We take a stand

Prominent academics call for end to Bahai persecutions

Balatarin
Share/Save/Bookmark

We take a stand
by Public Statement
16-Mar-2009
 

A prominent group of more than sixty professors and scholars who specialize in Middle Eastern and Iranian Studies have added their voices in protest over the persecution of the Bahais in Iran and have asked the Iranian government to accord its Bahais citizens their full civil rights and freedoms.

Statement
We, the undersigned scholars and academic specialists in the fields of Middle Eastern and Iranian studies, call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to put an end to human rights abuses against Bahais in Iran, which have been greatly escalating in recent months, and grant them full civil rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Social and Economic Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. We note with great concern evidence of an ongoing campaign to deprive the Bahais of Iran of their fundamental human rights. This all points to a worrisome development inside Iran that appears to be preparing the way for further human rights violations against the Bahais. Recent events include but are not limited to the following:

-- Arbitrary Arrests. Authorities arrested five Bahais in Tehran on January 14, 2009: Ms. Jinous Sobhani, Mr. Shahrokh Taef, Mr. Didar Raoufi, Mr. Payam Aghsani and Mr. Aziz Samandari, followed by the arrest of two Bahais in Mashhad, raids on eight homes and the arrest of Mr. Nima Haghar in Tehran on February 1, 2009. They join not only numerous individual arrested and detained in cities and towns throughout Iran, but also the seven Bahai leaders who were arrested in 2008, and who remain in prison, despite statements by the United Nations, six Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, and various human rights organizations calling for their immediate release.

-- Attacks on Bahai Homes. Authorities have been entering homes either to arrest Bahais and/or confiscate personal belongings such as photos, books, and computers. A new and troubling development is the recent dissemination of a 31-page list of Bahais in Shiraz that includes their names, professions, and home and work addresses. The list was accompanied by several quotes from high-ranking clerics, including Ayatollah Khomeini, against the Bahais, and could lead to attacks on the listed Bahais.

-- Denial of Access to Education. Since 1979, the Iranian government has enforced a ban on Bahai students from access to higher education, a recognized universal human right, and frequent restriction of home schooling to children who have been denied access to public education institutions.

-- Campaigns of Intimidation. These include the harassment of school children, government sponsored propaganda against the Bahais in the media, public seminars and symposia, the distribution of anti-Bahai CDs in various school districts throughout the country, and harassment of those who seek to help the Bahais, such as Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi.

-- The Financial and Economic Strangulation of the Bahai Community. The Iranian government has, over the course of the past decades, expelled all Bahai employees of national and local governments, and has moved to confiscate homes, businesses, financial assets, and other properties in a systematic attempt to destroy financially the Iranian Bahais.

-- Attacks on and Desecration of Bahai Cemeteries. Bahai cemeteries in Qaimshahr, Yazd, Najafabad, and elsewhere have been repeatedly vandalized and then completely destroyed.

We stand in solidarity with the Bahais and indeed with members of all religious communities who do not have full rights and freedoms in Iran.

Signed:

Ervand Abrahamian, City University of New York

Janet Afary, University of California, Los Angeles

Gholam R. Afkhami, Foundation for Iranian Studies

Reza Afshari, Pace University

Hamid Akbari, Northeastern Illinois University

Payam Akhavan, McGill University

Abbas Amanat, Yale University

Camron Michael Amin, The University of Michigan-Dearborn

Said A. Arjomand, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Muriel Atkin, George Washington University

Sussan Babaie, Independent Scholar

Ali Banuazizi, Boston College

Shahzad Bashir, Stanford University

Nasser Behnegar, Boston College

Mansour Bonakdarian, University of Toronto (Mississauga)

Michael E. Bonine, University of Arizona

Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Syracuse University

Charles E. Butterworth, University of Maryland

Houchang E. Chehabi, Boston University

Paul M. Cobb, University of Pennsylvania

Dick Davis, Ohio State University

Khalil Dokhanchi, University of Wisconsin at Superior

Fred M. Donner, University of Chicago

John L. Esposito, Georgetown University

Farideh Farhi, University of Hawai’i at Manoa

Willem Floor, Independent Scholar

Latifeh Hagigi, University of California, Los Angeles

Nader Hashemi, University of Denver

Hormoz Hekmat, Foundation for Iranian Studies

Mehran Kamrava, Georgetown University

Mehrangiz Kar, Harvard University (Law School)

Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, University of Maryland

Farhad Kazemi, New York University

Stephen N. Lambden, University of California, Merced

Kate Lang, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire

Todd Lawson, University of Toronto

Loren Lybarger, Ohio University

Denis MacEoin, Independent Scholar

Afshin Marashi, California State University, Sacramento

Lenore G. Martin, Emmanuel College

Rudi Matthee, University of Delaware

Ann Elizabeth Mayer, University of Pennsylvania

Farzaneh Milani, University of Virginia

Margaret Mills, Ohio State University

David Morgan, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Negar Mottahedeh, Duke University

Roy P. Mottahedeh, Harvard University

Parvaneh Pourshariati, Ohio State University

Sholeh A. Quinn, University of California, Merced

Nasrin Rahimieh, University of California, Irvine

Thomas M Ricks, Independent Scholar

Karim Sadjadpour, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Sunil Sharma, Boston University

Nader Sohrabi, Columbia University

Rosemary Stanfield-Johnson, University of Minnesota

Mark L. Stein, Muhlenberg College

Kamran Talattof, University of Arizona

Georges Tamer, The Ohio State University

Mohamad Tavakoli -Targhi, University of Toronto

Nayereh Tohidi, California State University, Northridge

Frances Trix, Indiana University

A. L. Udovitch, Princeton University

Farzin Vahdat, Vassar College

Fereydun Vahman, University of Copenhagen

Margit Warburg, University of Copenhagen

Madeline C. Zilfi, University of Maryland

Download the accompanying Press Release

Balatarin
Share/Save/Bookmark

 
MISAGH

Humanity has reached his Maturity

by MISAGH on Fri Jun 05, 2009 05:02 PM PDT

The reason for everyone around the world to arise and support the Baha'is suffering in Iran is the Maturity of all human beings around the world.

I don't see any difference between what Iranian Government is doing now to Baha'is with what Arabs did to believers of Islam in the past.

Let's hope soon we will have peace and unity and freedom of religion will be establish around the world. We have the right to chose what or who to believe in.

God Bless you all strong people with heart and soul and open mind.

 


  •  
NUR

Where is Juan Cole?

by NUR on Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:29 PM PDT

Why is Juan Cole's name conspicuously absent from this list of signatorees here? 

413


  •  
default

To scb

by Lover (not verified) on Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:12 AM PDT

<>

I think Ahmedinejad is more famous than Baha'u'llah (whether you like Him or not).


  •  
default

Humanity - The Thing Beloved

by scb (not verified) on Wed Mar 18, 2009 08:33 AM PDT

God bless the signers of this document, they are a credit to the soul of their nation.

We may not be able to appeal to reluctant ones like NUR, but let me add that the entire point of being Baha'i is this: HUMANITY IS THE THING BELOVED. (We don't care what anyone believes - !!) Baha'is do not, cannot vaunt their religion. Baha'is wish to coexist peacefully with everyone, even Shi'a mullahs.

Baha'u'llah, the most internationally famous Iranian of the 19th century (whether you like Him or not), spent His life in one terrible prison after another so that a new group of people would ARISE and pledge themselves to see the world as one garden, to see humanity as the flowers of that one garden. This is precisely what humanity, (including these scholars) is doing.

Unfortunately, movements toward justice always cause anxiety among those who are accustomed to the injustices dealt from their weary old systems. All great faiths in their early history experienced the same persecution and mistreatment.

Despite horrific opposition, Baha'u'llah has succeeded. Baha'is number in the millions, all over the world. He instructed His followers to treasure HUMANITY (all of it!) and to cease all discrimination by religion, race, or nationality. If NUR thought about this, he might realize he has nothing to fear from Baha’is.

We all have a duty to end torture, persecution and mistreatment. To cry out against the mistreatment of minorities in Iran is to help Iran achieve its destiny. Baha‘u’llah wrote that this destiny is very great indeed.


  •  
default

FK

by Sarkar (not verified) on Tue Mar 17, 2009 04:42 PM PDT

Now they are honorable "college" elite?! Eliticism is ok now?! What about IRI holocaust against Bahais? How come you didn't mention that?


  •  
Farhad Kashani

I’m glad that these

by Farhad Kashani on Tue Mar 17, 2009 03:50 PM PDT

I’m glad that these honorable college elite and intellectual community have finally stopped bashing the U.S and started speaking out against the real monster, the IRI.

 

Good job.


  •  
alborz

Dear BK...your observations about NUR

by alborz on Tue Mar 17, 2009 08:47 AM PDT

... is spot on and I don't envy the position that JJ is put in.

Your words of understanding and bemusement over this behavior however are sufficient for the Baha'is.  We all have challenges, and NUR's happens to be on display in his blogs and entries here, there, and everywhere.

 Alborz


  •  
default

As a Baha´i , I am deeply

by Homayoun 61 (not verified) on Tue Mar 17, 2009 08:22 AM PDT

As a Baha´i , I am deeply moved and thankful to this great and courageous act of scholars in defence of the rights of Baha´i community in Iran. After 165 years of cruelty and crime by various governments, clergy and fanatic groups, finally now we can witness the beginning of a movement that surely will lead to the manifastation of truth and finally the freedom of belief in our country.
Soon the sad records of this period of injustice and crime aginst the Baha´i community and other minorities will be the inspiring story of hundred of books and films and will let the whole world aware of the details of such a shameful period.


  •  
default

Even though...

by BK (not verified) on Tue Mar 17, 2009 05:42 AM PDT

I'm a non-religious person myself, I have never known Bahais to be violent and vindictive people, and react with aggression towards anyone, despite all the hardship and provocation they have suffered.

So, I’m a bit bemused by this NUR character who seems to have made it his life’s mission to spam every single topic and article regarding Bahais with malicious accusations and innuendo.

It's as if not only is he totally blind to their suffering, but that he(she) cannot stand anyone else raising concern about their plight either. Thus he attempts to hijack every article on Bahais here and divert it to his personal grievance, which often don’t have much to do with the particular issue at hand.

I support his right to express his views, but surely he’s made them often enough, pointlessly repeating the same verbal diarrhea over and over again, which only serve to undermine the proper focus of the discussion.

Now, who could that possibly benefit?


  •  
alborz

Your honorable stand is appreciated...

by alborz on Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:29 PM PDT

... and heart warming to Baha'is around the world and also heard loud and clear by the forces of oppression.

While the world speaks up in unison, the voice of our fellow countymen is the most melodious.

Let us hope that this Naw-Ruz and new year, the Baha'is will be reunited with their families.

And here is a video dedicated them and an expression of their enduring love for Iran.


  •  
default

Shame on you NUR

by nemah (not verified) on Mon Mar 16, 2009 08:07 PM PDT

You are neither an intellectual nor have any human dignity, decency, honesty and integrity, how would you feel if your parents and family members were Bahai's, would you still continue with your atrocious manner condoning Bahai persecution, would you still call it manufacturing documents. So long as we have people like you, I am ashamed of being a fellow countryman of yours. Perhaps Holocaust never happened either.
If we don’t protect HUMAN RIGHTS for all in Iran, we NEVER have a chance at pursuit of freedom, liberty and happiness in the land that charted the first ever Human Rights for the rest of the world.

All my best to the Bahai’s of IRAN


  •  
Behnam Khazar

Republic of Terror

by Behnam Khazar on Mon Mar 16, 2009 08:02 PM PDT

Meanwhile many of us living outside iran who on regualr basis travel to homeland still don't dare to express ourselves under our real name.  It is so much easier to right in defense of palestinian; it is so much easier not to antagonize the republic of terror.

You can feel the apathy by the number of comments to articles by Parisa comapred to this statement of support for bahai's.  

Not even the regulars at this site care that much for this issue; their silence is deafening......


  •  
default

This is indeed a sad era of

by Nader Shirazi (not verified) on Mon Mar 16, 2009 07:12 PM PDT

This is indeed a sad era of the Iranian history, and forever in the future people are going remember us Iranians as cowards who didn’t stand up to this gross violation of the human rights of our own people. We should be ashamed of ourselves for doing nothing about the atrocities and injustices done to a segment of our society, the Bahai community.
It does not matter who we are and what we believe in, we must take a very strong stand against this inhumane treatment of our brothers and sisters of the Bahai faith. We must protest them as if they are attacked by a mad dog. There is no difference, in my opinion, between the Islamic Republic and a mad dog. They are both deadly and violent.
Please do not humor me with our 5000 years history if we for we are not able to take care of our own people and protect them from the claws of the Islamic Republic beasts.


  •  
Mona 19

Thank You ...

by Mona 19 on Mon Mar 16, 2009 07:05 PM PDT

"The day is approaching when God will have raised up a people who will call to remembrance Our days, who will tell the tale of Our trials, who will demand the restitution of Our rights from them that, without a tittle of evidence, have treated Us with manifest injustice."~ Suriy-i-Muluk

My heartfelt and deepest gratitude to each and every honored member of this statement!

Kindest Regards,Mona ;)

 


  •  
NUR

Manufacturing Consent & Neo-Liberal Human Rights Manipulators

by NUR on Mon Mar 16, 2009 05:10 PM PDT

This letter, together with its list of signatories, has been Sourcewatched, mostly because over two-thirds of the signatorees on it are either presently Baha'is themselves, are Ex-Bahais, or have worked in some capacity closely with the Baha'is in the past.  Since it has been SourceWatched, this means that the Center for Media and Democracy, which hosts the site, has reason through one of its editors to question aspects of the credibility of the campaign. 

The following article, Human Rights and Media Manipulation by Michael Barker, contextualizes human rights manipulation by the agendas of North American neo-liberal foundations. This article speaks the real story of what all these letter campaigns on behalf of the Baha'is in Iran (and the manufactured consent animating it) is really all about and those agendas behind its diffusion.

413


  •  
default

Translations of this statement

by Ahang Rabbani (not verified) on Mon Mar 16, 2009 02:19 PM PDT

This statement is now translated into many languages and they are available at: //www.iranpresswatch.org/2009/03/translation-...


  •  
default

گر جمله کاینات کافر گردند بر دامن کبریاش ننشیند گرد

AB. (not verified)
Mon Mar 16, 2009 02:08 PM PDT

ابر هر قدر کثیف باشد اشعه افتاب عاقبت او را متلاشی مینماید و محو میکند.انوار افتاب حقیقت را هیچ ابری حجاب نشود.نسیم گلستان الهی را هیچ سدی مانع نگردد.باران اسمانیرا هیچ حائلی عاجز نشود...درخت بی بار را کسی سنگ نزند.چراغ خاموش را کسی تعرض ننماید. ...نظیر انکه از پیش گذشت در زمان موسی نگاه کنید غرور فرعون بنی اسرائیل را مدد وعون بود.هر چند ان ظالم اعلام کرد که موسی قاتل است.لهذا باید قصاص گردد ولی این قوت ثاثیری نداشت.فریاد کرد که این موسی و هارون هر دو مفسدند.میخواهند دین مبین شما را بهم زنند.و در مملکت اختلاف و فساد اندازند.لهذا اهلاک و اعدام انها لازمست (ان هذان لسل حران یریدان ان یبدلا دینکم بسحر هما و یذهبا بطر یقتکم المثلی) ابدا ثاثیری نکرد.بلکه نور موسی درخشید.شریعتش منتشر شد.نورانیت تجلی سینا احاطه کرد...اگر امر عادی بود کسی تعرض بر ان نمینمود...

خطابات حضرت عبدالبها,
ص .۱۹


  •