JoeWalshe

An Afghani friend of mine has been researching Baha'i Fiath and has been asking about the fact that the Baha'i World centre is located in Israel.
His queries are around what is the relatioship between the Baha'i World centre and Israel, is the Israeli Government happy to have the BWc in Isreal and if so is the Israeli Government supportive of the Baha'is.
Difficult questions and as is so often the case I do not have clear answers as these matters never enetered my mind before.
Any guidance or opinions appreciated.

arthra

Hello Joe..

I wouldn't say the questions are all that difficult to respond to..

Yes your Afgani friend is correct the Baha'i World Centre is located in Israel.. Haifa actually along the coast.. Originally or at least up till a hundred years ago or so it was in the Ottoman Empire u nder various Sultans.. this was ohhh fifty or so years before the state of Israel was born in 1948.

If you have studied the history of our Faith you'll recall that Baha'u'llah had been imprisoned and later exiled by the Shah around 1853-1854 and so He went to Bagdad and later Kurdistan for awhile then returned to Bagdad..anyway the Shah disliked Baha'u'llah living around Bagdad which was also as you know a pilgrimage destination for Shiahs and appealed to the Sultan to do something about it..so the Sultan summoned Baha'u'llah to Istanbul and Adrianople awhile .. then the Sultan decided to have Baha'u'llah sent to Akka the Penal Colony to live the rest of His life.

So Baha'u'llah around 1868 was sent to Akka to be imprisoned.. eventually the authorities allowed Him to live outside the Prison.

So any way the Baha'is have been in that area around Akka starting under the Ottomans and later the British Protectorate after WWI and still later under the state of Israel after 1948 and that's the story.. some may want to add more. But generally that's the story of how teh Baha'is ended up around the Akka-Haifa area.

There is no special relationship with the state of Israel anymore than the relationship of Christians, Druze, Muslims have with the Israeli government.. there are special depts as I understand it that deal with the affairs of religions in Israel.

A few more things.. Baha'is do not proselytize the Faith in Israel and are not encouraged to settle down there and if an ISraeli wants to become a Baha'i he/she must do so outside Israel..

:wink

lukasali

Actually, Baha'is do not proselytize anywhere, as proselytization is entirely against the spirit (if not the law as well, I'm not sure of the technicalities) of the Faith. I think that what Arthra is getting at is that within Israel Baha'is don't make attempts to teach people about the Faith, and have no local communities.

I don't know of any official sources for the kind of information that Joe seems to be looking for. All I have is anecdotes about the fact that the Israeli government is appreciative of the Baha'is' peacefulness, respect for authority and discretion in a sensitive religious/political climate, and that after decades of interaction many Israeli officials/citizens have come to admire the pure motives and upright actions of the Baha'is. At least, that is the impression I am left with.

NiyooshaClaudia

the Israeli Government happy to have the BWc in Isreal and if so is the Israeli Government supportive of the Baha'is.

Of course, they are not really supportive. The BWc made appointments with the government that bahá'í are only allowed to travel to the holy places of their faith. You must ask permission when you want to travel to anywhere in Israël outside Haifa/Akka.

Livindesert

Arthra is correct Joe.

The Baha'is have been in Haifa since it was controlled by the Islamic Ottoman Empire.

BruceDLimber

Not true.

So sorry, but this has nothing to do with the Israeli government: The reststriction was imposed by Baha'u'llah during His lifetime, back when the Ottoman Empire controlled the entire area! It's been in place ever since.

Peace,

Bruce

Tanuki

Surely however that can't be enforceable? If I was a Baha'i and in Israel, surely no one could stop me if I wanted to travel to, say, Tel Aviv?

BruceDLimber

Perhaps this has more to do with whether or not one is indeed a Baha'i and therefore chooses to defer to what our scriptures and administration say rather than whether or not it's "enforceable." . . .


Bruce