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Ahmadinejad Is Not Jewish

Iranian president's family is about as Muslim as can be

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 5, 2009 5:23 PM CDT

(Newser) – The bombshell claim that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's family is Jewish is false. The assertion was based on the fact that the family changed its last name from Sabourjian shortly before the Iranian leader's birth, and the "fact" that Sabourjian means "weaver of the sabour," which the Telegraph said was the Iranian name for the Jewish tallit shawl. In fact, Iranian Jews call the shawl tzitzit, and many Iranian Muslims have the last name Sabourjian, the Guardian reports.

Ahamdinejad's father is a longtime Koran teacher, and his mother is a "seyyede"—a person believed to be a direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad. Sabourjian actually means "cloth weaver," which is the reason the family changed it: when having a last name became mandatory, many poor, rural families like the Sabourjians adopted names that indicated their professions. When they moved to Tehran, shortly before Mahmoud's birth, the family changed the name to avoid being looked down upon by city folk.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad listens during a press conference in New York, Friday Sept. 25, 2009.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad listens during a press conference in New York, Friday Sept. 25, 2009.   (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to the media as he waits to meet the Iraqi parliament speaker, Ayad al-Samarraie, unseen, at the presidency in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to the media as he waits to meet the Iraqi parliament speaker, Ayad al-Samarraie, unseen, at the presidency in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009.   (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 12 comments
riffran
Oct 6, 2009 11:36 AM CDT
I don't get it either sal...Come on guys chill a bit
SalParadise
Oct 6, 2009 7:20 AM CDT
Not sure I understand you idiots. You want Newser to "control the trolls", ostensibly to clean up the comment sections of their posts. Well, minus your comments on this one, there are no trolls. This is not the way to fix the problem. Your supposed crusade has become the problem. Morons.
Fondue
Oct 6, 2009 3:52 AM CDT
Þar eru t.a.m. sérkennilegar gjár sem ágangur sjávar hefur grópað í bergið.

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