To Reach Iranians Worldwide, American Jewish Committee Launches AJC Farsi Social Media

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Jun 07, 2021, 18:04 ET

NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- To expand American Jewish Committee's (AJC's) reach to audiences in the Middle East, the global advocacy organization launched AJC Farsi today, with Persian-language social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

"The intersection of my Iranian, American, and Jewish identities makes me particularly proud to make this exciting announcement," Saba Soomekh, Associate Director of AJC Los Angeles, told the 2021 Virtual AJC Global Forum's worldwide audience. "AJC Farsi will bolster our efforts to reach Iranians in Iran and diaspora communities in the United States and around the world."

AJC Farsi builds on the enormous success of AJC Arabic's social media accounts and the An Al Yahud (About the Jews) video series, which are aimed at increasing understanding of the Jewish people in the Arab world.

Now AJC is turning to online Persian communities. "The Iranian Jewish community is the oldest in the Diaspora, going back 2700 years," said Soomekh. Born in Tehran, her family fled Iran and came to the United States in 1978. "My family realized our modern and secular country was regressing back to persecuting religious minorities under what would become the Islamic revolution. We knew we had to leave Iran to live a life free of antisemitism."

While AJC is profoundly concerned about the Iranian regime's malign nuclear activities, suppression of human rights, and sponsorship of terror around the world, it recognizes that the Iranian people are not the regime. "We know the Jewish people and the Iranian people have much in common," added Soomekh.

Through new communications platforms, AJC is seeking to build greater mutual understanding and contribute to peacemaking efforts.

Visit AJC.org/Farsi to follow the AJC Farsi Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts, and stay up to date on this pioneering initiative.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee