Blogger: The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights
Article: Reform Middle East: ?Unity is the Answer?
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-26 18:12:30

On November 17th, we issued a call for short essays for ideas towards reform and improvement of life in the Middle East. We’re pleased to share below one such essay by one of our readers, Prof. Khalil Khavari. We’re grateful to Prof. Khavari and hope his thoughts would encourage others to contribute to this important dialogue.

We wish to also note that views expressed in these essays are those of the writers and are not necessarily endorsed by our Network. We’re simply a catalyst for dialogue.

The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights.

Unity is the Answer – an essay by Khalil Khavari.

Problems in the Middle East are special case of the universal problems that face humanity. The most troubling impediment to solving problems of all kinds is a disunity that divides the family of humanity, saps its vital energies, and prevents it from marching toward a glorious destiny.

“Let’s solve our differences, so that we can be united,” is the rallying call of the Peace Movement. These people of goodwill realize that unity holds the key in making the earth a reflection of heaven. The Baha’is are fully supportive of the call for unity. In fact, the three one-nesses: the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of people constitute the bedrock of the Baha’i Faith. Baha’is believe, however, that it is by far more pragmatic for the family of humanity to becomes first united and then collectively address and solve problems and disagreements. Where there is unity, equality for all, and goodwill, everything is possible, while where disunity rules, nothing of substance that servers the common weal is achievable.

In order to achieve unity, certain fundamental provisions, such as those in the Bill of Rights with further stipulations. In summary, all people, men and women, irrespective of any and all demographic or personal considerations should be granted their God-given rights. People should be free in the fullest sense of the word.

Blogger: Chaldean Thoughts
Article: Iraqi Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-25 16:37:00

Source: Ankawa Online

When Pope Benedict XVI elevated Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly to the rank of a cardinal, I knew the Pope was highlighting the plight of the Iraqi Christian community. The Associated Press reports what I already knew:

Among them was Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly, 80, who received special mention in Benedict’s homily.

“By calling the patriarch of the

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Jews should claim right of return to Mecca, Medina
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-29 10:48:00

Applying UN and Palestinian logic to the refugee problem, Jews would be within their rights to demand to return to Mecca and Medina, argues Joseph Klein in Front Page magazine:

“Several key facts are left out of this fictional Palestinian narrative. First and foremost, the very essence of the Jewish state – based on reason, openness and a democratic system of government that believes in freedom of conscience – stands in sharp contrast to the absolutist, repressive strains that permeate the closed societies of its Islamic neighbors.

“Then there is the history of the conflict that the Palestinian narrative so conveniently ignores. The Palestinians could have had their own independent state sixty years ago if the neighboring Arab countries had not forcibly rejected the UN’s original plan for partition of the British Mandate territory of Palestine into a Jewish state, an Arab state and a small internationally administered zone including the religiously significant towns of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The Palestinians are still refusing any such solution today.

“In the days after the General Assembly vote approving the partition plan, various Arab attacks left Jews dead and wounded. There were shootings, stonings, bombings, arson and rioting, including attacks on the consulates of Poland and Sweden who had voted for partition. Little has changed. If the Palestinians do not get everything they ask for, they immediately resort to violence.

“The Palestinian narrative on the refugee situation is also misleading. As documented by eyewitnesses and by statements of Palestinian and other Arab leaders themselves at the time, most Palestinians who left their homes in 1948 did so voluntarily. They were following the advice of the Arab leaders who promised that they would only have to be away from their homes a few days until the Jews were driven into the sea. For example, the Jordanian newspaper Falastin wrote on February 19, 1949:

“The Arab States encouraged the Palestine Arabs to leave their homes temporarily in order to be out of the way of the Arab invasion armies.”

“As one refugee was quoted as saying, “The Arab governments told us: Get out so that we can get in. So we got out, but they did not get in.”

“The 156,000 Palestinians who did stay behind and their offspring became full Israeli citizens, with voting rights and representation in the government irrespective of their minority non-Jewish status. Arabs have been elected to the Knesset, served on the Israeli Supreme Court and held other high government positions. If their rights are violated, they have recourse to the Israeli courts to seek redress. Arab citizens living in Israel share nothing in common with the blacks who lived in apartheid South Africa, no matter how hard the Palestinian propagandists insist otherwise. The blacks living in apartheid South Africa were excluded altogether from any participation in governing the country in which they made up the majority of the population. They lived and worked under strictly segregated conditions with no legal recourse for the wrongs that were inflicted on them daily.

“As for the refugee situation, there were more Jewish refugees who were forcibly expelled from the Arab countries than there were Palestinian refugees who had left behind their homes in Israel. According to United Nations statistics, 856,000 Jewish residents fled their Arab homes in 1948 as compared to an estimated 711,000 Palestinian refugees who fled Israel in 1948. Many more Jews were forced out of Arab lands since. In Egypt, for example, there were around 75,000 Jews living there in 1948. Today, there are no more than 100. There were around 135,000 Jews living in Iraq in 1948. Today there are around 15. There were about 35,000 Jews living in Libya in 1948. Today there are none. The United Nations has not spent a dime on Jewish refugees from the Arab countries, while the annual budget for taking care of Palestinian refugees through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is approaching a half billion dollars a year.

“Few of the estimated 711,000 Palestinian refugees who fled in 1948 are still alive. Yet, in an exception to the normal definition of who qualifies to be considered a refugee, the United Nations has characterized all of the descendants of these refugees as refugees themselves. This redefinition has swelled the total number of Palestinian refugees to more than 4 million. Rather than be accepted as full citizens by their Arab ‘brothers’ in the surrounding Arab states, they live on the UN dole as stage props for the Palestinians’ melodramatic narrative of suffering at the hands of the Israelis.

“All we hear about in the Palestinian narrative is the right of return for these descendants to move back to the homes of their parents, grandparents or great grandparents in Israel proper. We hear nothing about the right of Jewish refugees and their descendants to return to their centuries-old Jewish homes in Egypt, Iraq, Libya and other Arab countries. Indeed, if we were to apply the UN’s open-ended definition of a Palestinian refugee to the Jews forced out of Arab lands, the descendants of Jews whom Mohammed forcibly expelled from the Saudi peninsula should be allowed the right of return to their ancestral homelands in Mecca and Medina.”

Read article in full

Blogger: Point of no return
Article: Livni makes fleeting mention of Jewish refugees
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-28 07:55:00

At the Annapolis conference Israeli Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni made a fleeting mention of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, but did not stress that they had been resettled by Israel, only that they ‘longed for Israel’. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not mention Jewish refugees at all, but empathised with ‘Palestinian suffering’.

WASHINGTON – “I did not come here to argue whose cause is more just,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni to the audience of high-profile delegates in one of the last speeches delivered at the Annapolis peace conference.”Our hands are extended in peace to the entire Arab world without exception,” she continued, going on to ask Arab nations to relinquish the use of the ‘Naqba’ (The Disaster) in referring to Israel’s birth.

Do not weep for the creation of Israel, she asked of the Palestinians, build your nation and Israel will join you in your joy for its establishment. (…)

“Livni spoke of the “thousands of years” of history tying “my ancestors” to Israel and her personal belief to the Jewish people’s right to the land – “now it is time to talk of another right – the right of our children to live in peace.”

The foreign minister noted that the two-state solution was far from being a new idea and recalled the 60-year anniversary of the historic UN vote to partition then British-mandate Palestine into two nation-states.

Palestinian refugees, wherever they may be, she said, long for this nation-state just as all the Jewish refugees forced out of Europe and Arab countries longed for Israel.

Livni also urged Arab nations to step-up efforts to combat terrorism. “That should be the main focus of the world leadership in general and the Arab and Muslim world in particular. This is a decisive moment, a moment where we must all choose sides. And this is no longer about Arabs on one side and Jews on the other. In this one camp are all those who sit here today; Jews, Muslims and Christians, Israelis, Arabs, Americans and Europeans.

“Those who chose not to come here, those are the nations that support terror and radicalism; those who invoke God to sow hatred and send children to be killed.”

Livni said that while Israel is interested in normalized relations with all Arab nations, it would not be forced into paying for recognition. “I have heard those who say that Israel must pay for normalization of ties with Arab states. That concept - where normalization is a prize of sorts, which has to be ‘given’ to Israel only after a comprehensive peace is achieved between it and its neighbors – that, gentlemen, is a mistake,” she said.

Read article in full (Ynet News)

In The Jerusalem Post David Horovitz reported that Ehud Olmert’s words empathising with ‘Palestinian suffering’ marks the first time any Israeli leader has shown ‘understanding for Palestinian terrorism’:

“Israeli leaders down the decades have rightly blamed the Palestinian leadership and the wider Arab world for the ongoing plight of Palestinian refugees and their descendants in blighted refugee camps. But Olmert, strikingly, empathized with their suffering - their “wallowing in poverty, neglect, alienation, bitterness and a deep, unrelenting sense of deprivation.” He even said he knew that this “pain and deprivation is one of the deepest foundations which fomented the ethos of hatred towards us.”

“This is a remarkable statement, and certainly comes closer than any other mainstream Israeli leader has ever moved toward showing understanding, though not justification, for the Palestinian argument about the roots of terrorism.”

Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: Egypt: Resolve Towards Equity, Justice and Human Rights
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-27 17:55:00

Baha’i rep. Dr. Basma Moussa (front-right) seated next to Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Two days ago, Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) began its convention addressing the crisis of “citizenship.” Invited were representatives of the Christian (Coptic), Muslim and Baha’i religions, as well as all government ministries, agencies and civil authorities. On opening the convention, NCHR’s president, Dr. Bouros Boutros-Ghali, called for the formation of a permanent national anti-discrimination league. The league would be charged with the elimination of any form of discrimination based on religion, gender or ethnic origin. It would be similar to other international agencies such as the ones in Morocco, France and the United States of America.

Today, Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper published an article in which it announced that the Human Rights Committee of Egypt’s Parliament [Maghlis Al-Shaab] has decided to invite the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the president of the National Council for Human Rights to work on proposed corrective legislation in response to the various reports released by regional, national and international human rights organizations.

This parliamentarian committee will study and implement the recommendations put forth by the National Council for Human Rights. It will also examine and respond to the many complaints filed by Egyptian citizens residing in and outside the country. The committee will adhere to international human rights standards, in particular those of the African and Arab region. It will also share the outcome of its deliberations with the members of the parliament so that the parliament’s opinion can be promoted among the public, both nationally and internationally.

Clearly, this development appears to be a very positive one. It implies that the findings and recommendations of the National Council for Human Rights–a government-appointed advisory council–are indeed enforceable through actions of the parliament. Also, equally important is that the parliament is seriously considering and addressing the findings of other regional, national and international human rights organizations. Egypt is to be congratulated on this very significant and progressive milestone towards a stable and equitable civil society.

Blogger: Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead
Article: Weekend in Beit Jala
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-23 07:37:50

The Center for Emerging Futures/Global Village sent me an email about an enticing weekend in Beit Jala. 35 Palestinians and 35 Israelis. How could I resist that? I’ve never heard of this organization before but now was a good time to check it out. With Hubby in Canada, it was a tad more difficult organizing the kids to band together without me but they did it - eventually.

How does one get to Beit Jala, a Palestinian village, without a car? It is just outside of Bethlehem, about a 5 minute drive south of Jerusalem but there are no buses there, at least none that I know of. So I took the bus to Malcha Mall, tried to look for an Arab taxi driver (funny - most Jews look for Jewish drivers) and asked him to take me there. After we haggled over the price, he drove me to the Everest Hotel. He wondered what was a nice Jewish woman running off in the sunset to Beit Jala? I told him about the weekend and he was happy to hear that there were such things as weekends with Israelis/Palestinians together.

The Everest Hotel is a family-run hotel, run by Christian Arabs, on the highest hill in Beit Jala, overlooking Jerusalem, Herodian and Bethlehem. It looked like a run-down hotel from the outside - it certainly wouldn’t get many visitors if it were on the Israeli side - the tables in the diningroom were simple and chipped; the rooms inside small but pleasant with well-worn but clean bedding. I was just glad we had hot water and flushing toilets. I was put in a room with an Israeli woman from Haifa.

Some familiar faces were already there - people I met through interfaith or in Camp Tawonga in the US - from Jenin,Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah. I thought it amusing that I knew more Arabs than Jews. There was only one Israeli that I recognized - Laughing Alex from Laughter Yoga.

The weekend was very structured and highly organized. We shared in groups of three, of two, in the big group of 70, around tables in the dining room, switching tables and groups so often that you pretty much got to know and speak to all of the people there, which was great. I enjoy that better than being stuck with just one group for the entire weekend.

I remember hearing from one pretty woman from Bethlehem who told me that her son, who is nine years old, had never been to the sea before. She got them a permit to go into Israel and for the first time, she and her son went to Tel Aviv and he was just amazed at the beauty of it. She was frustrated that she lived so close to the sea but couldn’t get to it. I also live close to the sea and don’t get to it more than once or twice a year but it is my choice, isn’t it? Another share I heard was that in pre-1948 this man’s family were rich landowners. When the Israelis took over, his family was removed from their Jezreel valley area land to a refugee camp in Jenin. They became poor and, subsequently, when this man fell in love with his cousin, her father didn’t allow her to marry him because he was now poor. So he blames the Israelis for his lost love.

It was getting close to Shabbat and I wanted to light Shabbat candles. I figured I’d be the only one doing this and asked the organizers if I can do this in front of the crowd. They looked at me like I was a bit crazy for asking but made the announcement that there was going to be candle lighting for the Jewish Sabbath when everyone was seated. I explained that Jewish women light Sabbath candles in order to bring light into the world and said the blessing and translated it into English.

One of the Bethlehem women came over to me to tell me that this touched her heart and I was so pleased to hear that.

But there were others whose heart it didn’t touch.

That evening some of the Palestinians were angry with me for living over the Green Line.

“HOW CAN SHE BE FOR PEACE WHEN SHE LIVES IN A SETTLEMENT?!” exclaimed one of the men to the others, as someoneone translated his outbursts for me. I guess not too many people from my neighborhood don’t rush out to meet Arabs in droves, but there are quite a few of us who do.

It was difficult to explain my point of view to a people who believe that the only thing blocking their way to a better, less-strangling life and a Palestinian state is any land over the 1967 borders - which also includes neighborhoods in Jerusalem annexed to Israel like Ramot and French Hill and Gilo in the south of the city. I tried to explain that the 1967 borders were politician-made, not people-made. Weren’t they also living beyond 1967 borders pre-1948?

“At least I’m not living in Ramat Aviv Gimmel in Tel Aviv where the Israelis destroyed an Arab village in order to build the posh Tel Aviv neighborhood and I am not living in West Jerusalem in an abandoned Arab home, as they do in Baka or Talbieh! I feel ok where I am because pre-1967-pre-1948; there was nothing there!!”

He shrugged his head, waved his hands up in the air and walked away.

A man from the West Bank town of Marda near the Jewish settlement of Ariel came over to talk to me.

“As long as you live over the green line, people here will not get close to you. They will not trust you completely. I respect you, I really do, but when you can move over the green line, we can then talk better. People are angry with you - like that man over there. Look at the other Israelis making better connections with the people here, because where they live is no problem for us. Where you live, it’s a problem.”

“But Peace Now even said that 95% of this city where I live (Maaleh Adumim) was not Palestinian owned before 1967 so it was totally barren. And I live in the section furthest away from Azariah where there was bound to be some Palestinian-owned land in Maaleh Adumim.”

He didn’t buy it. “Everything in Palestine was owned by Palestinian families. Everything.!”

He went on to explain that the settlement of Ariel took 40 dunams of land away from his family when they built their city and he was quite angry about it.

“they didn’t buy it from your family?”

“No they didn’t. They just took. And if my wife finds out I’m sitting here tonight talking to a settler, she’ll kick my ass!”

Hard for me to comprehend that if everyone just packs up and leaves to beyond the borders of 1967 there will be peace. I think it is just an illusion. I tried to explain that I don’t believe in borders - period. There shouldn’t be 1948, 1967, 1973 borders anywhere. We all should be free to live wherever we want. I told him I envied the Europeans who had fought so bitterly with one another throughout the centuries but have very porous borders and can just freely travel through this area of the world. Many Israelis would love to travel to Damascus and Beirut and I’m sure many in the Arab world would love to travel to Tel Aviv or Haifa (but most mention Tel Aviv in their dreams).

Later on that evening, the mood got lighter. There was a hafla. I brought my belly dance belts but not for me - I put them on the men and they danced with them. There were too many men and I didn’t want to dance like a “harlot” so I waited until some of the Palestinian women got up to dance and I danced with them, moving mostly my hands instead of my body, even though I wanted to “shake it” because the music was just so good, so I didn’t.

But that didn’t stop some of the older Palestinian men, who pulled me over to tell me something.

“Without love there is no peace (pronuncing the word ‘peace’ as ‘beace’)” he beamed at me. “Your husband is very lucky. We love your shape, especially your back.” which was a polite way of saying “I had a nice ass.” But they didn’t come off sounding skeevy, rather I felt admired - and for a woman like myself, being over 50 years old, I didn’t mind the compliment at all.

During the closing circle, I told everyone that I’m a peace addict. And the effects of the drug of peace is so strong that it last longer than any pharmaceutical drug. And I can’t get enough of it. And it’s a healthy drug - one that everyone should take….

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Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt
Article: Iran Imprisons its Youth for Initiating Socioeconomic Projects!
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-22 17:44:00

The following message was just received regarding the imprisonment of three Baha’i youths in Shiraz. They were sentenced to four years of imprisonment. Their only crime is: initiating and participating in socioeconomic projects that serve their co-citizens.

“Dear friends,
I have received this news through one of my friends. Unfortunately 3 Baha’i youths of Shiraz were imprisoned the day before yesterday after a verdict based on participating and initiating a social and economic project in Shiraz more than one year ago. These 3 Baha’i youths have to spend 4 years of the best years of their lives in prison. Yet, I am sure it is to their utmost desire to suffer a small portion of what Baha’u'llah suffered in this world. One of them, Miss Haleh Rouhi, is one of my close friends. Please send this news to any Human Rights association you know.”

The two videos below are posted in respect for these noble human beings. The first film is a prayer chanted by the Baha’i youth of Shiraz, Iran. The second is a documentary on the desecration of Baha’i cemeteries near Isfahan, Iran.

Chant by the Baha’i Youth of Shiraz

Persecuting the Dead

Blogger: Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead
Article: Information about the Yezidi Kurds
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-17 19:37:13

First, thanks to Esra’a for inviting me to join this website.

The Yezidis (”yuh-ZEE-deez”) are a Kurdish sect living in the Nineveh province of modern-day Iraq. Their religion is pre-Islamic and pre-Christian, yet it has absorbed certain qualities of both faiths. It has also absorbed elements of Zoroastrianism and Sufi mysticism. It is a matter of debate among scholars as to just how old the Yezidi religion actually is, but it is possible (though not proven) that the people and their faith are descended from ancient India. In any case, it may be that Yezidism is the original pagan religion of the Kurds.

Yezidis believe in a Supreme God who “gave birth” to a number of lesser divinities - called angels or daemons (in the original Greek sense) - in much the same way that a flame gives birth to candlelight. The number of angels is usually given as seven. Since the angels are emanations of God, not just creations, it is thought by the Yezidis that they are God, expressed in plural forms. God is believed to have taken the form of a giant bird who laid a cosmic egg or pearl, from which the entire universe was hatched; this echoes an ancient Egyptian myth in which the creator god Amun took the form of a benu bird and gave birth to the universe through a cosmic egg. After the universe was hatched, God and the angels proceeded to create life on thousands of different worlds, only one of which is our own.

Now there came a time, after human beings had been created, when the Supreme God decided that rulership of the universe should be given to the angels, that God might go off and create other universes. But to do this, it was necessary to test the angels to see which of them was closest to God and most able to take His/Her place as ruler of the angels. So God commanded the angels never to worship anyone or anything but their Creator. Then God said, “Bow down and give worship to Adam.” Each and every one of the angels immediately obeyed, except for one. When God asked the angel why he disobeyed, the angel said, “I will never worship anyone or anything but You.”

God was secretly pleased with the angel, but the test was not yet over. So God cast the angel out from heaven, whereupon the angel descended into Hell. When he got there, the angel cried and cried so much that his tears became a great ocean, and the water extinguished the fires of Hell forever. When God saw this, he rejoiced and he praised the fallen angel, for the angel had been the only one to pass the test. He had been the only one to reason a path of truthfulness instead of blindly following others (by refusing to worship Adam), and he had defeated loneliness, pain and death with his compassion (by flooding Hell with his tears). So the fallen angel was restored to his place in the celestial hierarchy, and God made him the Chief of all angels and the caretaker of Creation. The angel became known as Melek Ta’us (”mel-ECK DOWSE”), which means “the Peacock King” or “Peacock Angel” in Kurdish.

So Melek Ta’us became a sort of benevolent demiurge, who acts as a “firewall” between this world and Heaven. The book of Al-Jilwah, which is the primary sacred text of the Yezidis, is believed to be his divine revelation, which was given to the world through his prophet, Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir. The revelation says that Melek Ta’us is the omnipresent ruler of the universe; no place in Creation is without his presence. He is ever-present to help and guide those who are in need of his help. He says that he allows “everyone to follow the dictates of his own nature” (Chapter I), indicating that it is his will that people should have different colors, different religions, different sexual preferences, etc. Furthermore, those who worship Melek Ta’us are expected to be respectful toward those who are different.

Naturally, the idea that Melek Ta’us once fell from heaven has caused many Christians and mostly Muslims to identify the Peacock Angel with “Satan” or “Shaitan,” the idea of an evil Adversary who is always plotting against God and humankind. This could not be farther from the truth. The fallen angel of the Yezidi did not rebel out of hatred, but out of love for God, and he was forgiven and reconciled with the Creator. Furthermore, the book of Al-Jilwah teaches that there is absolutely no conflict between Melek Ta’us and God or the other angels or even Jesus Christ. It teaches that Christianity, Judaism and Islam, as well as every other religion on earth, contain the basic teachings of Melek Ta’us, though the religions might seem different on the surface. And it also teaches a very healthy respect for the Biblical prophets and apostles.

Yezidis pray five times a day; once at dawn, once at sunrise, once at noon, once in the afternoon, and once at sundown. Each of these prayers are to be recited while facing the sun, for the sun is the visible manifestation of Melek Ta’us in heaven. The noon prayer, on the other hand, is to be recited while facing Lalish, the primary sacred site of the Yezidis. Lalish is a mountain valley just north of the Iraqi city of Mosul, and it is there that the holy prophet Sheikh Adi was buried in his tomb. Each Yezidi is expected to make a six-day pilgrimage to Lalish at least once in their lifetime. Wednesday is their holy day, but Saturday is the day of rest.

The Yezidis have castes in their society, and they are strictly endogamous; Yezidis are only allowed to marry other Yezidis. They do not proselytize or accept converts, as proselytism is considered to be against Melek Ta’us. Another reason for this is because they believe that they are descended from Adam only, and not from Eve.

However, they also believe that Melek Ta’us is not their sole property, and that he belongs to everybody. In some cases, it is even believed that he appears under different names and guises in other religions, such as Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism and the angel Michael in Christianity. Therefore, non-Yezidis are free to worship Melek Ta’us if they please, but they must only worship him if they are being true to themselves in doing so. They must also be careful to point out that they are not Yezidis by ethnicity, and they must refrain from proselytizing.

The only notion of an afterlife that is outlined in Yezidism is reincarnation, while is taught in Al-Jilwah. However, reincarnation is considered desirable by Yezidis, unlike how it is perceived in Hinduism. There is some indiciation in Al-Jilwah that Melek Ta’us punishes after death those who do evil during their lives on earth, but since he himself destroyed Hell, there is no such thing as eternal punishment after death. Nobody will ever be punished eternally.

Because many Muslims believe that Yezidis are “devil worshipers,” the Yezidi people have been violently persecuted regularly for hundreds of years. To some extent, it is probably a miracle that they still exist today. In fact, one of the worst tragedies of the Iraq War was targeted against Yezidis earlier this year. On August 14, 2007, Islamic terrorists drove trucks filled with high explosives into a Yezidi village, killing anywhere from 400 to 600 people. Considering their history, I feel reasonably sure this won’t be the last time the Yezidis are targeted by such people. My purpose in sharing this information is to spread knowledge about the Yezidis and to (hopefully) generate global support for them. It is my hope that something can eventually be done to help these people and to keep them from being wiped out.

More information and links about Yezidism and a Western application of its tenets may be found on my blog, the URL of which is in my profile. Or, if there are any questions anyone might have, I would be more than happy to answer them. I will do so to the best of my ability.

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Blogger: Persecution of the Baha’is of Iran
Article: More attacks on the Baha’i Faith
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-04 11:36:00

Fars News Agency interviewed Mr Hedayat’ullah Behboudi –the editor of the quarterly magazine published by the Political Study and Research Institute (PSRI) about the series of recent publication against Baha’i Faith in Iran. Mr Behboudi clearly stated that the Political Study and Research Institute will continue to publish articles and information about the Baha’i Faith and Baha’is in Iran. However, all of their previous publications have been found to be both untrue and misleading. The Fars News Agency interviewer indicated that all these materials had been prepared with very limited or little to no reference to Baha’i resources. As matter of fact, the majority of articles were prepared using books and/or articles that were written by individuals who had resigned from the Baha’i Faith and were criticising the Baha’i Faith.

The activities of the Political Study and Research Institute are very distressing. By presenting fallacies about the Baha’i Faith they are doing a great injustice to their readers. They continue to breed ignorance that intensifies the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran.



The Fars News Agency site: http://www.farsnews.ir/

Blogger: Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead
Article: Who is God?
Originaly Posted On: 2007-11-11 18:59:09

As some of you may know, I believe that the world is ripe for a new ideological framework; what I call An Ideology of Common Sense. Instead of believing what we want to believe, it may well be time to begin believing in what makes sense. If the world is already coming together technologically and economically, it makes sense to come together ideologically as well, in order to pave the way for the unprecedented level of cooperation that a world economy will require. And so, I would like to devote a few posts to the idea of An Ideology of Common Sense, and with your kind indulgence, I begin with God.

It may not be politically correct to talk so openly about God. Who am I, after all, to even begin to explain the mystery that is God? And yet, we may have no choice but to begin talking about such things, because in the absence of common sense talk, people tend to grab hold of notions which make no sense, and which can easily threaten our very existence on this good earth. Some may say, “Let’s blow ourselves up in God’s name.” I say, “Let God speak for Himself, and when He does, I suspect He’ll use the language of Common Sense, as has been His custom since the beginning of time.”

So we begin with first principles. Does God exist? I think He does. How do I know this? Well, scientists theorize that some 13.7 billion years ago there was a great explosion, appropriately named The Big Bang, which brought the universe into existence. Before The Big Bang there was nothing. And after, there was everything. So to my mind; whoever or whatever caused that explosion to happen is certainly “godlike,” in every sense of the word, and is therefore God. Call it The Big Bang, or a force of nature, or a random confluence of events…call it what you will, but whoever or whatever caused the universe to come into being is God. This mode of analysis is reminiscent of Thomas Aquinas’ five proofs for the existence of God. I thought up of it myself; I want you to know, only to find out that Aquinas beat me to the punch some 700 years ago. Must have been quite an ambitious little fellow, God bless his soul.

What else do we know about God? Um…pretty much nothing. That’s right folks, you heard it here first. We really don’t know anything about God other than the fact that He created the universe. Listening to us talk, you’d think that we knew everything there was to know about God. But if we are true to ourselves, we really don’t. And in that vacuum of knowledge, since we know nothing about God, we proceed to create Him in our own image.

Here’s how this craziness works:

• God created the universe.
• As part of His creation, God created us in His image.
• Therefore, we are creators as well.
• As part of our creation, we choose to create God, in our image.
• Since we are imperfect, we taint God with our imperfections, and fashion Him to suit our needs.

So what’s wrong with this picture? By tainting God with human frailties, we can easily delude and manipulate ourselves into believing that God would have us do all sorts of crazy things, in the same way that we convince ourselves to act loony with respect to one another. And once we come to believe that we are acting in God’s name, no less, how difficult it becomes to curb our enthusiasm for the nasty things we choose to do.

And so, I got to thinking: What concept of God would make more sense? In answering the question: Who is God; I would say, with all due respect for other opinions and beliefs, that I think of God as the sum total of all the creative energy in the universe. In other words, since all we really know about God is that He created the universe, then it would make sense to associate Him with that creation, and with the various forms of energy that it took to bring that creation about, including: radiation, heat, electricity, kinetic energy, and of course, the energy of intelligence.

Does it help us to make sense of things to say that God is the sum total of all the creative energy in the universe? I think it does. For example, if someone asks, “Do you have a personal relationship with God?” you could say, “I certainly do. His creative energy flows through me, and mine flows through Him.” If someone asks, “Why is there evil in the world?” You could say, “God is the Creator of all things. If He wanted to create good, He had no choice but to create the possibility of evil, because we could not know what is good without also knowing evil, good defining itself by its juxtaposition to evil.” If somebody says, “Let’s kill one another in God’s name,” you could say, “Since God created each and every one of us in His image, when we choose to kill one another, aren’t we, in effect, spitting at God’s face?”

It is time to make sense of things. Don’t you think? And the one thing we were given to bring about a semblance of order to this world is the notion and the language of Common Sense.

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