Sketch from That Mitchell and Webb Look.

I already linked to a similar message from the NSA of the USA. To summarize:

“the believers should be guided lovingly and firmly to distance themselves from either public or private commentary”.

And there are similar letters from all NSA’s around the world. Which means that this is a coordinated effort from the UHJ/ITC but for some reason it was deemed more prudent for the individual NSA’s to write similar letters rather than just one from Haifa.

In any case, it seems that Baha’is are ignoring such directives.

twitter is a new social networking site that allows people to ‘tweet’ 140 characters (or less) messages from their phones, computers, etc. It gained even more prominence during the first days of the Iranian post-election uprising as youth in Iran would send messages, often from the streets, to the rest of the world. With the harsh crackdown on foreign reporters, the youth became in effect the eyes and ears on the ground.

There are relatively few Iranians using twitter. The vast majority of the users are in the US and through the hashtag #iranelection they have been following the reports coming out of Iran and elsewhere. As a gesture of solidarity in the first days of the movement, many changed their account icons to full green or to the text “Where’s my vote?”

Then someone set up a site which would add a green overlay to the existing account icon and thousands showed their support in this way.

Not surprisingly, Iranian Baha’is have been one of the active sub-groups in following the recent developments in Iran. They are still connected if not by an emotional bond, by family and friends who are still there and are feeding them news. Many of them on facebook and twitter have added a green overlay to their account icons. Among the most prominent is Rainn Wilson. Click the image below to see a recent screenshot of Rainn’s twitter account:

So while the NSA’s around the world are telling Baha’is to keep mum about the Iranian protest, it seems that at least through electronic means, individual Baha’is are largely ignoring this and continuing to be engaged in following and supporting the values that the Baha’is Faith stands for: equality, freedom, justice, separation of church and state, etc. Such values are hallowed above all and any political considerations and to cower in a corner, rather than stand up and defend them is to be ignorant of the very essence of our Faith.

Of couse, we have no problem advocating on their behalf when the downtrodden happen to be Baha’is. No. Not at all. We are asked to contact our government, speak with influential people, take our case to the UN, etc. to draw attention to the injustices heaped on Baha’is. But when Baha’is are not directly involved? Then we are told to STFU.

Turning your icon green may seem to be an infinitesimal gesture when compared to the actions of the youth of Iran right now who are facing beatings, arrest, torture and ultimately death but as spectators thousands of miles away from Iran it helps us as much as them to do something.

Finally, to characterize the protests that have taken place inside and outside Iran as ‘clearly partisan activity’ is to demonstrate utter ignorance. The will of a nation yearning to live free is as distanced from partisan politics as the Baha’is right to live without persecution. I understand that the only tool at the disposal of the NSAs is to characterize the peaceful protests as ‘partisan’ in order to persuade Baha’is to not support them. But mislabeling something so blatantly only damages the integrity of the said national bodies.

We must choose to side with our values and if they perchance make us allies with one or more political factions at any point in time, this is merely coincidence. Such seeming partnership is no reason to abandon one’s values and ignore them in the fear of appearing to be supporting ‘partisan politics’. This was the mistake that we made in South Africa during Apartheid when we stood aside while all the values we cherish as Baha’is were trampled.

How is it that we have no reluctance to approach differing political parties in power to lobby on behalf of the persecuted Baha’i minority in Iran? By what magical device is such activity and partnership not deemed to be ‘partisan’? How different is it to supporting any other group that is persecuted and has their rights removed?

Here is a letter from the Universal House of Justice to the Iranian Baha’is regarding the recent events.

I’ve been following it closely, as it contains precious information on the persecution of Iranian Baha’is. In the beginning, I had mixed feelings about it. I suspected it of being a Baha’i propaganda tool disguised as an independent media watch, which disturbed me.

I would see nothing wrong in Baha’is openly protesting against the treatment we get in Iran. Then why not state it clearly?
But in recent weeks, my prejudices started to melt away, as Iran Press Watch’s posts started to warm up to the opposition’s protest.

I even kind of hoped for a new official attitude against the regime. I dreamt of seeing Baha’u'llah’s fiery words to the Shiite clerics launched as rockets against the bearded and turbaned oppressors.

Would we, in the end, take our right place “in the forefront of all progressive movements”?

Alas, here comes the clarion call. Announcing a crackdown on those who side with those we ask to side with us when we’re the ones being beaten up or dragged to prison.

—————–From Iran Press Watch—————————————

Non-involvement in Discussions on Iran’s Elections
June 23rd, 2009
Editor’s Note: In light of recent events in Iran, we wish to bring to our
readers attention the following letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United Kingdom, the highest administrative body of the British Baha’is, on the non-involvement of Baha’is in discussions on the current state of affairs in Iran.

June 22, 2009

Dearly loved Friends

Events taking place in the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent days have
naturally been occupying the minds of the believers here in the United Kingdom, especially those of us concerned for the safety of our loved ones in that land, and for the well-being of our sorely-tried brethren and others facing oppression.

The National Spiritual Assembly would like to share with the friends the following guidance, contained in a letter dated 4 February 2008 written by the Universal House of Justice, which states that the believers’ “avoidance of any form of partisan alignment and non-involvement in political affairs, whether as individuals or as groups, should be the basis of their activities in order that they become the icons of trust of the people, of government officials and of the leaders of the nation, as was the wish of the beloved Guardian.”

“Participation in civil elections”, the House of Justice reminds us, is permissible “provided the elector can do so without any attachment to any political party or demonstrating any partisan inclination”. The Supreme Body continues: “But this participation is voluntary and not compulsory.

Bahá’í institutions and the Bahá’í community have nothing to do with it. The believers do not consult with each other about whom they vote for and the community does not act in any way to influence the participation of individuals and whom they vote for. Avoidance of any discussion on this matter is necessary and the preservation of the unity in the community of Bahá’u'lláh is, at all times, of utmost importance.”

In light of this guidance, the friends should not be discussing matters to do with the Iranian election result and its aftermath on social networking sites such as Facebook, on their personal weblogs and other online media. Such unwise and wholly inappropriate actions may only serve to reinforce the misconception in the eyes of the Faith’s detractors that our long-suffering, persecuted friends in Iran have some form of political agenda or allegiances.

With loving Baha’i greetings

National Spiritual Assembly

————-End of quoted post————————-

The words attributed to pastor Martin Niemoller spring to my mind:

“When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me”.

When they come for our friends (and come they will) there may be no one left to speak out for them

daniela pinna

The irony is not lost on those in power in the current regime. If anything it heightens the stress they feel. For 30 years they have convinced themselves that threats would only come from the ‘evil’ external forces of Britain, USA and the like. They can not believe that their own people are against them.

Of course they are trying to paint the demonstrators as agents of foreign powers, manipulated into protesting. But this only serves to intensify the rage of the Iranian people on the street.

A red line has been crossed and the game has changed. While Mousavi is an old guard and wants to maintain the existing power structures and work within them, the movement has morphed beyond this.

There are now open cries of ‘Death to Khamanei’… something absolutely unheard of before. What is more, as the legitimacy and supremacy of the Supreme Leader is being assailed by loud and boisterous protesters on the street, a much more insidious threat is approaching from Qom.

While most people mistake the Mullah’s as one bloc and supportive of Ahmadinejad and Khamanei, this is not the case. In fact they resent the Revolutionary Guard backed Ahmadinejad and have only derision for his cookoo brand of Hojjatieh Islam. There are exceptions of course. For example, Mulla Mesbah Yazdi who is the mentor and leader of this faction.

The real news in the past few days then is that Mousavi is not really a leader but a prominent icon which is being swept up by a ground swell of anger and resistance against the very system of the Islamic Republic: velayat-e faghih.

Rafsanjani has kept quiet and stayed out of the public eye. But he is very busy in Qom rallying the 86 member Council which he heads. There are rumors that he is proposing a variation to the existing structure which would oust Khamanei and put himself at the top (of course).

Getting back to the parallels with the 1979 Revolution, here are some similarities:

• the state of the Iranian economy is weak with rampant inflation and unemployment
• dissatisfaction with human rights violations, lack of free press, lack of democracy
• dissatisfaction with financial prosperity and extremes of wealth & poverty
• the merchant class (bazaari) are against the state for mishandling the economy
• strikes fuel demonstrations with those unemployed and on strike joining them
• people leave their doors unlocked so demonstrators can find shelter
• cries of ‘Alla-u-Akbar’ throughout the night from rooftops
• protest starts out against one injustice and gains momentum and widens scope
• demonstrators from all strata of Iranian society
• the government cracks down, killing some demonstrators
• the dead are considered martyrs and mourned leading to further demonstrations and deaths
• the cycle of deaths and mourning protests draws in more and more people
• the attention of the world is focused on the events unfolding in Iran
• with normal channels of communication censored or cut off, Iranians turn to alternatives
• the state makes small concessions to no avail (rejected or ignored)
• the crackdown (communication blockades) and demonstrators hamper normal economic activities

These are some of the parallels I’m seeing. But by drawing your attention to this I don’t mean to argue that we are seeing a revolution or that there will definitely be real change in Iran. No one really knows. If any expert pretends to know, they are lying or deluded. No one predicted what we are seeing on the streets of Iran even weeks before hand so it is folly to pretend that anyone can know what will happen in the next few days. The only thing I have is a gut feeling that things will get worse – much worse – before improving.

There has been no letters from the Universal House of Justice that I know of but the NSA of the US has put out a letter recommending that Baha’is there do not participate in sympathy demonstrations. This is also the case for other NSA’s around the world, which leads me to believe that the UHJ/ITC was involved.

For more news and links see the first post election message (scroll down).

But it has been a whole week and to provide a much needed break from the heavy torrent of news, here are two lighthearted videos for your enjoyment.

This is a re-mixed or re-imagined trailer for a movie most of us have seen – a movie 3000 years in the making!

This is the trailer for an upcoming (real) movie starring Paul Giamatti called ‘Cold Souls’ about a man who decides to remove his soul. He regrets the decision but when he tries to undo the separation there is a bit of a snag:

Hope you enjoy the weekend wherever you are.

We have never seen such a campaign in the 30 year history of the Iranian Islamic Republic. Usually elections are carefully choreographed from start to finish. The candidates are vetted and chosen by the powerful 12 member Guardian Council (which is not an elected body itself). There is a lot of the usual rhetoric in ads but no debates and at finally, at voting time, the majority of the public either stays at home or casts an empty protest vote.

This election however was different. In the final weeks, Tehran and other major cities took on a carnival feel with the youth using the pretense of campaigning for their chosen candidate to raise a little hell. They stayed up all night, played music, paraded through the streets showing off themselves and their banners on foot, on bikes and in cars.

This election had the first televised debate between the 4 carefully vetted candidates in the 30 year history of ‘Islamic democracy’. Everyone was expecting the usual soporific hour of national television but what they got instead was a total drag out, hard knuckle fight with many punches thrown below the belt.

Ahmadinejad crossed many socially unacceptable lines and named names. Iranian propaganda portrays the government as spotless. But Ahmjadinejad pointed out that his main opponent, Mousavi, was backed by Rafsanjani. He went on to accused his former rival of massive corruption. He dragged Rafsanjani’s sons into the fray saying that they have also amassed large fortunes by fraud. He dragged Mousavi’s wife into the debate by claiming that her academic degrees are meaningless. He accused his opponents of belonging to a cabal that wants to stop him because they want to be in power and steal from the national coffers.

Things got so heated that Rafsanjani, a very powerful power broker now operating mostly from the periphery, wrote a sternly worded letter of protest to Khamenei (the Supreme Leader) asking for his intervention.

If you were watching the final days with your friends through the Western media, you got the sense that some real change was afoot. There were raucous groups of youth wrapped in green ribbons (the color of Mousavi’s campaign – he is a Siyyid) chanting “Ahmadi-Bye-Bye”. You also discovered which of your friends is gullible.

What those expecting change missed is that northern Tehran is not the whole country. Ahmadinejad had toured through all of Iran handing out cold hard cash to poor families throughout his years as president. The rural vote in Iran always trumps the urban elite.

Oh and there’s another little thing that guaranteed Ahmadinejad would continue the two terms streak all previous presidents have enjoyed: the vote was rigged.

Using the official results released from the Iranian Interior Ministry, Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic shows just how a bald faced a lie the results are:

Since Iran is a diverse nation, the normal pattern of votes would have the results sway back and forth as regional results came in. Especially considering that the four candidates came from different part of the country. Mousavi, an Azari (who speaks Turkish fluently and has a clumsy grasp of Farsi), was a clear home town favourite in Azerbaijan (25% of the Iranian population are Azaris). There are no reliable statistics (the Interior Ministry said 85%) but there is much anecdotal evidence that this election had an extremely high voter turnout.

But the ‘official’ results would have us believe that Ahmadinejad beat Mousavi with the same 2-1 margin everywhere, including his opponent’s home province! and maintained this margin at each interval of vote counting!

All Iranian election results have been suspect but this latest farce is so transparent that it demonstrates just how comfortable the clerical ruling class has become. They do not even attempt to hide their control of the election. They have totally thrown off any previous dedication to the appearance of legitimacy. As you might expect, there are some who are protesting the results but expect the Revolutionary Guards (who were already put on high alert) to ruthless crush any uprisings as they have in the past.

You can see more pictures and videos of the unrest here.

If it wasn’t before, it is all too evident now that all Iranians are now prisoners in a totalitarian state. As I’ve said many times before, it is my ardent wish that fellow Baha’is in Iran realize the danger that they especially are in and leave so that they and their children can enjoy civilization.

There is a burst of activity in MSM, blogs (sites like youtube, facebook, etc. are blocked) but foreign journalists are stopped and their equipment confiscated.

Breaking news and analysis will be added to the bottom of this list to keep you updated:

• The Vote in Iran (Mother Jones)
• Iranian Election LiveBlogging (National Iranian American Council)
• Landslide or Fraud? (The Lede – NY Times Blog)
• Stealing the Iranian Elections (Juan Cole)
• Iran’s Election Monitoring Commission declares election results invalid (Peyke Iran website in Persian)
• Rumours that Rafsanjani Resigns (Stratfor)
• Ahmadinejad Re-Election; Protests Flare (New York Times)
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces defeat if election not rigged (Guardian)
• Flickr Photostream
• Ahmadinejad Backers Lay Groundwork for Massive Vote Rigging (Eurasianet)
• Mousavi Under House Arrest (Haaretz)
• Iran’s Ex-Foreign Minister Yazdi: It’s A Coup (the Nation)
• Some more pictures from the protests (Flickr)
• Real time twitter feed (Twitter)
• Crowd chases away secret policeman (BBC)
• Iran: There Will Be Blood (Washington Note)
• Iran’s Stolen Election (the New Yorker)
• Rejecting Charges of a North Tehran Fallacy (Juan Cole)
• Letter From Iran: The Day After (Salon.com)
• Interview with Iranian (CNN)
• Insurrection Day 2 (Michael Totten)
• Mousavi’s Letter to Iranians (MWC)
• HOW TO: Track Iran Election with Twitter and Social Media (Mashable)
• Liveblogging Iran’s Election Aftermath (Huffington Post)
• Don’t Call What Happened in Iran an Election (Slate)
• Canadian Journalist Gets Glimpse of Police State (Globe & Mail)
• Khamenei orders inquiry into vote-rigging claims (Guardian)
• Continuously Updated Info on Iran’s Disputed Elections (Guardian)
• Pro-Reform Marchers Fill Tehran Streets (NPR)
• Mousavi Joins Protesters on the Street (BBC)
• Life Twitter Feed from Tehran (mostly Persian) (Twitter)
• Iranian State TV Reporting on Protests for First Time (PressTV)
• Odds of Fraud (ABC News)
• Protests Intensify Breaking Taboos (ABC News)
• Criticism of “Terror Free Tomorrow” Election Poll (Juan Cole)
• Analysis of Provincial Election Results: Fishy Numbers (538)
• Firing into Protestors, One Killed (ABC News)
• Overview of the Cyber Warfare Waged in Iran (Wired)
• Blood in Tehran (Newsweek)
• Guardian Council Agrees to Recount (BBC)
• Election Results by Province (Guardian)
• State Dept Keeps Twitter Open(CNN)
• Abbas Amanat Weighs In (New York Times)
• Khamenei on the Ropes (The New Republic)
• Violence Against Students in Tehran (Independent)
• A Tehran Story – Eyewitness Account (American Footprints)
• Gallery of Destruction at Tehran University Dorm (Picasa)
• President Obama Comments on Iran (CNBC)
• Grand Ayatollah Montazeri Sides with Mousavi (McClatchy)
• Ahmadinejad Rally Photoshopped to Appear Larger (Daily Kos)
• The Leaders of Iran’s ‘Election Coup’ (Tehran Bureau)
• Was Iran’s election rigged? (CS Monitor)
• Iranian protesters’ slogans target Khamenei as the real enemy (Guardian)
• Guardian Council Proposes Meeting with Candidates (New York Times)
• Iran’s former foreign minister arrested (Times Online)
• Interview with Farhad Sabetan (NPR)
• Khamenei Woos Rafsanjani, Threatens Protesters & Defends Election (New York Times)
• Video Report of Khamenei’s Sermon (BBC)
• An Eyewitness Account (Guardian)
• Rafsanjani’s Daughter Arrested (New York Times)
• Rafsanjani’s Daughter Released (BBC Persian)
• Rafsanjani Pressures Council for New Structure (al-Arabiya)
• Guardian Council Admits Voter Irregularities (Iranian Press)
• Chatham House Statistical Analysis of Iranian Election (PFF)
• Further Proof That Election Results Are False (Washington Post)
• New Tactic Using the Bazaar (The Field)
• Watching The Lord of the Rings in Tehran (Time)
• Iran: Night Raids Terrorize Civilians (Human Rights Watch)
• Iran’s mass arrests: Broadest since 1979 Islamic revolution (CS Monitor)
• EU states set to recall Iran ambassadors (FT)

This reminded me of the continuing court case between the NSA of the Baha’is of the United States and the Orthodox Baha’i group in the US. The NSA lost the case last year and has appealed the case – everyone is waiting for a decision any minute (day, month, etc.) now.

Similar to the Muslim Malaysians, the NSA is asking the Court to enforce a previous ruling which gave them the sole and exclusive rights of the word “Baha’i”.

I’m not making this up. How I wish I was!

They’ve gone after them in fine litigious style befitting Scientology. The NSA’s aim is to prevent a small group of people from using the word Baha’i – claiming in the presented evidence before the court that it would ‘confuse’ people.

The NSA has already lost once. And once the appeals court ruling arrives, they may very well lose again. But I’m not referring to an unfavorable verdict. Although by any sane stretch of the imagination, one wonders how in the world the term “Baha’i” can be the sole exclusive property and trademark of an organization when other words like Christian, Muslim, Jew, etc. are in the public domain.

No, what I mean is that the Baha’is of the US will lose the PR battle – as they already have. Take a look at this article from the Chicago Tribune (thanks to Baha’is Online for highlighting this article).

“The word Baha’i carries with it implications for a certain sets of beliefs — and we have to protect that,” said Robert Stockman

Can you imagine for one second the Roman Catholic Church suing the Protestant Church over their concern that they had the monopoly on what the word “Christian” means, and that this means it has to be protected?

For some strange reason the Office of Public Information from Wilmette refused to talk to the newspaper about this article. Instead they turned to Robert Stockman, a US Baha’i. For all his best intentions, Stockman comes across as loonie as a Scientologist. I can’t imagine he would have gone on the record unless he was given the approval from the NSA to talk to the press. Which makes his ramblings all the more odd.

If you’d like to know what this is all about, read this original post with detailed background information about the Orthodox Baha’i court case.

Credit: Cyanide & Happiness

With the retirement of Dorothy Nelson, the US NSA was given a rare opportunity to welcome a new member: Ms. Valerie Dana from Colorado. She is an attorney at law and until 2004 she was a director of the Mona Foundation.

Except for this new member, the same 8 incumbents were re-elected and not surprisingly, in almost the same order of votes: Jacqueline Left Hand Bull, David F. Young, Kenneth E. Bowers, Juana C. Conrad, William Roberts, Muin Afnani, Erica Toussaint, Robert C. Henderson

US NSA with new member, Valerie Dana

The national convention in Canada had similar results except that two previous members retired, allowing for two new members to be elected. Elizabeth Wright was elected to the NSA of Canada in January 2009 as a result of a by-election caused by the resignation of Fariborz Sahba. From 2004 onward, Mr. Sahba had been a member of the national governing body and acted as the Treasurer. So although technically Wright was re-elected, I still count her as a new member because of the circumstances.

The second new member is Deloria Bighorn, replacing the retiring Mark Wedge who had been serving on the NSA for 10 consecutive years. Similar to the longstanding member she replaced and Valerie Dana, Ms. Bighorn is a North American native. Previously she acted as the Director of Aboriginal Affairs for the NSA of Canada, as well as working as a counselor at the now closed Maxwell Baha’i School.

Elizabeth Wright, Gerald Filson, Deloria Bighorn

The 7 re-elected incumbents are: Karen McKye, Todd Smith, Borna Noureddin, Judy Filson, Enayat Rawhani, Gordon Naylor, Elizabeth Wright and Susanne Tamas (in descending order of votes). Deloria Bighorn received the lowest number of votes which is in keeping with the traditional experience for new members.

Because incumbency is so prevalent, it is rare to see 2 new members in one election. Usually we see either no change, with all previous members re-elected or just one new face due to retirement. The last time we saw 2 new members, as is the case this year, was in 1999. The longest serving members of the Canadian NSA are Judy Filson and Enayat Rohani. The average consecutive years in office is 8 – meaning that the average member of the NSA of Canada has been a member for 8 years consecutively. Due to the 2 new members, this represents a slight decrease from last year’s number of 8.6 years.

There is a happy medium between too many years and too few years. If members are changing quickly, then they don’t have time to learn, make connections and to be able to take up the heavy responsibility that comes with being an NSA member. On the other hand, if membership is hardly changing at all, as we are seeing now, the disadvantages are that people get burned out, devolve into group-think, run out of ideas, form cliques and fiefdoms, etc. For this reason, it is difficult to draw the line and give a specific number of years, for example.

But when we are seeing that the only way new blood can be introduced into an NSA by the decision of an incumbent to retire due to old age, then it is safe to suggest that the pendulum has swung to an extreme. Of course, we are talking about a free election here. No one is forcing the Baha’is of the US and Canada to elect the same people over and over again.

And yet they do. There is an inherent flaw in the structure of the elections which needs be addressed. It is at this point that fellow Baha’is usually bristle with affront and close their minds. Which is unfortunate since the administrative processes are an evolving and organic framework. Even a cursory study of them and their history would attest to the fact that they are not set in stone and shouldn’t be – especially if they start to produce harmful results. They are the servants to the community, not the other way around.

To understand the flaw and how it can be remedied, please refer to a previous discussion: Baha’i Elections – How to Improve Them.

Related:

• Explaining Incumbency in Baha’i Elections
• 2007 NSA Elections
• 2006 NSA Elections