Many of you will know that the Baha’i community in Scotland is doing all it can to raise awareness of the cruel fate of the seven prominent Baha’is who have each been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the Iranian authorities. Religious leaders from all of the faith communities in Scotland have signed a letter of support calling for this injustice to be righted. It has been decided to hold a vigil next Saturday August 28th by St. Mungo Museum in Cathedral Square in Glasgow to remember all those who are suffering for their faith by focussing on this particularly stark injustice. I am very grateful to the Museum and Glasgow City Council for so swiftly giving permission for this event.

The vigil will begin at 3pm and go on into the evening and all are invited to come, even if only for a few minutes or to send a message of support. A Facebook page (www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=101284086598931) has been set up for the event where you can also post messages of support.

I would like to thank everyone for their warm and generous support. It means a lot to these prisoners that people around the world of different faiths are concerned about them and working for their release

with best wishes

Allan Forsyth

Secretary

Baha’i Council for Scotland

Baha’i World News has a special report about the seven which you can access at news.bahai.org/human-rights/iran/yaran-special-report/

Archbishop Elias Chacour, who is both a Palestinian and a citizen of Israel, has told a large gathering in Edinburgh that a just and peaceful future in Israel and Palestine depends upon education.

The average age in the area he lives, said the Archbishop, is 14 years, and many young people have been deeply scarred and shaped by the history of occupation and eviction. Transformation of lives and understanding is vital, he suggested.  Chacour is the Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Noted for his efforts to promote reconciliation, he is the author of two books about the experience of Palestinian people living in present-day Israel – including the best-seller Blood Brothers, which broke boundaries in the UK by being published by a major evangelical company.

The archbishop said that his strong commitment to nonviolence in the face of what to many appears to be an intractable conflict was something flowing naturally “first of all from my commitment to Jesus Christ… and also to the dignity of my people. I am an inferior citizen”, he declared, referring to the second class status of Arabs in Israel, which defines itself as a Jewish state. The land, he said, should be for the nourishment of all.

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THE government of Yemen and its people are vociferously anti-Israel. Three of the country’s members of parliament were on the aid flotilla to Gaza that was lethally raided by Israeli commandos at the end of May. They were later given a hero’s welcome home. Yemenis rarely protest publicly against their own miserable circumstances at home. But when tensions rise in Gaza, they happily hold parades in Sana’a, the country’s capital. Comedies on television often feature stupid Israeli soldiers outwitted by plucky Palestinians.

Yet Yemenis also say they appreciate the heritage of their country’s Jews. In the Great Mosque in Sana’a’s ancient city, a guard, whispering as pious men pore over Korans, points out Jewish carvings. In the village of Jibla, south of Sana’a, locals show the star of David on an ancient synagogue, now a mosque. Market traders boast that their wares are made of traditional Jewish silver. A stern police officer gives a permit to a Jewish-American to let him visit an old Jewish village.

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A group of American Muslim leaders who recently returned from visiting the notorious Nazi concentration camps at Dauchau and Auschwitz have roundly condemned Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.  Their public statement came after a trip organised earlier this month (August 2010).

The visit was was led by Rabbi Jack Bemporad of the Center for Interreligious Understanding in New Jersey, and was co-sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Germany.  In their statement, the Muslim leaders say that denying or justifying the Holocaust violates traditional Islamic ethics.  They declared: “We condemn anti-Semitism in any form. No creation of Almighty God should face discrimination based on his or her faith or religious conviction.”

The leaders also pledged to continue the struggle against prejudice and hate speech affecting Jews, Muslims, Christians and all people facing attacks on the basis of their religion, race or ethnicity.

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The harsh prison sentences handed down to seven Iranian Baha’i leaders who are absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing is a judgment against an entire religious community, the Baha’i International Community said today.

Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, whose Defenders of Human Rights Center represented the Baha’i defendants, said she was “stunned” by the reported 20-year jail terms.  “I have read their case file page by page and did not find anything proving the accusations, nor did I find any document that could prove the claims of the prosecutor,” said Mrs. Ebadi in a television interview, broadcast on 8 August by the Persian-language service of the BBC.

Full story.

Civil liberties have been severely restricted in the UK over the last decade, which anyone who values free expression should find worrying. But we should be worried regardless of whether the people affected are Christians. Jesus has not taught his followers to be concerned only for people who agree with them.

Anyone wanting a level playing-field should recognise that the UK is a country in which over 99 per cent of faith schools are Christian and in which bishops get to vote on legislation in Parliament (a situation almost unique in the world). These are the vestiges of Christendom, the situation that prevailed for centuries in which Christianity was closely allied to political and cultural power. The gradual passing of Christendom gives us a great opportunity to look again at the real nature of Jesus’ message.

Those who call for a level-playing field might be taken more seriously if they were to stand up and call for the removal of the bishops from the House of Lords and the disestablishment of the Church of England.

British Christians could witness to Jesus’ values of love in action and servant leadership by voluntarily giving up the privileges which are denied to non-Christians. What a powerful message of love that would send out to others. Sadly, it is a message that much of the Church seems reluctant to hear.

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The Economist, Aug.12, www.economist.com/node/16793362?story_id=16793362

The law in several countries, mostly in the Persian Gulf but also in the Maghreb and parts of Indonesia, provides for stiffer penalties for those who break fast in public, ranging from fines to flogging. Take article 222 of Morocco’s penal code, dating from the era of the French protectorate, which states that “a person commonly known to be Muslim who violates the fast in a public place during Ramadan, without having one of the justifications allowed by Islam [such as travelling or sickness], shall be punished by one to six months in prison,” as well as a fine.

Last Ramadan, a small group of young Moroccans calling itself the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms decided to hold a picnic near Casablanca, the country’s commercial capital, to protest against this law. They argue that article 222 clashes with Morocco’s international obligations and its constitution, which guarantee freedom of conscience. They were arrested before getting a chance to take a bite.

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Top Iran footballer sacked for not fasting

Voice of the Copts, Aug.15, voiceofthecopts.org/en/news/top_iran_footballer_sacked_for_not_fasting.html

Popular Iranian footballer Ali Karimi, sometimes described as “the Maradona of Asia,” has been fired by his club for not fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the club said on Sunday.

Steel Azin FC said on its website www.steelazin.com that it was “forced to sack one of its players, Ali Karimi, for being disobedient and not fasting during Ramadan,” when devout Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.

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The National Council of Churches USA, its Interfaith Relations Commission and Christian participants in the National Muslim-Christian initiative, have issued a statement to mark Ramadan calling for respect rather than bigotry.  It follows a growth in anti-Muslim sentiment in parts of the country, and controversy surrounding the proposal for a mosque as part of an interreligious site at Ground Zero, where thousands lost their lives as a result of the 9/11 terror attacks.

NCCUSA chief the Rev Dr Michael Kinnamon has personally supported the siting of the mosque with a theological and humanitarian appeal.  The statement particularly singles out for disavowal hate speech and hate actions from hard-line church and Christian groups in the USA.

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Cordova House and Mosque at Ground Zero is a gesture of neighbourliness and healing.  For thousands of families, Ground Zero in southern Manhattan is holy ground. Thousands lost someone they love in the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, and hundreds of thousands know someone who was directly or indirectly scarred by the collapse of the World Trade Center. The emotional investment in Ground Zero cannot be overestimated.

That is precisely why Ground Zero must be open to the religious expression of all people whose lives were scarred by the tragedy: Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus, and more. And Muslims. No one knows how many Muslims died on 9/11, but they number in the hundreds.

It’s time to turn away from ignorance and embrace again the words of Christ: Love your neighbour as yourself. In that spirit, we welcome the building of Cordova House and Mosque near Ground Zero.

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A Manchester mosque has given £52,000 to help develop a United Reformed Church inspired community centre.  The Rev Ed Cox, church leader, said: “The investment symbolises the strength of inter-faith relationships in our community. The relationship between the church and the mosque began with plans to develop a joint youth club which, we hope, will now come to fruition when the centre opens later this year.”

Levenshulme Inspire will see a prominent URC building on Stockport Road saved from neglect, and transformed into a multi-use centre for the local community.  The money given by the Woodfield Avenue Bohra community was promised by the community’s international leader, Mohammed Burhanuddin when he visited. It makes the mosque one of the biggest investors in the project.

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