Religious bigotry knows no borders - now showing in Egypt

It is 2009 and RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY is still defacing Egypt (as well as Iran and some other states). There is still a long way to go for the new World order to be seen in practice. But we can all make a START, and take a stance -

"The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds..."

- Bahá'í writings

Two articles, one from Barney Leith's perceptive blog Barnabas Quotidianus (Read original here). The other from iranpresswatch (Click here to view the embedded video.)


Baha'i homes in southern Egypt burned - Baha'is expelled

by Barney on 1 April 2009

A mob has attacked the Baha'is in the southern Egyptian village of Showraniah, burned their homes and expelled them from the village.

Things appeared to be improving for the Baha'is in Egypt following the decision by the Supreme Administrative Court that will allow Baha'is to obtain ID cards without having to lie about their religious affiliation (read that story here).

Incitement by a "journalist"

Egyptian journalist Gamal Abdel Rahim, who writes for Al-Gomhoryiah (The Republic) newspaper, is one of the most vocal opponents of the Baha'is in Egypt. He advocates pronouncing all Baha'is as apostates and urges their killing.

In a TV "discussion" on 28th March between this so-called "journalist" and two Baha'is, the fearless Dr Basma Moussa and Ahmad El-Sayyid, a Baha'i from Showraniah, Gamal Abdel Rahim made provocative comments against the Baha'is. The mob attacked the Baha'is on 31st March, as a result of the TV programme, a claim made by the mob's leader, Mohammad Youssry Mohammad, in a comment on Gamal Abdel Rahim's blog.

Exceptional

This kind of attack on Baha'is, while all too frequent in Iran, is truly exceptional in Egypt. Many Egyptians - leaders of society, journalists, human rights acitvists, politicians, artists, jurists - are supportive of the Baha'is and their rights.

The Egyptian authorities must take action against the ignorant and hate-filled characters who perpetrated this outrage.

Read more

Read the whole story on Bilo's blog here.

Looting of Baha’i homes in Egypt
Posted: 04 Apr 2009 03:42 PM PDT

While the Iranian Baha’is continue to endure gross human rights abuses, another crisis is deepening for the Baha’is in the Middle East. After the recent victory for the Egyptian Baha’is in reinstating their civil rights through access to legal documents, they now face intensified persecution in the South of their country. The video below shows the burning of Baha’i homes by an incited mob in the village of Showraniyah in the province of Sohag in Upper Egypt. Iranian Baha’is face similar dangers as has been shown in the attempted looting of Baha’i houses in Semnan.
Media report on the looting of Egyptian Baha’i homes at http://www.bahai-egypt.org/2009/04/graphic-details-on-burning-of-bahai.html

Click here to view the embedded video.

Find out more about the Egyptian crisis at http://www.bahai-egypt.org/

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