Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: Defense of Baha’is: New Site Up, Running & Active
Originaly Posted On: 2007-07-08 17:23:00

The authors of the new site named “The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights” have fixed the technical error with Internet Explorer (IE), which was encountered when clicking on any one of its links or comments tabs that caused the link to hang and not to respond. Partly because of that issue, apparently many readers were unable to make comments on the posts so they resorted to make comments on the parent site “MIDEAST YOUTH” instead, which thus far has 62 comments on the post announcing the initiation of the new site. In order to read these comments, which are quite interesting, you may click here.

Furthermore, in order to know more about the authors, the background and the motives behind this new site, you may want to read the FAQ section at this link.

In it, they write: “This network is composed of Arab and Iranian Muslim students and interfaith activists who do not approve of Baha’i human rights abuses within the Arab and Muslim world. We took it upon ourselves to do something about it, and we accept the risks and responsibilities behind setting up such a network to help and support our Baha’i brethren.”

With the technical error now fixed, accessing the comment page is quite smooth, regardless of the type of browser one uses. The authors of the site are to be thanked for their efforts in maintaining and upgrading their site, which is now drawing heavy readership that includes strong support as well as some attacks and opposition from Islamist extremists. Their work demonstrates their unrelenting dedication to righteousness and justice, and it confirms their tenacity and courage in carrying out what they believe to be the right path.

Blogger: Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead
Article: Christian Minorities in the Islamic Middle East
Originaly Posted On: 2007-07-07 01:22:59

According to the Assyrian International News Agency:

Welcome to The Religion Report.

Stephen Crittenden: The plight of Christian minorities in the Islamic Middle East is one of the 20th century tragedies to which we pay least attention.

From the Copts in Egypt, to the Maronites, the Melkites in Lebanon, Orthodox and Chaldeans, the Christian population of the Middle East is a fraction of what it was, and more vulnerable than ever. Nowhere is the situation worse at the moment than in Iraq. And few groups are more vulnerable than the ancient Assyrian Christian community. In fact, this week the Italian journalist Sandro Magister, has warned of the end of Christianity in Iraq.

In early May in a heavily Christian suburb of Baghdad, a Sunni extremist group began broadcasting a fatwah over the loudspeakers of the neighbourhood mosque: the Assyrian Christian community had to convert to Islam or leave, or die. Their Muslim neighbours were to seize their property.

The men were told they had to pay the gizya - the protection money Jews and Christians traditionally had to pay to their Muslim overlords - and families were told they could only stay if they married one of their daughters to a Muslim.

More than 300 Assyrian families have fled, mostly to the north into the Kurdish region of Iraq where they are not welcome either They are sleeping in cemeteries, they have no food, more than 30 of their churches have been bombed, their children are being kidnapped and murdered.

Assyrians, Awareness, Blog, Iraq, Religion

Share This

Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: Iran Examined by the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights
Originaly Posted On: 2007-07-03 20:33:00

In its latest post today, The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights addresses the persecution of the Baha’is of Iran. In its post titled “Iran must end its mistreatment of Baha’is,” the Network states the following:

“On behalf of all the other Muslims who allowed for this to happen, by either being silent or by directly contributing to this human rights abuse, we would like to apologize. The Baha’i Faith in many ways remains to be a forbidden one in our societies until we officially recognize it as a religion, which its members should be able to practice as a right to religious and individual freedom. We stand by our Baha’i brothers and sisters through this struggle, and demand that this right be recognized by our governments, our people, and our school systems. We would like to see the day that our friends can say “I am Baha’i” with pride without facing any consequences or discriminative behavior. Muslim activists within Iran in particular must help the Baha’is within the country take this much needed step forward.”

The post is accompanied by a video of the 20/20 TV program, regarding the systematic persecution of the Baha’is of Iran, which was broadcast in 1983 on ABC television. It also links to a 110 page report compiled by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center.

To read the full article, please click here….

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: New book recalls lost world of Jews of Egypt
Originaly Posted On: 2007-07-05 09:10:00

Liliane Dammond’s recently published The Lost World of the Egyptian Jews: First Person Accounts from Egypt’s Jewish Community in the Twentieth Century (New York: Universe, 2007 $22.95) provides an in-depth, fascinating glimpse of the rich, cosmopolitan, and now largely ‘lost’ world of the Egyptian Jews (With thanks: Sarah K)

A collection of oral histories gathered on two continents and over a period of five years, the book documents the flourishing and dispersal of this vibrant and unique community.

Jews lived in Egypt without interruption since Biblical times. Their community—consisting of southern and northern European, Middle Eastern, and indigenous Jews—knew an apogee in the first half of the twentieth century. The establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the 1967 Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel cumulatively led to the eventual exodus of the majority of the 100,000 Jews who had lived peacefully and happily in Egypt.

Dammond’s book, amplifying Andre Aciman’s memoir, Out of Egypt, offers the stories of ‘working women’ as well as women “born to power and wealth”; of men suspected of Zionism and interned in 1947, as well as of men who maintained their businesses in Cairo until after the 1967 War. It paints a portrait of extended families living in a sunlit, fragrant world of cousins, uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents. Educated at French and British schools (Lycee Francais, The English School, La Goutte de Lait, Victoria College) the Jews of Egypt saw themselves as partaking in both European and Middle Eastern culture; true cosmopolitans, they experienced the mélange of identity that characterized Levantine culture at its height.

Among the lives that unfold in Dammond’s book is that of Colette Palacci Rossant—daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur who lived in the Garden City section of Cairo. Rossant, who spoke Arabic, French, Greek, and Italian, reports that her grandfather “considered himself Egyptian,” wearing a tarbouche and carrying worry beads; she herself spent part of her childhood in a convent where she was baptized and took communion. Dammond includes two interviews with members of the little-known Karaite community, a Jewish sect that does not follow the Talmud or rabbinical teachings, adhering instead solely to the Torah.—Dr.Ghi Massouda, who studied at Eins Shams Medical School in Cairo, and Esther Ovadia Abdallah Mourad, the daughter of a cotton farmer who also served as the Karaite community’s rabbi, performing “circumcisions, marriages, and all the important ceremonies.” Albert Guetta, Emile Harari, Josette Cohen Amhi, and the compiler’s father, Selim Shallon –all these and more people the pages of this unusually rich book.

Many of the individuals whom Dammond interviewed between 1993 and 1998 have since died; the records she has made of their lives are thus invaluable documents of an era that has vanished. Other interviewees continue to live vibrant lives in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, and Milan. Brought together in this volume, their voices intermingle again as they once did in Cairo and Alexandria. Dammond’s taped interviews are housed in the archives of the Oral History Division of the Hebrew University’s Institute of Contemporary Jewry in Jerusalem. This book of transcribed and edited narratives (completed with the assistance of Yvette M. Raby, an Iraqi Jew ) makes these stories available to anyone who is interested in this largely forgotten—but still vital—community.

Blogger: Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead
Article: Jerusalem, my enternal love
Originaly Posted On: 2007-07-07 13:27:06

My family is from Jerusalem, a city that has been under occupation since forever by everyone, even the Israelis. I know some Israelis get angry when I refer to “East Jerusalem” (I know because in one of my recent columns in the Jerusalem Post Newspaper where I write now, some readers attacked me for using the phrase). It’s ridiculous, of course, and not all Israelis feel that way. But that extremism, and maybe driven by hatred, is there nonetheless.

Some Israelis insist that they have “united” jerusalem, although I am not sure if Jerusalem is really united at all. Israelis often claim that East Jerusalem, the Old City, was closed off to Jews, but that is not completely true, either. East Jerusalem was closed off to “Israelis” and anyone who carried an Israeli passport by the Jordanians, because Jordan and Israel, like most of the Arab countries from 1948 until 1967, were at war.

Similarly today, East Jerusalem is closed off to Christians and Muslims. It’s not the open city Israel claims it to be. It is closed only because of politics. Christians and Muslims who live in the West Bank and not allowed to enter the city. Even Christian and Muslim residents of East Jerusalem who do not have an ID issued by Israel who then leave the city are not allowed to return. It’s a political battle and its ugly and its filled with hypocricies and political anger from both sides. Israel frequently denies Palestinians from entering the city, too.

That said, to open the city, I’ve been taking my video camera to Jerusalem during my last two visits to document the beauty of the city, not just Arab East Jerusalem which will one day be free, but also Jewish Jerusalem, or West Jerusalem, which was once an Arab city but is today a city populated almost exclusively by Jewish Israelis. (My family is originally from Romema in West Jerusalem, off Jaffa Road. In West Jerusalem, there is a street there that once was a major thoroughfare that has been turne dinto a cul-d-sac called “Hananya Street” which is in honor of my family. It links off of the popular nightlife street called Emak Rafaim, which is beautiful, and means “street of ghosts.”) Many of the homes in West Jerusalem are referred to by Israelis as “that Arab home” not in a derogatory manner but to acknowledge the design of the home. My favorite restaurant, Caffitt, is located on Emak Rafaim Street. It’s a great place to hang out.

By the way, just because I mention these facts, they are not intended as anger against Israel or the Palestinians. Both sides have done some terrible things to each other. But the realities are the realities. One day Jerusalem will be a free city, truly free, when Palestinians and Israelis learn to live together. It will happen, someday. But until then, I have created my own memorial of photographs and video documentaries that you can watch online. If you are allowed to visit the city by the Israelis, you’ll see some wonderful remembrances. if you are denied entry into Jerusalem by the Israelis, well then, you can still enjoy the beauty of Jerusalem.

The web page for IMAGES OF JERUSALEM is www.ArabAmericanTVOnline.com. Click the IMAGES OF JERUSALEM link on the upper right hand corner of the web page, which is my archive of some 75 video documentaries I have produced on Arab World and Arab American life.

IMAGES OF JERUSALEM features several walking tours of the Souq in the Old City, interviews with Souq shop owners, and even an actual haggling between a customer and a shopkeeper. The tour of Jerusalem is a walking tour and I carry the camera around videotaping images. All of the videos are about 30 minutes long. I also have a 3 minute video clip set to music of me riding a camel at the Jaffa Gate.

I’ll be going back there in late November to do another Comedy Tour and the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour “Search for the Funniest Palestinian Comedian” contest. (Right now, we’re going to focus on the Palestinian side but later will expand to the Israeli side.)

I know everyone will enjoy the videos regardles sof your politics.

– Ray Hanania

Arabs, Blog, Culture, Israel, Palestine, Palestinian Israeli, Photography, Travel, Videos

Share This

Blogger: Chaldean Thoughts
Article: Priceless Pictures of The Iraqi Christians’ History
Originaly Posted On: 2007-07-02 10:30:00

Thank you so much to Iraqi Mojo, who shared these pictures with us. The complete collection can be found on Mideast Image Web site.

Read the cutlines to understand the diversity of the Iraqi Christian community. I now understand the meaning of the word “Priceless.” These pictures are definitely priceless.

Source: Mideast Image

Photograph of the Celebration of the Christian Catholic feast

Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: New Site: The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights
Originaly Posted On: 2007-07-01 11:05:00

A new site, still in a draft form, has just been created. It is titled “The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights.” It’s authors are “Muslim interfaith activists who are deeply concerned with the treatment of Baha’is within the Middle East.” The authors host the well-known MIDEAST YOUTH and the ME Faith websites. In this site’s first post, it states the following:

Why this website?
June 29th, 2007 by Admin

Many of you are probably wondering why a Muslim network in defense of Baha’i rights exist. The answer is very simple - the best way to promote tolerance, human rights, religious freedom and respect is to rally for a cause that doesn’t necessarily affect you. When you strongly believe in a value, you should apply it to all people equally regardless of their faith, cultural differences, political stance or nationality. If within your country this doesn’t happen, as a loyal citizen you should actively enforce that such rights be met for the sake of a better and more productive society.

In this network, there are a few things that one should keep in mind:

. The authors are Muslim interfaith activists who are deeply concerned with the treatment of Baha’is within the Middle East.
. We don’t believe in the Baha’i faith. But there are minorities within our societies who are practicing Baha’is and for that, their rights are very rarely recognized, simply because of their religious differences.
. We created this site to demand that the rights of Baha’i minorities is recognized by not only people, but by law.
. We respectfully demand that all governments within the Arab and Muslim world allow Baha’i citizens to have equal opportunities in all fields and to practice their faith freely without facing any threats or discrimination whatsoever.
. We would like to make the general public of the region be aware of Baha’i human rights abuses in order to take effective action against it. We can only successfully achieve the goals of this website if we move our citizens towards real action, no matter what our religious differences are. We are all civilians in need of basic rights, and thus we should join forces regardless of our differences and unite in a celebration of our diversity. Join us in this worthy struggle and make our goals a greater possibility in the name of freedom.

These authors are to be recognized and appreciated for their courage, clarity of vision, audacity and intellectual honesty. They truly reflect the pure essence and nature of Islam.

On another note, this blog “Baha’i Faith in Egypt” celebrates its one year and one month anniversary. The first post, entitled “Independent Religion,” was published on 1 June 2006. One might ask: why one year and one month? the answer is quite simple: as I am not much into celebrations, it was simply forgotten to commemorate the one year anniversary, but was reminded today that this landmark had already passed, hence the anniversary is remembered now….

Blogger: Cherguis’ whispers
Article: Ramadan 2007
Originaly Posted On: 2007-06-10 03:43:00

Moroccan religious calendar being a lunar one, dates of the main events are changing every year. Ramadan in 2007, will start on 13th of September, “Inch Allah’, and end on 12th of October.

This is a very special time in Morocco, the Holy Month means a lot for most of Moroccans. But, religious or no, all Muslims must observe its rules, or they risk to spend some time in jail in this life, and stay in inferno the the after-one. And that’s not a joke, the risk or being signaled to the police and detained if you don’t respect the rules are real. Some Moroccans don’t respect Ramadan, but in the privacy of their home, behind closed curtains.

Ramadan preparation starts 40 days before. It’s a time when alcohol, already normally prohibited, is strictly and totally prohibited, among other things. Tolerance disappears and drinking alcohol becomes a worse sin than usual. During Ramadan, alcohol will actually not be sold any more to Muslims (in normal times, though prohibited, it happens everyday).

This year, this period will be at the same time as the electoral campaign (elections will take place on the 7th of September).

Ramadan ends with Aïd El Fitr, “the small celebration”, called with reference to Aïd el Kebir, the sacrifice celebration. Actually, celebration is every night, one visits his neighbors, friends, poor people are invited and fed, charity is distributed…

Life starts very early in the morning, and slows down in the day, and gets back in the evening, an hour after sunset (the first hour being for the first meal and prayers).

Less noticeable in the big centers, these changes are really visible in the South, in the small villages (and apart Ouarzazate and Zagora, everything in the South is a small village), where it can be impossible to find a shop opened to buy a bottle of water or a simple snack….

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Discussions with Libya on lost Jewish assets fail
Originaly Posted On: 2007-07-04 08:19:00

The honeymoon between Libya and the Jews seems to be over now that Colonel Gaddafi has not fulfilled his promises to compensate them for their lost property, according to Nathan Guttman writing in The Forward.

“A year after the White House dropped all sanctions against Libya, relations with the African nation are once again becoming a sore subject, with Congress and Jewish groups both calling for new punitive measures against the government of Muammar el-Qaddafi.

“Last week, the Senate approved a measure that cut all funding for the construction of a new American embassy in Tripoli. A few days earlier, B’nai B’rith International had led opposition to Libya’s nomination to head the planning committee for the United Nations anti-racism conference, scheduled for 2009.

“Libya was first invited back into the good graces of the Western world in 2003, when Qaddafi agreed to end his nation’s nuclear program and strengthen relations with the West. The Libyan regime made particularly notable overtures toward Israel and the extensive community of Jewish refugees from Libya. (…)

“The rapprochement was presented in Washington as a model for ties with the Arab and Muslim world. But the hostile messages from the Senate and from Jewish groups suggest the degree to which the model has faltered.

“A separate prong in Libya’s warming relations with the West came during discussion with Jewish groups. In 2003, Jews of Libyan origin were invited to meetings with Libyan officials in which they were told of Qaddafi’s wish to see them return to their country and to build a new and promising relationship.

“A year and a half ago, the Libyan leader openly declared that he would be willing to discuss compensation for private and communal property that belonged to Jews in Libya. Yet as time passed, the discussions turned out to be fruitless and the forums were all but dissolved. Other discussions, regarding requests for preservation of Jewish heritage sites in Libya and commemorating the pogroms against the country’s Jews, also reached no conclusion.

“We are far from reaching our goals,” Stanley Urman said. Urman, executive director of Justice for Jews From Arab Countries, which is an advocacy group working for recognition and compensation for Jewish refugees, believes that the difficulties in resolving the issues relating to Libyan Jews reflect the larger political problems between Libya and the West.

“According to one Jewish official, who requested anonymity, the Libyans saw ties with the Jewish community as a way to improve their image in Washington, but as the formal ties with the United States have soured, the interest in the Jewish case also has declined.

“The latest cause for difficulties is the United Nations anti-racism conference. Libya was named to lead the planning for the conference, which has traditionally been a stage for criticizing Israel.

“While Libya initially showed signs of openness to Israel, little materialized on this front, and today Israelis would not be able to enter Libya if the conference were held there.

“B’nai B’rith International harshly criticized the decision to give Libya planning responsibilities.

“With its historic anti-Zionist agenda and poor human rights record, we question why Libya would be given the lead responsibility for planning the 2009 conference,” the B’nai B’rith statement reads.

“Sybil Kessler, the organization’s director of U.N. affairs, said that “Libya’s performance as chair of the preparatory committee can be a good indicator of how serious they are in showing moderation.”

Read article in full

Blogger: Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead
Article: The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights
Originaly Posted On: 2007-07-01 10:02:12

We are happy to announce our latest project, a website where Muslim activists fight for Baha’i rights. We explained why we decided to launch this project in the first post, where we stated -

Many of you are probably wondering why a Muslim network in defense of Baha’i rights exist. The answer is very simple - the best way to promote tolerance, human rights, religious freedom and respect is to rally for a cause that doesn’t necessarily affect you. When you strongly believe in a value, you should apply it to all people equally regardless of their faith, cultural differences, political stance or nationality. If within your country this doesn’t happen, as a loyal citizen you should actively enforce that such rights be met for the sake of a better and more productive society.

In this network, there are a few things that one should keep in mind:

The authors are Muslim interfaith activists who are deeply concerned with the treatment of Baha’is within the Middle East.
We don’t believe in the Baha’i faith. But there are minorities within our societies who are practicing Baha’is and for that, their rights are very rarely recognized, simply because of their religious differences.

We created this site to demand that the rights of Baha’i minorities is recognized by not only people, but by law.

We respectfully demand that all governments within the Arab and Muslim world allow Baha’i citizens to have equal opportunities in all fields and to practice their faith freely without facing any threats or discrimination whatsoever.

We would like to make the general public of the region be aware of Baha’i human rights abuses in order to take effective action against it. We can only successfully achieve the goals of this website if we move our citizens towards real action, no matter what our religious differences are. We are all civilians in need of basic rights, and thus we should join forces regardless of our differences and unite in a celebration of our diversity. Join us in this worthy struggle and make our goals a greater possibility in the name of freedom.

It’s almost ready, right now the layout needs one final touch which is the banner. I hope you guys will find this project useful.

Activism, Announcements, Arabs, Awareness, Blog, Civil rights, Good news, Interfaith, Islam

Share This