Pyotr Lukimson, Israel. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
I have always wondered about where new well-known Persian carpets produced in Iran come from to Israeli shops; how new books published in Tehran get in Tel Aviv book shops, as well as Iranian music CD-disks, Iranian spices, and other goods.
It appears a significant role in bringing these goods to Israel is played by Iranians who live in the US and keep good terms with American Jewish – first of all, with those who migrated from Iran. According to the official statistics, today 700 000 immigrants from Iran live in Los-Angeles. Iranians present the majority in some districts of the city. These districts are called “Little Persia.” Iranian native businessmen present 20% of residents of Beverly Hills, 40% of pupils in Beverly Hills schools speak Farsi as a native language.
The Iranian immigrants keep terms with the local Jewish Diaspora and welcome popular Israeli singers in their cultural centers. The guest tour of popular Israeli singer Rita will begin on November 1st in Los-Angeles. Rita is native of Iran and she sings songs in Farsi. The Iranian Diaspora has established a big cultural industry in Farsi in the US (bookstores, theater, 30 TV-channels, and so on). That is why, it is no surprise that some of its production come to Israel.
Israeli businessman Dani Smadari told Vestnik Kavkaza that relations between Israeli and Iranians in the US are ambiguous: “On the one hand, we have splendid business relations. On the other hand, Iranians living in the US are afraid of Israel’s sudden attack of Iran. And it influences our relations negatively. They probably don’t worry about collapse of Ahmadinejad’s regime, but they remain patriots of their country and support it enthusiastically.”
