JEWISH HOLY SITE OF ESTHER AND MODECHIA IS DESECRATED IN ARSON

A holy Jewish Site in Hamadan Province in Iran has been set ablaze, according to the director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

The tomb of Esther & Mordechai is believed by some to house the remains of biblical Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai. It is reportedly the most important pilgrimage site for Jews in Iran. 'Disturbing reports from Iran that the tomb of Esther & Mordechai, a holy Jewish site, was set afire overnight,' ADL director Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted on Friday. 'We hope that the the authorities bring the perpetrators of this antisemitic act to justice & commit to protecting the holy sites of all religious minorities in Iran.' Greenblatt did not cite the source of the report, but other organisations have since claimed to have confirmed the attack, which a twitter exchange suggests could have been premeditated. The Simon Weisenthal Center, a human rights organization, said that Iranian activists had confirmed the attack to have occurred on May 14, the 72nd anniversary of when the state of Israel was founded. It is unclear whether the attack was related to the anniversary. The Tomb of Esther and Mordechai is located in Hamadan, Iran is believed by some to house the remains of the biblical Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai. Reports say that it was set on fire on May 14 A tweet threatening to burn the holy site down was sent in response to another tweet from Israel's Foreign Affairs' Farsi twitter (pictured) Earlier on May 14, a twitter user by the name of Mohammad Mahdi Akhyar threatened to destroy the holy site, in response to a Tweet by Israel's Foreign Affairs' Farsi Twitter page. Roughly translated, Akhyar threatened if the twitter page continued to post, 'the fire brigade will be at the disposal of Hamedan, the tomb of your stories.' The initial tweet from Israel's Foreign Affairs' Farsi twitter account, that Akhyar was responding to, said that 'The regime of the Islamic Republic is deadly in the air, on land and at sea, even more so than Corona.' A number of top-U.S. jewish groups joined the ADL in strongly denouncing the reported arson attack, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Elan Carr, US Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, strongly condemned the alleged attack, saying: ''Iran's regime is the world's chief state sponsor of antisemitism.' 'We strongly condemn the attack on the Tomb of Esther & Mordechai in Hamedan Iran, which follows a threat last Feb. against the site,' he wrote on Twitter. 'Iran's regime is the world's chief state sponsor of Antisemitism. It must stop incitement and protect its Jewish community and other minorities.' ***prbxselfnetwork***