Early in April 2026 the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in South Africa   posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) propaganda for war.  The post states:

“The U.S. Regime is implementing the policies of the Zionist regime.”

Accompanying the post is a digitally created image of a rat wearing a kippah or yarmulke (Jewish religious head covering) pointing forward while riding atop a large eagle in flight. The caption to the image bore the text “Who holds the reins?” and the subtitle “The U.S. seeks to implement the policies of Israeli Zionists.”  The rat has peyyot (curly sidelocks worn by Hassidic Orthodox Jews) and the kippah has a large Magen David (Star of David)

The symbolism is unmistakable and we have seen it before. The rat wearing a kippah represents Jews and the bald-headed eagle is associated with the USA. The eagle, a traditional symbol of American power, is shown being ridden and directed by the rat. The message is that Jews as a people covertly control and direct American foreign policy. This is a classic antisemitic conspiracy trope with deep roots in Nazi propaganda. In Nazi Germany, the portrayal of Jews as rats was a central component of dehumanisation propaganda used to justify persecution and genocide.  The deliberate choice of a rat wearing identifiably Jewish religious clothing removes any ambiguity about the target of this imagery. It is classic Nazi era propaganda art.   There can be no evasion or dishonest obfuscation about the rat referring to Zionists and not Jews.  The traditional peyyot or sidelocks of the rat evoke the centuries old European ghetto Jew stereotype, beloved of antisemitic caricatures.

An international working formulation of antisemitism was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (“IHRA”) by 35 member countries in 2016. It has been accepted by numerous governments and institutions such as universities.

The definition includes:  “Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective, such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.”  The depiction in images of Jews as rats is specifically mentioned in the Canadian Handbook on the IHRA definition.

Historically, the Nazi propaganda imagery using rats to symbolise Jewish people is well known as a powerful depiction of antisemitism. A propaganda film in 1940 “Der ewige Jude” (“The Eternal Jew”) a work produced under Joseph Goebbels contained lengthy comparisons of Jewish people with rats, particularly their association with disease, filth, and vermin.  This process of dehumanisation was calculated and formed the ideological basis for the Nazi genocide.  “Der Stürmer ” the Nazi publication as early as 1927, before the “Final Solution”, depicted the fumigation of rats as akin to Jews.

Hate speech is outlawed in South Africa. Section 16(1) of the Constitution which provides for freedom of expression explicitly excludes “(a) propaganda for war; (b) incitement of imminent violence; or (c) advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. “  Furthermore the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 prohibits the publication or communication of words, or the display of any image or symbol, that could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to be hurtful, to incite harm, or to promote or propagate hatred on the basis of, inter alia, race, religion, or ethnic or social origin.

DIRCO, the South African foreign office has not been reluctant to sanction foreign diplomats for far less. After US Ambassador Brigety in 2013   publicly stated that South Africa was supplying arms to a Russian ship at the Simon’s Town naval base, DIRCO handed him a demarche expressing its utter displeasure. The US Ambassador had to issue an unreserved apology for failing to follow diplomatic channels.  In 2026 US Ambassador Bozell was issued a demarche by DIRCO for criticising a court ruling declaring the chant “kill the Boer” is not hate speech.

DIRCO declared Israel’s Charge d’Affairs Ariel Seidman persona non grata and gave him 72 hours to leave South Africa. The reasons cited by DIRCO were unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practices by failure to inform DIRCO of visits by Israeli officials and insulting the State President on official Israeli social media platforms, thereby constituting a challenge to South African sovereignty.

None of these actions and statements were incitement, hate speech or religious dehumanisation.

Iran has been weaponising antisemitism as an incitement to terror against Jews worldwide since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 when Ayatollah Khomeini seized power.  Over the last 47 years the Islamic Republic of Iran has waged a relentless war against Israel which it calls the small Satan and the USA which it calls the Great Satan. This war is both physical and political. It has built a network of terror in the Middle East through the Houtis in Yemen, Hamas in the Palestinian areas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, in the Sahel territories of Africa and worldwide.  Iran has been implicated in various terrorist attacks internationally, notably the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires killing 85 people and injuring 300 others.

Antisemitism and Nazism is at the core of the Islamist regime of Iran. Three state sponsored Holocaust cartoon contests have been held in Iran in 2006, 2016 and 2020.  Featured were Jewish blood libels, conspiracy theories and praise for Hitler.  In 2020 an official poster was published calling for the Final Solution against Israel.

The Iranian regime seeks to use violence, repression and terror to seize control in the world and impose political Islam. Despite UN Security Council Resolution 1373 aimed at fighting terrorism after 9/11 the response by the world, save for the USA has been weak.  Appeasement by the West has proved ineffective and it will be the next victim if it does not take a strong stand. This begins with condemnation of the images such as this war propaganda post.

The historic targeting of the USA by Iran prior to the current war cannot be overlooked. Iranian militia or groups backed by Iran have killed US soldiers multiple times in the Middle East. These include the 1983 barracks bombing and attacks in Iraq and Syria involving drone strikes. The US attributes decades of terrorism against US civilians to Iran.

In our era of non-racism and human rights, international human rights organisations are duty bound to call out this racist hatred and mobilise public opinion among democratic and freedom respecting nations.  This is a red alert to these defenders of humanity to expose this image as inciteful of hatred and to prevent further acts of random violence against Jewish communities, synagogues and organisations worldwide.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)