The large Iranian community in France, unofficially estimated at about 30,000 people, has kept out of sight and out of the public glare since the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took power in Iran last January. There are no official statistics on how many in this community are Iranian Jewish refugees.
The Jewish refugees in France rarely contact community organizations. They are not in need of welfare or any other form of assistance. Most of them are middle class, speak fluent French, have friends in the country and manage by themselves. Since most of them consider France as a stop-over while waiting for visas for the United States or Canada, they do not be come active in the French Jewish community and even fail to contact Jewish schools or other communal institutions.
More than half of the resident Iranian community in France consists of students who so far have avoided either organizing or participating in demonstrations, public meetings or any political pronouncements for or against Khomeini.
This exceptional discretion is due to the French legislation on aliens which enables the government to expel foreigners at the slightest provocation. Political activities are generally regarded by the French government as sufficient reason to warrant an administrative expulsion order usually carried out within a few days. This arbitrary French attitude applies to practically all foreigners studying or living in this country and is frequently used against Arab workers or students.
KHOMEINI WAS AN EXCEPTION
Khomeini was the one exception to the rule The Iranian religious leader was permitted to conduct his anti-Shah campaign from his residence at Neauphle-le-Chateau, outside Paris, at will. On Tuesday night, President Valery Giscard d’Estaing explained in a television interview, “Had we taken any action against him (then) our own people would have been in the situation in which the American hostages find themselves today.”
During Khomeini’s stay in France, hundreds of Iranian supporters called daily at his home Most of them were Iranian workers or students from West Germany, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries. The other half of the Iranian resident community consists of middle class people many of whom are opposed openly or more discreetly to the new Teheran regime.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
