Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: religious tolerance

Showing posts with label religious tolerance. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 03, 2022

Iran's persecution of Baha'i is real apartheid

Baha'i family in Iran whose home was burned down

Security forces laid siege to a village in northern Iran Tuesday and started demolishing houses and farms belonging to members of the persecuted Baha’i faith.

Simin Fahandej, a spokeswoman for the Baha’i International Community, told Iran International Tuesday that over 200 security forces were deployed to block the roads leading to Roshankouh, a village in Mazandaran Province, and begin demolition of the houses and farms belonging to Bahai’s.

According to Fahandej, security forces arrested some Bahai’s who tried to stop the operations, confiscated mobile phones of some villagers to prevent them from recording videos and publishing them on social media, and warned locals not to take any photos or videos of their operations.

A video posted on social media by the Baha'i International Community Tuesday shows security forces using heavy construction machinery to demolish buildings in Roshankouh.

Since early June security forces and the judiciary of the Islamic have intensified pressure on the followers of the Baha’i faith, raiding over a dozen households, arresting tens including three of the former leaders of the community, and shutting down businesses.

Iran's persecution of Baha'i fits Human Rights Watch and Amnesty's definitions of apartheid far better than Israel's treatment of Palestinians. This was pointed out in an article by South African Winston Nagan for PBS back in 2012: "Having grown up with the indignities of the apartheid system in South Africa, I bristle whenever I hear anyone equate a government's treatment of a portion of its citizenry to apartheid. Usually, the claims are exaggerated. But in Iran today, the government's treatment of the Baha'i community bears striking similarities."

He pointed out:

Both Blacks in South Africa and Baha'is in Iran have been excluded from being legislators.

Both have been excluded from universities.

Both have been limited under the law from building their own educational institutions.

Both have been excluded from certain jobs.

Both have had their property confiscated for no reason.

Hundreds of members of both groups have been executed for their political beliefs.

Iran has even banned Baha'i from burying their dead according to their laws. It has demolished Baha'i cemeteries and built parks and cultural centers on top of them.

Since that article, things have only gotten worse:

Under Iranian law, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians are the only religious minorities accepted. Baha'is are considered to be "unprotected infidels," according to a July 2019 report by the UN special rapporteur to Iran, Javaid Rehman.

Despite facing persecution, Bahai's are forbidden by their faith to lie about their religion. This means that the new identity card application prevents them from applying for and obtaining official identification, as they cannot claim affiliation to one of the three legally recognized minority religions.

Iran's policy towards the Baha'i is arguably worse than that of apartheid-era South Africa towards Blacks, because it is meant to ultimately ethnically cleanse them from the country altogether - something that is nearly complete in Yemen.

Even though Israel has none of the discriminatory laws against Arabs that Iran has towards the Baha'i, major human rights NGOs have decided to declare only Israel guilty of apartheid. This hurts the Baha'i because these NGOs resist using the term anywhere else for their own anti-Israel propaganda purposes. This means that the Baha'i are not able to easily use that appellation to pressure Iran to treat them better.

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Latest Iranian claims of Zionist spies more absurd than the last one (update)

Last week I noted that Iran's claim that a Zionist spy ring that they supposedly caught had been in contact with the head of the Mossad was quite ridiculous, and it makes one think that many of their claims of catching spies are more for the sake of honor than the truth.

Their latest claim of catching "Zionist spies" is even more ridiculous.

Iran's Mehr News says:

The Ministry of Security said in a statement today, Monday: "The cadres of the Ministry of Security arrested a number of members of the central cell of the Baha'i Espionage Party," and added: "The arrested suspects were directly connected to the Zionist center called 'House of Justice', which is based in occupied Palestine." .

The statement continued: "The results of the intelligence documents indicate that the aforementioned center has conveyed to the detained network the strategy of reviving the deviant Baha'i sect organization in Iran ..."

He added: "They were also assigned the tasks of spreading the teachings of Bahai-made colonialism on a large scale and infiltrating educational environments at various levels, especially kindergartens throughout the country. In addition to that, the arrested cell members had several meetings with the central staff of the Zionist Party abroad and were presenting periodic reports on the above-mentioned missions, especially the organized promotion of the fight against the veil in Iran, to the conspiracy center in occupied Palestine."

The Baha'i are persecuted mercilessly in Iran.The Baha'i International Community website says:

Baha’is, who are Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, are routinely arrested, detained, and imprisoned. They are barred from holding government jobs, and their shops and other enterprises are routinely closed or discriminated against by officials at all levels. Young Baha’is are prevented from attending university, and those volunteer Baha’i educators who have sought to fill that gap have been arrested and imprisoned.

Israel provides refuge for the Baha'i, whose beautiful headquarters is in Haifa. But if someone wanted to spy against Iran, Baha'i would be the last people one would recruit! A good spy is invisible, not a member of a hated minority.

Iran's credibility has always hovered around zero. To use Israel as an excuse to persecute the Baha'i is pretty low, though.

UPDATE: Baha'i news sources are reporting that there is a huge escalation of persecution against them. The "Zionist spy" story seems to be an attempt to cover it up.

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The other Abraham Accords benefit that the progressives won't talk about: Far less antisemitism in the Arab world

On Wednesday, Morocco's King Mohammed VI chaired a meeting of the Council of Ministers. A remarkable thing occurred:

At the end of the Council's proceedings, the Minister of Interior made before His Majesty the King, may God preserve Him, a presentation on the measures elaborated, pursuant to the High Royal Instructions on the organization of the Moroccan Jewish community.

These measures are based on the supreme responsibility of His Majesty the King as Commander of the Faithful and guarantor of the free exercise of worship for all Moroccans, all religious confessions included, and come to enshrine the Hebrew tributary as a component of the Moroccan culture rich of its multiple tributaries.

The scheme submitted to the High Appreciation of His Majesty the King, drawn up after extensive consultations with representatives of the Jewish community and personalities belonging to it, includes the following bodies:

1- The National Council of the Moroccan Jewish Community:

It is responsible for managing the affairs of the community and safeguarding the cultural and religious heritage and influence of Judaism and its authentic Moroccan values. Regional committees of the Council will be responsible for managing the day-to-day issues and affairs of the community's members.

2- The Committee of Moroccan Jews living abroad:

It works to consolidate the ties of Moroccan Jews living abroad with their country of origin, to strengthen their cultural and religious influence and to defend the supreme interests of the Kingdom.

3- The Foundation of Moroccan Judaism:

Its mission is to promote and watch over the Jewish-Moroccan intangible heritage, to safeguard its traditions and to preserve its specificities.

King Mohammed VI was always sympathetic towards his Jewish subjects, but until the Abraham Accords he couldn't have allowed an organization for Moroccan Jews abroad - for the simple reason that most of them live in Israel.

This brings up an additional benefit of the Abraham Accords: it has significantly reduced the amount of antisemitism in the media of Gulf countries and Morocco.

The ADL's polls from 2014 in the states most affected by the Abraham Accords indicated that in Morocco, 80% of the citizens held antisemitic attitudes; UAE 80%, Bahrain 81%, Saudi Arabia 74%, Oman 76%.. The Palestinian territories was 93%.

Until there is a new survey, we won't know how much the Accords have reduced Arab antisemitism, but it is a fair bet that with fewer antisemitic articles and stories in the media - and far more stories sympathetic to Jews - the attitudes of the citizens will be positively impacted towards Jews.

The progressives who never admitted that there was an Arab antisemitism problem likewise will not admit that reducing Arab antisemitism is a clear win from a human rights perspective. They try to spin the agreements as if they are somehow making human rights worse for the Arab signatories, when in fact when they are more favorably disposed towards Jews they are also more open to all non-Muslims.

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Iran upset when Muslims admit the Holocaust happened (update)

Iran's Ahl al-Bayt News Agency (ABNA), a Shiite news site whose views mimic that of Iran's leadership, reports that Saudi authorities designated Muhammad bin Abdul-Karim al-Issa, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, to perform the sermon and prayer on the Day of Arafa at the Namirah Mosque in Mecca for Hajj this year.

This is upsetting to the Iranians.

Why?

It is noteworthy that Al-Issa visited the so-called "Jewish genocide camp" in Poland, "Auschwitz", in conjunction with the commemoration of the "Holocaust".

The “Israel in Arabic” account, affiliated with the Israeli enemy’s Foreign Ministry, had published a video clip of Al-Issa as he “leads a delegation, to pray in Auschwitz, in sympathy for the dead Jews. ”

The photo accompanying the article shows Al-Issa accepting a plaque from a Jew.

The word Israel or Zionist does not appear in this article. Iran's problem with al-Issa is that he showed sympathy for millions of dead Jews.

Remember that next time Iran and its useful idiot supporters claim that Iran isn't antisemitic, merely anti-Israel. It is pretty obvious that to Iran, there is no difference between the two.

UPDATE: It isn't only Iran. A fatwa against al-Issa has been re-circulated, calling him a Muslim apostate - because he once referred to Christians and Jews as "brothers." The fatwa, by an 87-year old Saudi scholar, says that Jews and Christians are infidels and enemies of Allah and it is sacrilegious to refer to them as "brothers."

Similarly, Al-Hassan bin Ali Al-Kettani , president of the League of Maghreb Scholars and a member of the League of Muslim Scholars has also denounced the appointment.

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A stadium full of people that visit Al Aqsa every Friday - with claims that Israel makes it so hard for them

Every Friday, one sees two contradictory narratives in Palestinian media.

One says how Israel limits the number of people visiting Al Aqsa Mosque. The other says how many people went there to pray.

Today some 55,000 Muslims visited the site to worship there (and probably play some soccer.) That's a sold out football stadium of people. And just like at sports and concert venues, Israeli police check the crowds for weapons.

But no one writes articles after every sporting event and major concert about how intrusive the guards were.

Only on the Temple Mount.

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Al Jazeera catalogs every single "Talmudic ritual" attempted on the Temple Mount

Al Jazeera asked an "expert" to describe out every single "Talmudic ritual" that "extremist Jewish settlers" are attempting on the Temple Mount.

Morning prayer (Shaharit)

Afternoon prayer (Minha)

Minyan

Nanua Ritual: Shaking and swaying movements performed by settlers and shown during their prayers in Al-Aqsa.

Wedding blessing: a remarkably common custom in the last two years, as the newlyweds storm Al-Aqsa before their wedding and pray there with the blessing of one of the rabbis, then take memorial photos and dance at the door of the chain, “asking for blessing from the place of the temple,” according to their claim.

Prayer (Al-Shma): It is the recitation of the first paragraphs of “Deuteronomy” and says “Hear, O Israel, that Adonai our God is one God.” This ritual has been repeated in Al-Aqsa a lot, and has increased since 2014 until today, as the intruder puts his hand on his face with his eyes closed, and shouts in the name of God and his unification.

Blessings of the Priests: A special biblical ritual during which the rabbi (a religious leader) accompanies his students and raises their hands and spreads them over their heads, with the recitation of passages from the “Book of Numbers” in the Torah, and is usually performed by students of the school called “Har Habayit or the Temple Mount” east of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The prayer of penance It is performed before the great Jewish holidays, especially Yom Kippur, and is accompanied by wearing the white robes of penitence, in addition to the dress of serving the temple and its priests.

Raising the Israeli flag: The intruders deliberately raised the flag at Al-Aqsa during the so-called "Unification of Jerusalem" day, which precedes the Judaization dance and march. The latest scenes of raising the flag was on May 29, when settlers raised it collectively inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque between the Mughrabi Gates and Al-Silsila, in an unprecedented scene since the occupation of East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1967.

Plant offerings: During the last Jewish Throne Day[Sukkot], settlers tried to introduce what they call “vegetable offerings,” such as basil and willow branches, and they succeeded in secretly bringing palm fronds to Al-Aqsa in September 2021.

Animal sacrifices: Since 2014, settlers have slaughtered animal sacrifices (sheep, goats, lambs) around the wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, in celebration of the Hebrew Passover. The past years have witnessed the thwarting of several attempts to slaughter sacrifices in Al-Aqsa, the last of which was after intense calls for slaughter or bloodshed in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa in mid-April, coinciding with the month of Ramadan.

Puberty ceremonies (bar / bat mitzvah): at the age of 13 for males and 12 for females, the adult reads the memorized passages of the Torah, then the rabbi recites to him the “blessing” prayers, and the settlers deliberately establish them in Al-Aqsa to bind their children to it.

Daily lessons from the rabbis: They are given by rabbis dedicated to this task from the so-called "Temple Mount School", when they accompany the intrusive groups on tours and dedicated paragraphs inside the mosque.

The epic prostration (Barkhout): It means the complete prostration, and the flattening of the body on the ground by extending the hands, feet and face completely, and this represents the utmost degree of submission.

The blowing of the trumpet (the shofar): ...In the contemporary application the occupation army used it as a method of “declaring sovereignty” over Al-Aqsa, as the Rabbi of the Israeli army (Shlomo Goren) blew it on the day of the occupation of Al-Aqsa Mosque on June 7, 1967, And it continued during the biblical occasions until it stopped after the burning of the Al-Qibli prayer hall in 1969 for fear of a confrontation with the Islamic world. The trumpet was blown again inside Al-Aqsa on the Hebrew New Year in early September 2021.

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US State Department Religious Freedom Report seems to OPPOSE religious freedom for Jews on the Temple Mount

The US State Department's 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom was recently released. It has quite a large section on Israel, much of it about religious coercion by Orthodox in Israel towards other denominations.

But one theme on that and the West Bank/Gaza page was seemingly against religious freedom.

When it discusses Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, the tone of the report is decidedly negative, which is quite strange for a report that is supposed to support freedom and rights for religion:

According to local media, some Jewish groups performed religious acts such as prayers and prostration on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount despite the ban on non-Islamic prayer. The Israeli government reiterated that overt non-Islamic prayer was not allowed on the grounds of the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount. NGOs, media, and Jewish Temple Mount advocacy groups continued to report that in practice, police generally allowed discreet non-Muslim prayer on the site. The news website Al-Monitor reported in October that although the country’s two chief rabbis repeatedly said Jews were not to set foot in the Temple Mount out of concern they could inadvertently step into an area which, in Jewish law, it was forbidden to enter unless one was ritually pure. In recent years, some Jews had entered the mosque and tried to offer prayers.

No Jews entered the mosque. The State Department is adopting the absurd recent Palestinian claim that the entire Temple Mount is a mosque. (If it was, then no Muslim would be allowed to wear shoes on the entire complex!)

In August, the New York Times reported that Rabbi Yehuda Glick, whom the newspaper described as a “right-wing former lawmaker,” led “efforts to change the status quo for years” and said that Glick livestreamed his prayers from the site. The report said that although the government officially allowed non-Muslims to visit the site each morning on the condition that they did not pray there, “In reality, dozens of Jews now openly pray every day [at the site]… and their Israeli police escorts no longer attempt stop them.” The New York Times reported that Glick and activists ultimately sought to build a third Jewish Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock, an idea that Azzam Khatib, the deputy chairman of the Waqf council, said “will lead to a civil war.”

The same article said that Glick only wanted to build the Third Temple in dialogue with Muslims, not above their objections, and it would be open to all religions. Both of those facts should be relevant but the report seems to want to paint the Jews as extremists who want to forcibly take over the Mount.

According to the Religion News Service, one group known as the Temple Institute hoped to build a third temple where one of the al-Aqsa complex’s three mosques now stands and to reinstate ritual animal sacrifices. The group’s website reported that it was working with an architect on a design. In September, al-Monitor reported, “In the past, doing so [praying out loud or making movements of genuflection], could lead to the person being detained and ejected from the site, as Jews are not allowed to pray there. But more recently, a warning is reportedly more common. Last July Israel’s Channel 12 filmed Jews praying silently at the site while police officers watched.” Police continued to screen non-Muslims for religious articles. Police allowed Jewish male visitors who were visibly wearing a kippah and tzitzit (fringes), and those who wished to enter the site barefoot (in accordance with interpretations of halacha, Jewish religious law) to enter with a police escort.

On October 5, the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled that “silent Jewish prayer” on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount did not violate existing police rules on the site. The ruling was in response to a case involving a 15-day administrative restraining order against a man whom police had removed from the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount on September 29 on grounds that he disturbed public order by engaging in Jewish prayer. The judge ruled that silent prayer “does not in itself violate police instructions” that prohibit “external and overt” non-Muslim prayer on the site. Al-Monitor said the Magistrate’s Court’s ruling was “unprecedented” and “seem[ed] to question the status quo that has prevailed over the site.” The Jerusalem District Court overturned the lower court’s ruling on October 8, ruling that the INP had acted “within reason,” and “the fact that there was someone who observed [him] pray is evidence that his prayer was overt.” Minister of Public Security Bar-Lev supported the appeal, saying “a change in the status quo will endanger public security and could cause a flare-up.” The Waqf said the lower court’s ruling was “a flagrant violation” of the complex’s sanctity and a “clear provocation” for Muslims.

This report is framing the Jews who want true religious freedom as fanatics who are somehow limiting Muslim religious freedom. The supposed "status quo," which was by definition antisemitic in that it forbade Jews from prayer, is held up as an ideal.

(h/t Irene)

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A Muslim storms the Kotel and joins in Talmudic prayers

Arabic media is upset at this tweet from Mohammed al-Dhirabi, a trainer in the Council of Arab Economic Unity of the League of Arab States, who is visiting Israel.

Watanserb reported it this way:

Bragging about his Zionization, the Bahraini coach accredited to the Council of Arab Economic Unity of the League of Arab States, Muhammad Al Dhirabi, published a picture of him performing a Talmudic prayer next to a number of Jewish extremists at the Al-Buraq Wall, which the Zionists call “the Western Wall.”

Al-Dhirabi appeared in the photo, wearing a white cloak and a red shemagh, next to the wall, accompanied by a group of extremist Jews, performing their prayers.

The tweet is a greeting of Shabbat Shalom to all Jews.

Notice that the Jews have no problem with a Muslim praying at the Kotel with them. The contrast with the Muslim insistence that no Jews pray (or even visit) the Temple Mount could not be more striking.

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Qatari educational software teaches Arabs to hate Jews (MEMRI)

I've seen all kinds of Arab antisemitism, but I admit that this shocked even me.

Any "pro-Palestinian" activist who claims to be against antisemitism but who doesn't condemn this is a hypocrite.

Go ahead - ask them.

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Mahmoud Abbas says Israel politicizes religion - during his Christmas message

Mahmoud Abbas issued his annual Christmas message yesterday. As he always does, he hijacked what should be a message of peace into an anti-Israel screed.

Here's the introduction:

It is a divine blessing that this year we are coincidentally celebrating the birth of Jesus and the birth of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon them, for the first time in centuries. On this day, billions around the world celebrate the birth of two great messengers of love, hope, justice and peace.

Jesus is a symbol for all Palestinians. Palestine and its people take pride in being the birthplace of Christianity and having the oldest Christian community in the world.

Christmas is a message of hope which should prevail even during the difficult times that our nation, and the world, are facing. In Bethlehem this year, Palestinians will celebrate Christmas surrounded by eighteen illegal settlements and an annexation wall, which are taking over their land. Over the past few months, we have seen how the Israeli government has continued to consolidate an Apartheid regime by accelerating policies which destroy the two-state solution. And yet, Palestinians continue to defy the daily oppression imposed by their occupier with steadfastness and love for their country.

Those stabbers are acting out of love!

Throughout the speech, Abbas relentlessly focuses on the anti-Israel theme. He praised churches that practice BDS. He pretends to speak on behalf of the dwindling Christian population to slam Israeli defensive actions near Bethlehem.

But at the end of a speech that is nothing less than hijacking Christmas to slander Israel, he says, "The use of any religion for political purposes is absolutely unacceptable and must be fought."

Except, of course, by Palestinian Arabs.

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PIJ leader: "Palestine is land for all Muslims." Um, what about Christians?

An Islamic Jihad leader has condemned the Israeli airstrike that killed a member of his group this morning, in response to rocket fire.

One of the things he said is interesting:

Palestine is holy ground, a royal land, and it is not for the Palestinians only , but for all Muslims.

Which brings up two questions:

Has any Palestinian Christian leader ever expressed discomfort at being explicitly sidelined and dhimmified when Islamic Jihad and Hamas make statements like these?

Has any leftist "pro-Palestinian" group ever condemned the ambitions of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, whose clear goal is not to create an independent Palestine but to use it as a step in the creation of a pan-Muslim 'umma?

The answer to both can be found in the latter half of what the PIJ leader said:

[All Muslims] must release the land from the terrorism of the Zionist enemy.

As long as you frame your goals in terms of destroying Israel, who cares what your ultimate goal is? Because everyone can agree that the main goal is the destruction of the Jewish state, not the niggling details of what would replace it.