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Thursday, March 13th, 2008
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11:42a - Speak out for the Iranian Baha'is
This is the text of a letter I sent to my representative, Daniel Lipinski:
Please cosponsor H. RES. 1008, condemning the persecution of the Baha'is of Iran.
The resolution calls on the government of Iran to immediately cease activities aimed at the repression of the Iranian Baha'i community; and continues to hold the government of Iran responsible for upholding all the rights of its nationals, including members of the Baha'i community.*
The resolution also condemns the government of Iran's continued imprisonment of individuals without due process and a fair trial; calls on the government of Iran to immediately release 3 Baha'is: Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and Ms. Haleh Roohi; and calls on the government of Iran and the Iranian Parliament to reject a draft Islamic penal code, which violates Iran's commitments under the International Covenants on Human Rights.*
Thank you for raising your voice in support of a peaceful community that continues to serve the poor and educate their young while facing the harrassment of their government.
*Text borrowed liberally from http://www.bahai.us/house-resolution
Find and write to your representative by visiting www.house.gov.
current mood:  indignant (comment on this)
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11:55a - Persecution of Baha'i schoolchildren in Iran
Excerpted from http://tinyurl.com/2pnztm:
In Marvdasht, principals of all schools in the district have been asked to forward to the Security Office of the Department of Education on a confidential basis all enrolment forms “on students from religious minorities and the perverse Bahaist sect”.
At the beginning of the school year, at least fifty Bahá’í students were refused enrolment for wholly unjustified reasons, such as having referred to the Faith in classes in the previous year; in some cases religious staff simply refused to enrol any student who is not a Muslim.
Ten Bahá’í students were expelled from schools in Vilashahr, Najafabad, and Shahinshahr
in the province of Isfahan for having chosen to specify “Bahá’í” in the space provided for religion on forms the school authorities gave them to complete some two months after
school had begun.
Two students have been expelled in Shahinshahr and another nine in Shiraz, for having
chosen to identify themselves as Bahá’ís on the school registration form, for refusing not to be silenced when their Faith was maligned, or for asking to be excused from having to take part in Muslim religious ceremonies.
On 31 October 2007, Miss Fá’iqih Há’í Najafábádí [Faegheh Ha’i Najafabadi] was expelled
from a university preparatory college for having sought to correct defamatory statements
about the Faith by members of the clergy ... . Following the first such session, school authorities tried to get her classmates to agree to report to the administration any time that Miss Najafábádí referred to the Faith in class. The students refused to do so ... [T]he director [of the Department of Education] indicated that according to a communiqué from higher authorities, Bahá’í students are allowed to continue their studies only if they do not state that they are Bahá’ís, and as soon as they do so, they are to be expelled.
In the city of Andisheh, a young woman, sixteen years of age, was accosted several times
by individuals, one of whom had picked her up in the guise of a taxi driver and, refusing
to let her off at her school, said to her, “[You are a] Bahá’í child, and you teach. I will kill you.” This same person also made threatening calls to her home, in one instance stating, “You will never be able to find me. We will start with you and gradually reach the rest. We are a group who wants to cleanse the schools.”
current mood:  horrified (2 comments |comment on this)
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12:20p - I feel linky, oh so linky ...
This must be seen:
http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html
It's a video of a great big prank in Grand Central Station where 200 people froze in place for five minutes in the middle of the bustling station. Made me smile BIG.
current mood:  chipper (2 comments |comment on this)
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