From the JPost -

Forty-five Jews in a village just north of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, were forced to leave their homes this week due to threats from radical Muslims.

One resident confirmed the reports in an interview with Israel Radio on Monday, saying that the Jews in her village had received letters from the government warning them to flee because al-Qaida threatened their lives.

The resident said she and her friends had left the village and were currently staying in a hotel. She said they were afraid to return home, but that they nonetheless had no plans to make aliya to Israel.

A Yemeni Israeli, after speaking with his family back home, recounted a similar story, saying that the refugees from his family’s village were currently holed up in hotels in terrible condition following the government’s warning.

“They’re afraid,” he said.

Yemen, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s ancestral homeland, is known as a hotbed of the organization’s sympathizers and has long tolerated Muslim extremists.

However some believe that the threat is an isolated incident and the Jews are safe in their homes.

Prof. Aharon Giamani, a former radio broadcaster from Kol Yisrael to Yemen and an expert in Yemenite Jewry from Bar-Ilan University, called the incident ‘fleeting.’ “These are extremists threats, not threats from the government. The issue will. pass and these Jews will return to their homes,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

The Saudi newspaper Al Watan reported that last week, four masked men approached Yehie Moussa Merhavi, a member of the Jewish community, to emphasize that they will act on their threats. Merhavi said he was told that if the Jews do not leave their homes in two days, “they will only have themselves to blame” for the consequences, which will include abductions and looting.

The community has since left their homes, which they have inhabited for generations, and been forced to leave their home town under the protection of tolerant local sheikhs.

“We came to the county’s capital (Sada) to plea before the president and the government to treat us fairly, because we are Yemenites,” Merhavi told Al Watan.

Jews are a small minority in the mostly Muslim country. Most of Yemen’s Jews were brought over to Israel during Operation Magic Carpet in 1949-50, following the 1948 Muslim riots that ruined the Jewish community in Aden and killed 82 people.

“This is the last generation of Jews in Yemen and they appear to be happy there for the most part. Their isn’t much of a community, there isn’t a leadership and they consult with rabbis abroad. The government does not object to them leaving, but on the whole, they do not want to come to Israel, New York or London for that matter,” Giamani said.

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Where were the Arabs in the Holocaust?
Originaly Posted On: 2007-01-20 09:05:55

The good news is that an academic at a North African university has called for the Holocaust to be re-examined as a seminal event in Arab, not only European history. The bad news is that he prefers to remain anonymous. Review of Robert Satloff’s taboo-breaking book on Arabs and the Holocaust in the Weekly Standard by Roger Kaplan.

In December 1942, Joseph Scemla and his family, successful textile merchants in Tunis, suddenly found themselves in grave danger. The Axis armies and their French collaborators, until then in control of the southern shores of the western Mediterranean, and threatening British power in Egypt, were thrown on the defensive by the American invasion of Morocco and Algeria. (…)

With German troops pouring in, the sensible course for Tunisia’s Jews was to lie low—or get out… The Scemla family decided to entrust their property to a Muslim associate and make a run for it. Unfortunately, the associate was an informer who betrayed them to the Germans in early 1943. Three of the Scemla men—Joseph and his two sons—were taken to concentration camps in Germany, where they were killed.

The unusual feature of this bitter story involves the transfer of Jews to Germany: Most of the Jews of Tunisia and nearby lands under Nazi or French fascist control were persecuted in regional camps or prisons. In its substance, however, the story is not unusual. The Jews of the east discovered to their dismay that their neighbors were all too willing to turn into murderers when the Nazis offered them the opportunity. Willing participants or indifferent onlookers, the Muslims behaved no better during the Holocaust than the Christians of Nazi-occupied Europe…

Yet, just as in Europe, there surely were exceptions. This, at any rate, was the notion that led Robert Satloff on his quest for a Muslim Oskar Schindler or Raoul Wallenberg. (…) During the Holocaust, where were the Arabs? And more precisely, whose side were they on?

His answers are tempered by years of immersion in Arabic, Arab history, and contemporary Arab politics… Viewing themselves as the victims of modern European aggression, Arabs find it difficult to acknowledge even passive responsibility for such events as the herding of Jews into concentration camps in the Sahara, where they tortured and killed them under the orders of French or German officers.

Satloff understands the ambivalence of a Tunisian, for example, regarding the war, such as it seemed in 1941 or ‘42. Why not root for Germany? The colonial situation in North Africa was unjust and cruel and a German victory might change it. Yet this did not necessarily imply supporting appalling persecutions that, as most leading Muslim authorities knew, could not be condoned by Islam, which explicitly prohibits racism. And indeed, as Satloff reports, there were Muslims who did what they could to block the persecutions.

So why is it, he wonders, that among the more than 22,000 names inscribed at Yad Vashem as "Righteous among the nations" for saving Jews, there is not one Arab? For as he researched stories like the Scemlas’ he found that, while there were Arabs who risked their lives under Nazi noses to save Jews, none of them or their descendants claimed it had much, if anything, to do with Jews. And this was not because they viewed their neighbors as compatriots rather than as Jews—which could be seen as reflecting a strong civic sense—but because they really did not want to make an issue of the Holocaust’s reach into their lands.

But what if this notion were challenged? What if the Arabs (and the Jews) saw that their intermingled histories must include the World War II years? With a shared narrative, including stories of complicity as well as resistance to mass murder, it might be possible to rethink the relations between peoples who seem stuck in a perpetual conflict based on an impossible who-did-what-first argument.

On the surface, Satloff’s idea—his starting question—is absurd: Why should anyone expect Iran’s president or your ordinary Gaza human explosive to take the trouble to even read about the Holocaust, let alone its reaches beyond Europe? Why should a man like Hezbollah’s leader, or one of his storm troopers, even want to think about the implications of what happened in Morocco in 1942 or Tunisia in 1943 or Paris in 1944?

What happened—and Satloff is meticulous in distinguishing between what we can certify from the historical record and what remains legend and folklore—is that Mohammed V, the sultan of Morocco, reluctantly governing under a French protectorate and plotting his eventual restoration of full sovereignty, refused to apply the Vichy anti-Semitic decrees. What happened is that a Tunisian named Khaled Abdelwahhab sheltered close to 2,000 Jews in danger of deportation on his farming estate, part of which the Germans were using as barracks. What happened is that in the Grande Mosque of Paris, the "official" center of French Islam a few blocks from the Pantheon, Kaddour Benghabrit, the leader of what already was a significant French Muslim population (largely made up of World War I veterans from North Africa and their families), sheltered Jewish resistance fighters and others escaping the Nazis.

Why is not one of these individuals inscribed at Yad Vashem? The answer is of stupefying simplicity, and just for bringing this point out Among the Righteous is worth reading: The Arabs themselves do not want to be there. Satloff found that there exists a kind of collective Muslim denial regarding the Holocaust. The Muslims do not want to study the Holocaust, or the part they played in it, even if the part is heroic… [I]t is convenient for Arabs (and their Western sympathizers) to argue that, since 1948 and the creation of the state of Israel, they are paying for a great European crime. This view, recently reiterated by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (a Persian, not an Arab) to justify wiping Israel off the map, is conventional in Muslim countries.

With this mindset, the Arabs simply cannot touch a subject that would force them to recast the whole history of the past half-century by putting Jews and Israel in a fresh historical light. They are not about to deny that they saved their neighbors when they did—they liked their neighbors—but they refuse to connect this to events that, in their reading of history, were…a European injustice for which they are still paying.

Satloff found amazing examples of this attitude, such as the entire extended family of a true hero, the Tunisian nationalist leader Mohammed Chenik, a great liberal who was brushed aside by the regime of Habib Bourguiba, even though he did as much as any other individual (including Bourguiba himself) to negotiate a relatively peaceful transition to independence in 1956. Chenik saved many Jews when he was one of the primary interlocutors with the Germans in 1942-43. Today there is not a grandchild, nephew, cousin, or friend of Chenik who remembers him rescuing Jews. At one point Satloff thought he had found an Egyptian Wallenberg who served in Berlin at the beginning of the war. But not even the most liberal and cosmopolitan Egyptians, knowledgeable about their country’s diplomatic history, wanted to help him track down the facts on what would have been a case worthy of inclusion at Yad Vashem.

Robert Satloff, always the American in his optimism, notes in conclusion that, lately, Arab voices have been heard calling for a reexamination of the Holocaust as a seminal event not only in European history but in world—and thus certainly Arab—history. As one of them has written: "The genocide’s principal significance today is that it stands out as the archetype of the crime against humanity. It is the crucial relationship between the Holocaust and modernity that Arab opinion fails to understand."

Satloff would have liked to track down the author of this remarkable essay…but while acknowledging that he teaches in a North African university, the writer prefers to remain anonymous.

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Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: Egypt’s Coptic Church Demands Amending Article-2
Originaly Posted On: 2007-01-19 20:11:00

An article published today in al-Masry al-Youm newspaper reported on the mounting pressure by Egypt’s Orthodox [Coptic] Church demanding the amendment of Article-2 of the constitution.

Article-2 states: “Islam is the Religion of the State. Arabic is its official language, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).”

Speaking on behalf of the Church Anba (Bishop) Morqos is requesting that the language of the Article be changed to state: “a principal source legislation” rather than “the principal source of legislation,” which was amended to that particular language in May 1980 by the late president Anwar el-Sadat in order to appease Muslim fundamentalists.

Anba Morqos indicated that this requested amendment “would guarantee the application of other sources of legislation, and not only Islamic Jurisprudence as the principal source.”

Morqos also clarified that “laws and principles of citizenship must be those that we agree on, and not those that are forced upon us.” He indicated that Egyptian Christians are not a small minority, but rather represent 15-18% of the population based on the most recent census, and besides that they [Copts] “are [Egypt’s] sons and its owners.”

The Bishop has also requested on behalf of the church that the State enforces a constitutional guarantee of articles that criminalize the contempt and disdain for religions, and that the application of this law should apply to all religions, so it would benefit the adherents of all currently present religions.

Blogger: Hakim Abdullah
Article: UmmahFilms: Arrogant People
Originaly Posted On: 2007-01-17 18:44:46

Blogger: islamicate
Article: Oprah and the Ismailis
Originaly Posted On: 2007-01-16 11:58:45

What a tease of a title. An op-ed from Canadia about the work of the Aga Khan in developing institutions of learning Africa. Technorati Tags: Aga Khan, Ismailis, Oprah…

Blogger: Ihsan
Article: Women of Hezbollah
Originaly Posted On: 2007-01-14 17:19:00

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Israeli liberals prevent teaching of Mizrahi history
Originaly Posted On: 2007-01-09 07:23:25

Yaniv Halili, from a family of forced converts in Mashad, wonders in Y-net news, why the Israeli education system neglects to teach the history and culture of Jews from Muslim countries:

“The Israeli education system emphasized that immigrants of the Fourth Aliyah tended their gardens in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood and introduced me to the sages of Lublin. But no mention was made about Iranian Jewry, considered to be the most ancient Jewish community in the world.

“Providentially, over the years, I’ve managed to fill in the gaps in my knowledge on my own. Nevertheless, it still rankles that Mizrachi culture and history are considerably marginalized in Israel. Except for two or three token poems by Ibn Gabirol, no works by Mizrachi writers are included in the school literature curriculum. Four years ago, then Education Ministry General-Manager Ronit Tirosh suggested that a third of the curriculum be comprised of Mizrachi works. She was promptly and loudly slammed for being a populist.

“Yet, the most convincing argument was offered by several bleeding hearts, who decreed that the curriculum should be determined by quality and not quantity. The fact that one can easily identify numerous quality Mizrachi literary works did not concern these pundits.

“Even more surprising was the fervor with which these same compassionate liberals strove to add poems by Palestinian writers, such as Mahmoud Darwish, to the curriculum. As always, the leftist Ashkenazim prostrate themselves before the Palestinians, while recoiling in horror from Mizrachi culture, which may – Heaven forbid! – linger on their clothes like the scent of some exotic Mizrachi spice.

“My detractors will dismiss all this as mere nonsensical paranoia. They’ll note that these days, “everyone” listens to Sarit Hadad on the radio and eats hummus in restaurants.”

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Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: A Clairvoyant Reflection on the Egyptian Baha’i Case
Originaly Posted On: 2007-01-08 18:19:00

Mr. Is’haq El-Sheikh is a regular columnist in AlAyam daily newspaper published in Bahrain. It should be noted that this journalist is not a Baha’i. He is well known for his straight talk, his clairvoyant thought and intellectual objectivity and honesty. As he usually writes, the article was authored in Arabic, and the English translation does not do justice to its style and its literary superiority.

[TRANSLATION FROM ARABIC]

[TRANSLATION FROM ARABIC]

[Translator’s notes appear in square brackets [ ].]

Al-Ayam [Bahrain Daily Newspaper]
4 January 2007

[Column: “With the People” by Is’haq El-Sheikh]

Al-Baha’iyyah [Baha’ism] and the right to practise religious rites

The sublimity of this divine Bahá [glory] was reacting with, and having a spiritual and conscientious reflection on the movement of people in the path forged by the principle of the unity of humanity, aimed at creating eternal peace in their lives and consecrating them to a just peace on the face of the globe. From light, bursts forth Al-Bahá [the glory] in an exalted illumination, ennobling the souls [of people], calling to truth in beauty, loveliness and splendour.

From the dawn of history the heavenly [Divine] and non-heavenly religions have called for love and peace for the sake of salvation and good deeds among the people…and if the three heavenly religions call for love, Al-Baha’iyyah [Baha’i Faith], as a new religion, considers that it summarises and develops the achievement [essence] of these religious ideologies and elevates them to the spirit of the age and its feature of rapidly shrinking distances between nations and peoples, placing them in a home in one small village.

Not once–since its inception–has the Bahá’í religion taken one stand against the three heavenly religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, or any other religion. Rather, it started to spread its splendour in Bahá’u’lláh and the justice of His light, calling, reiterating and blessing–uncovering [throwing light on] the Bahá of glory of God in the heavens and on earth, through peace, love and the spreading of good-will among people…. It is as if he is repeating the Christian “Glory to God on high, peace on earth and love for all,” or the Judaic call: “Love one another, be in fellowship…thus will God love you,” or the Muhammadan call: “The doctrine of God lieth in loving people” [all paraphrased by translator]. This is what Al-Baha’iyyah means by: “This is that which hath descended from the realm of glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the Prophets of old. We have taken the inner essence thereof and clothed it in the garment of brevity, as a token of grace unto the righteous, that they may stand faithful unto the Covenant of God, may fulfill in their lives His trust, and in the realm of spirit obtain the gem of Divine virtue.”

Al-Bahaiyyah did not litter our paths with ugliness [indecency]; it did not declare hatred and enmity against our religion nor did it refute its spirit of true forbearance and tolerance; rather it has enshrined its luminous station, and cast the splendour of its enlightenment on the face of the earth in justice, love, peace and human solidarity and unity.

It was the International Declaration of Human Rights, perfected through earthly volition, promising all countries, including the Arab nations–with their customary apprehensive mistrust [sentence not completed]–that called for freedom of religion and the right of all nations to embrace a religion and a belief or not to have a belief. This, we see, is in harmony with the Muhammadan religion’s call for the right of religious freedom, and which the Holy Qur’an affirms: “You have your religion and I have mine” [paraphrased].

The purport of all of the above is to explain what has caused the indignation of all human rights proponents on the face of the earth when the sad and distressing news were reported about an oppressive and inhumane persecution of the [Egyptian] Bahá’í minority as it was deprived of the most basic of citizenship rights, following their natural right to belong to the Bahá’í religion–a right that is affirmed by all countries that are signatory to the Human Rights Convention. This has resulted in a big disappointment in the fairness of the Egyptian judiciary which has deprived them of citizenship rights. The justification for the court ruling was that the Egyptian constitution does not recognise any [religion] except the three heavenly religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism; as though laws and constitutions, that have been superseded by life and worn out by the passage of time, are holy and irrevocable scriptures that cannot be changed for the better.

It is known that the Egyptian Bahá’í minority did not ask for the Bahá’í Faith to be recognized, even though it is one of the rights of citizenship…. Its wish was simply to be free to carry out the requirement of the civil law that they must obtain identification cards without lying about their religious beliefs. Possessing such a card is a common right to which every native born Egyptian is entitled. It is indeed very strange that the custodians of the law would themselves enforce the violation of a government policy that all citizens without exception are expected to observe…. This has been pointed out by the Bahá’í Universal House of Justice in referring to the ordeal of the Egyptian Bahá’í minority; and the Universal House of Justice rightly poses this question in this regard, saying: “But to what purpose were these three religions invoked? Was it to justify the exclusion of certain citizens from exercising their civil rights? Would this not amount to a misuse of the authority of these faiths to perpetrate an injustice that offends the high standard of justice to which they hold their adherents?” [a direct quote from the Arabic translation]. The Universal House of Justice further affirms that the ruling issued against the Egyptian Bahá’í minority in not granting the personal ID was “unreasonable not only because it is contrary to prescriptions set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a signatory, but more especially because the sacred scriptures of Islam extol tolerance as a precept of social stability.”

All the democratic, enlightened and forward-thinking forces that care about the application of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights raise their voices, in solidarity and support of all religious minorities alike–those within the Judaic, Christian and Muslim religions and those without–calling for the lifting of oppression from these minorities and the integration of their citizenship in the political, social, cultural and religious life of society, the same as all citizens whose rights are upheld by the observed laws and constitutions.

The Bahá’í order is a religious, world-wide, humane, peaceful and tolerant order in its principles, rites and daily observances as well as its attitude to other religions. To wage war against it and harass it is an unethical act that contradicts the spirit of Islam and its lofty ideals of treating other religions with tolerance and humane Islamic virtues, encapsulated in the spirit of [this verse]: “Wherefore have you enslaved people when their mothers have birthed them free?” The age of slavery has gone for ever; let the hands and minds and consciences of all the religions on earth be raised up in dialogue, love and brotherly solidarity for the sake of human justice and against tyranny, persecution and enslaving other rights and religions.