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Roya Hakakian

Roya Hakakian is the author of two books of poetry in Persian. Her memoir of growing up Jewish in post-revolutionary Iran, Journey from the Land of No, received, among others, Elle Magazine Readers’ Choice Award.

  • Afsoon, 'One Night with Rustam,' 2011, from the Shahnameh Series
    Afsoon, 'One Night with Rustam,' 2011, from the Shahnameh Series
    Israel & The Middle East section icon
    Why They Stay

    The horror and hope undergirding Jewish life in post-Revolution Iran

    byRoya Hakakian
  • Iranian protesters hold a up a poster of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during a demonstration in Tehran against the shah in January 1979. (AFP/Getty Images)
    Iranian protesters hold a up a poster of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during a demonstration in Tehran against the shah in January 1979. (AFP/Getty Images)
    Israel & The Middle East section icon
    How Iran Kept Its Jews

    Early in his reign, the ayatollah received a secret visit from six Jews—a visit that may have saved thousands

    byRoya Hakakian
  • Members of the Syrian Kurdish Altay family in the Turkish Syrian border village of Mursitpinar try to spot their relative, Zamani Suruc, who is fighting ISIS jihadists in the Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on October 20, 2014. (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)
    Members of the Syrian Kurdish Altay family in the Turkish Syrian border village of Mursitpinar try to spot their relative, Zamani Suruc, who is fighting ISIS jihadists in the Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on October 20, 2014. (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)
    News section icon
    Rooting for the Women Fighting ISIS in Syria

    But defeating the brutal jihadist group will require international assistance

    byRoya Hakakian
  • Tehran, Iran, May 2007.(Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images)
    Tehran, Iran, May 2007.(Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images)
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    Smelly Little Orthodoxies of Iran’s Left

    The anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism of Iranian intellectuals is especially troubling for one former comrade

    byRoya Hakakian
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