sexta-feira, maio 26, 2006

Muslim Persecution of Bahá'ís

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Click to Enlarge / Click para AumentarThat looks like a Rastafarian hat in the background, but these are three Bahá'í sisters, among those arrested on May 19 in Iran for the crime of serving their neighbours. They had applied for and received all the necessary 'permits' that are required for such activity in Iran, and still ended in jail.

The crime? Teaching underprivileged children as unpaid volunteers. This was not proselytizing - Bahá'ís do not indulge in trying to make converts. This was not a mere 'tactic' - this was community service; some non-Bahá'ís involved have already been released.

I heard this story from my sister - it did not make it into the news services I use, which is something to think about too. There is coverage at the Bahá'í World News site, here: Update on arrests in Iran, and here: 54 Bahá'ís arrested in Iran.

Brutal persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran has been going on for a long time - since the very beginning of the Bahá'í faith in the mid 1800's. It gives the lie to any notion of an open Muslim society. Bahá'ís I have met talk of "escaping" from Iran and some of the stories are horrific: A man and his wife and their infant crossing the desert on a small motorcycle, barely escaping with their lives.

"Yellow Star" for Infidels
As if we didn't know eh? National Post: A colour code for Iran's 'infidels'.
I have been told that this is false news - but I don't have time just now to check into it.

Also worthwhile checking out the Hojjatieh Society (Wikipedia) a clandestine organization vehemently anti-Bahá'í and anti-Sunni.

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Posted maio 27, 2006 9:51 PM by Blogger Margarida V /  

adorei o blog, muito bom, cheio de notícias e coisas actuais.
e gosto omo misturam as linguas, algum de vocês é português?

Posted maio 28, 2006 1:42 PM by Blogger Marco Oliveira /  

Chamo a atenção que a história do "National Post: A colour code for Iran's 'infidels'" é falsa e foi desmentiada pelo próprio jornal.

De qualquer forma é curioso que tenha havido tanto burburinho por causa deta notícia falsa e quase nada aconteceu em Março quando a ONU revelou que o alto comando militar iraniano estava a fazer uma lista de todos os baha'is daquele país. Ver notícia aqui.