Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: Home Support for Egyptian Baha’is
Originaly Posted On: 2006-12-14 22:47:00

Today, in Manal & Alaa’s Egyptian blog, a post was also prominently featured calling for support of the Egyptian Baha’is in their landmark case which is to be ruled on by the Supreme Administrative Court this coming Saturday, 16 December. As one of the world’s most popular blogs Manal & Alaa ranks in “Technorati” between 1,000 and 3,000 out of millions of blogs.

The post is entitled “A stand in solidarity with the Egyptian Baha’is for the purpose of their right to document their religion, or writing-in ‘other’ in the religion section of official documents.”

Then it states:

Location: The State’s Judicial Assembly–Giza street–next to Cairo Sheraton.

Organizer: The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights + Egyptian Bloggers and Individuals Against Religious Discrimination.

Description: The Egyptian Ministry of Interior requires the citizens to acquire and carry identification cards and legal documents such as birth certificates and others…it also requires that the religion section be filled-in, and refuses leaving it blank…but at the same time it prevents the Egyptian Baha’is from documenting their religion in official documents, or obtain birth certificates for their children who are born to Egyptian Baha’i parents, and does not leave them a choice but to lie [deceive] in choosing between Muslim or Christian…even though these are religions that they do not belong to, and they demand to enter the word “other” in the religion section.

Join us in the stand in solidarity on Saturday, 16 December in front of the State’s Judicial Assembly from 10 to 11 in the morning for the right of all Egyptians to a just homeland for all its sons.

Several other independent Egyptian blogs continue their campaign in publicizing this event and in proclaiming their support for the Baha’is, such as the one by “3arabawy” and another one in a blog named “Arabist.” A simple search will divulge several other Egyptian blogs with the same message of solidarity and support.

On Saturday, the panel of senior judges sitting at Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court will have to reach a just decision based on constitutional guarantees for all Egyptian citizens. Any judgement they make will have an enormous impact on the cause of civil liberties in Egypt for decades to come, impacting many other Egyptians.

The Baha’is are simply asking to be able to exercise their rights to citizenship, to be able to obtain employment, get educated, travel, register their children when they are born, open bank accounts, drive their vehicles with a valid license, have their marriages recognized and legalized, be able to obtain pensions due to them, be able to vote and contribute to society, have their dead buried with dignity and obtain their death certificates, be able to obtain passports, and simply become recognized as human beings…none of this can be accomplished without being permitted to obtain ID Cards as well as all other required official documents. The case is not about recognizing the Baha’i Faith, it is simply about citizenship!