Iran’s hit TV series tells the story of helping Jews (photos)

　　　　On December 14th, 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with representatives of anti-Zionist organizations at an international conference in Tehran. This meeting was initiated by Ahmadinejad himself to discuss the Nazi Holocaust. Most of the participants were holocaust deniers or skeptics, so this meeting was controversial. Figure /IC

　　　　The hit drama Zero Turn tells the story of an Iranian diplomat in France who helped Jews escape from Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

　　　　The script is adapted from a true story.

　　　　The relationship between Iran and Jews has always been a topic of concern to the international community. In particular, after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once said that "Israel should be wiped off the map" and questioned whether there was a holocaust against Jews, people from all walks of life paid more attention to how Jews and Jewish society were treated in Iran. Recently, a popular TV series in Iran expressed a subtle difference from the official voice, and attracted the attention of western media such as Washington post and The Times.

　　　　Iranian state television has broadcast this TV series called "Zero Turn" since April this year, and broadcasts one episode every week. The TV series attracts a large audience and is watched on time every Monday. In the play, love is still a constant theme. The love in the film takes place in Palsa, an Iranian diplomat in Paris, and Sarah, a French Jewish girl, while the background is Paris, France under Nazi Germany.

　　　　The story begins with a typical montage: in the chaotic streets of Paris in the 1940s, Nazi German soldiers were chasing a group of people wearing clothes with Nazi symbols into a military vehicle. A young Iranian diplomat in Paris asked the onlookers, "Where are they being taken?" A man with a sad face replied, "These are Jews, and they are going to be put into concentration camps!" " This diplomat is the hero Palsa. He looked solemn and thoughtful, because his beloved girl Sarah was also a Jew. With the development of the story, Palsa began to help Jews like Sarah, deceiving the German occupiers with white lies, and issuing Iranian passports to Jews to help them escape from Nazi Germany.

　　　　According to Iranian historical experts, this TV series is indeed based on real events in history. The Iranian government also said that during World War II, Iranian diplomats in France at that time issued passports to more than 500 Jews to help them escape from Nazi concentration camps.

　　　　The plot of this TV series has many similarities with the famous film Schindler’s List. Schindler’s List tells the true historical event that German entrepreneur oskar schindler protected 1,200 Jews from being killed by fascists during World War II. Therefore, Washington post called the Zero Turn the Iranian version of Schindler List.

　　　　Still retain anti-Israel sentiment

　　　　However, although the play shows Iranian help to Jews during World War II and shows Iran’s position that it is not against Jews, the western media also read out that there is still an ideology that is consistent with the propaganda of the Iranian government, especially the TV series shows some opposition to Israel.

　　　　The TV series mentioned the reasons of anti-Semitism in Germany, which is consistent with the official Iranian statement. One of the plots is that German students expressed their views on World War II, saying that the war was imposed on the German people, and Jews were also victims, because "Jews have made great economic benefits here in the past 20 years."

　　　　There are also some plots, which are similar to Iran’s claim that Israel will leave the Palestinian area and Ahmadinejad’s previous position of "erasing Israel from the map". Sarah’s uncle Weiss strongly opposes the idea of European Israelis immigrating to Palestine. He said: "It is impossible to try to solve the problem between Jews and Muslims with external pressure. The problem of Jews has always been complicated, and the solution is not to immigrate to Arab countries. " In another scene, Sarah’s classmate, a French Jewish girl, flatly rejected the proposal of a Jewish youth because the Jewish youth advocated the establishment of an Israeli state.

　　　　Iranians know little about the Holocaust.

　　　　Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly stated that Zero Turn is sympathetic to the suffering of Jews during World War II. Some media analysts said that the popularity of Zero Turn in Iran may indicate that the Iranian leadership intends to soften their anti-Semitic impression and emphasize their consistent claim that they are dissatisfied with Israel, not Jews.

　　　　The main purpose of western media’s attention to this drama is self-evident, because President Ahmadinejad has always said that he doubts the existence of the Holocaust in history. Iranian media rarely talk about the Holocaust, and Iranian school textbooks do not cover similar content, so Iranians actually know very little about this history. Some people who watch TV series expressed their hope to "replenish their historical knowledge" by watching this TV series when interviewed by the media.

　　　　Analysts believe that the broadcast of this TV series can reflect that the Iranian leadership and elites treat Israel and Jews differently. Fatehi, the screenwriter and director of Zero Turn, publicly stated: "The Iranian people have always objectively distinguished ordinary Jews from the Israeli regime."

　　　　Ahmadinejad has said more than once that Iran is not against Jews. On the 24th, when giving a speech at Columbia University, someone asked, "Do you or your government seek to destroy the State of Israel?" Ahmadinejad immediately replied: "We love all the people. We are friends of Jews. Today, many Jews live very comfortably in Iran."

　　　　According to statistics, there are about 25,000 Jews living in Iran, second only to Israel in the Middle East. According to the Iranian Constitution, minorities such as Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians enjoy equal rights as Muslims. Just a month ago, Iran built a new Jewish cultural center specifically for Jews in the country to facilitate Jews in the country to develop cultural undertakings and organize various activities.

　　　　Want to use this drama to promote Iranian civilization.

　　　　The TV series has been playing for about five months continuously, which is very intriguing. Because this is the period when Iran’s relations with western countries and Israel are tense because of the nuclear issue. There are media reports that the United States and Israel have already made military preparations to deal with Iran. Therefore, the outside world is still curious about where the broadcast of Zero Turn can lead Iran’s relations with the West and Israel.

　　　　It is reported that in Iran, national propaganda affairs, especially radio and television institutions, are in charge of Khamenei, the supreme leader of the country, and it can be considered that the broadcast of the play has been approved by Khamenei. Therefore, many analysts believe that the political message conveyed by the TV series is that Iran’s top leadership wants to ease its "anti-Semitism" image and make it clear that Iran is "against Israel, not Judaism" to make up for its damaged international image.

　　　　In addition, different people have different understandings of TV series. Amir Levy, the director of a TV satellite company in Iran, said that the main performance of Zero Turn is that although it also opposes Zionism, it mainly wants to show another theme, that is, Iran is a civilized and helpful country. Levy said that because Iran is one of the cradles of human civilization, the ancient Persian civilization was earlier than the ancient Greek and other western civilizations, so the TV series also expressed Iran’s pride in its own civilization.

　　　　Israeli media strongly criticized "Zero Turn"

　　　　Some Israeli media still expressed a lot of dissatisfaction with the TV series "Zero Turn", which was popular in Iran. Many Israelis criticize the Iranian TV series, especially the plot of "insulting" the Israeli state in the TV series.

　　　　As early as June this year, Ha ‘aretz, the mainstream media in Israel, questioned some contents against the State of Israel in the film, and said that Iran’s move was obviously for the country to continue to make remarks about "wiping Israel off the map" and "questioning the Holocaust" for propaganda.

　　　　Ha ‘aretz said that the director’s position on the massacre of Jews in Germany is very vague, which may be related to Ahmadinejad’s propaganda that the holocaust has always been a "mystery" and accused the director of violating reality.

　　　　Another Israeli media believes that the TV series is an anti-Jewish work. The review for approval said that the screenwriter claimed to have filmed according to the authenticity of history and archives, but many contents were unacceptable to Israel, especially on the issue of the relationship between Israel and Palestine. The newspaper pointed out that the play was designed based on the idea that Jews "came from where" in European countries during World War II, but this was not the case. The newspaper even accused the screenwriter of "Zero Turn" of expressing sympathy for Germany at that time.

　　　　(Zhang Le)

Editor: Fan Jing