sayeh, who helped organize the march, the last 24 hours has felt historic, a first step towards fulfilling her protest\u2019s wishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a new dawn,\u201d she said on Sunday afternoon. \u201cA new day. We have to understand that the Iranian people need our support to end this regime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iranian Israelis marching in Tel Aviv<\/p>\n
Sayeh, 35, lives in Modi\u2019in. She was born in Israel \u2014 the first in her family to be \u2014 after her parents immigrated from Iran following the Islamic Revolution. Farsi was spoken at home and Iranian cultural holidays were celebrated alongside Jewish ones. \u201cWe are very Israeli and very Zionist,\u201d she says, \u201cbut also deeply connected to our roots.\u201d<\/p>\n
That dual identity \u2014 Israeli and Persian, Zionist and culturally Iranian \u2014 gives her a unique vantage point on this moment.<\/p>\n
For nearly five decades, Iran\u2019s Islamic regime has defined itself in opposition to Israel and the Jewish people. It has funded and armed Hamas and Hezbollah. It has called openly for Israel\u2019s destruction. But Sayeh insists that the regime does not represent the Iranian people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe regime is not good for Israel. It\u2019s not good for the Jewish people. But more than that \u2014 it\u2019s not good for the Iranian people inside Iran. For 47 years, they have been suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent months, as protests inside Iran were met with violent repression, Sayeh began receiving messages from Iranians across the world. Many wrote in Farsi. Some were inside Iran itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say, \u2018Thank you. We love Israel. We hope this brings something new.\u2019 It\u2019s very emotional for them,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey grow up hearing that Israel hates them. And then they see Jews and Israelis walking in Tel Aviv, asking for freedom for the Iranian people. It moves them deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not everyone in the Iranian-Israeli community felt safe attending the march. Many still have close family in Iran. Public identification with anti-regime activism can carry real risks for relatives back home.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor some, even having their photo taken at a protest is dangerous,\u201d Sayeh says. \u201cThey support us, but they must remain in the shadows to protect their loved ones. If they can\u2019t be the voice, then we must be the voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
That tension \u2014 pride mixed with fear \u2014 is woven into the Iranian-Jewish experience. Jews have lived in Persia for over 2,500 years, dating back to the time of Cyrus the Great. Even after the 1979 revolution, a small Jewish community remained in Iran. According to Sayeh, until recently many lived \u201crelatively comfortably,\u201d so long as they avoided any public identification with Zionism.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no problem being Jewish in Iran,\u201d she explains carefully. \u201cThere\u2019s a problem being a Zionist.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Today, however, the situation is far more fragile. Sayeh cites staggering numbers of protesters killed and imprisoned in recent months. Independent verification of figures is difficult, but reports of mass arrests, executions, and brutal crackdowns are widespread.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen want basic rights,\u201d she says. \u201cYoung people want freedom. And the regime answers with hangings.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Sayeh, this is not only a geopolitical struggle. It is personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandfather waited years to come to Israel,\u201d she says. \u201cBeing Zionist is in our blood. All of my family members have Jewish names. This identity, it\u2019s who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet she speaks with equal warmth about Iranian culture. \u201cIranians are warm people. Positive people. We love our language, our food, and our traditions. When we visit the Iranian-Jewish community in Los Angeles, it feels like the closest thing to Iran we can experience freely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayeh believes the stakes of this past weekend extend far beyond Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis regime supports terror everywhere,\u201d she says. \u201cEnding it would change the Middle East. It would affect America. Europe. The whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, she does not romanticize the cost. During our conversation, air-raid sirens sounded in parts of the country. An Iranian missile had struck a civilian building in Beit Shemesh, killing nine Israeli civilians with dozens injured.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are strong,\u201d she says quietly. \u201cWe will protect ourselves. But it has a huge price.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so she looks outward, to Washington, to Europe, to what she calls the \u201cliberal world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hoped there would be change. We hoped the regime would fall<\/a>. We hope leaders will act. Every day they hang more people. They cannot continue like this.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of our conversation, Sayeh paused and offered a quiet prayer.<\/p>\n \u201cKen yehi ratzon,\u201d she said. May it be God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n Then, without hesitation: \u201cAm Yisrael Chai.\u201d<\/p>\n For Iranian Jews like Yasmin Sayeh, this is not a moment of triumphalism. It is a moment of yearning, that the ancient sun once emblazoned on Iran\u2019s old flag might rise again, illuminating a free people and the dawn of a new peaceful Middle East.<\/p>\n Photos by Yasmin Sayeh, https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/yasminsayeh\/?hl=en<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n