Changing Times Blog

Looting of Baha’i homes in Egypt

Below is a video showing the burning of Baha’i homes in the village of Showranyiah in the province of Sohag in Upper Egypt (You can hear at the end of the video someone shouting for the person taking the video “el hokooma gaya” (The government [police] is coming):

A thorough account of the events surrounding the violence perpetrated against the Baha’is of Egypt and the burning of their homes in a southern village located in the province of Sohag is available here on bahai-egypt.org. Share this with your friends.

Murder with Impunity

This is a brilliant video about the persecution of the Iranian Baha’is, brought to us by Bobby Aazami:

Raise the Call – Introducing Mitra Djalili

Discover upcoming artist Mitra Djalili as well as her newest song ‘Raise the Call’ and use the chance to eternalise your name on her album sleeve!

Persian born and raised in Northern Ireland, Mitra’s music appeals to young and old alike by blending adult sophistication with youthful exuberance addressing the universal questions of life and love. To get a feel for her refreshing and uplifting style, simply visit her MySpace page and check out some of her songs (myspace.com/mitradjalilicom)! Alternatively, you can visit and join her Facebook Fan Page).

About her newest song ‘Raise the Call’, Mitra says, “Both the melody and the song just came to me. It was truly an inspired track as I had always wanted to write a Baha’i themed song. It really comes from the idea of being truly aware of who we are and what we were created to be and also what we need to do to fulfil our potential.”

Listen to ‘Raise the Call’ on her myspace page

Mitra is showcasing her talents on slicetheie.com which is helping unsigned artists to a piece of the music industry. Mitra has now has less than 5 months to raise £15,000 in investment which will be used to record, release and distribute her next album. Individuals who invest £5 or more will be able to receive backstage news as the album is being recorded, will be entitled to a free digital copy of the album and have the opportunity to get their name printed on the album sleeve.

Andy Grammer Liberty Live Tour

Son of widely acclaimed, Grammy-nominated children’s singer, Red Grammer, Andy has been around music his whole life and got his itch for songwriting listening to his father hammering away chords in the next room.

Andy Grammer brings a fresh uplifting approach to the singer songwriter scene. Navigating with a sharp wit and honesty through the perils of dating, sex, materialism and love, Andy looks to Baha’i teachings for a search for truth.

Dissertation on Blogging and Persecution of the Bahais

To what extent can the ‘blogs’ of sympathisers and representatives of the Baha’i Faith be seen as interactive channels of communication that report on the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran?

Afshin Rohani (UK) is beginning his dissertation for his undergraduate study in Communication and Media Studies and it will be researching just that. The effectiveness of blogging in the context of new media and communication, by analysing key blogs which have reported on the issue of the persecution of the Baha’i Community in Iran.

He will be using a multi method approach with some online surveys to supplement his main documentary research approach. Be sure that the CT Blog will stay on it!

Afshin will be sharing his research progress regularly at:
http://afshinsresearch.wordpress.com/

An excellent initiative Afshin! We hope to see more of it soon!

Coexistence in Iran

(af) With the recent 6oth anniversary of the Universal Human Rights Declaration, many have taken time to reflect on the the issue of human rights globally and some people specifically offer to raise awareness of the Baha’i community in Iran who are denied access to higher education on religious grounds as well as a host of other areas of discrimination.

The United Kingdom is one of the many examples of such action, where the Baha’i community produced two pamphlets for distribution in schools and universities that connect the persecution of Baha’i university students in Iran with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which specifies the right to an education.

It seems that most online viral content has been used for largely entertainment purposes though with this independent video effort titled Coexistence in Iran, an encouraging example of thought provoking media has been produced. With the short piece highlighting the different religious communities within Iranian society; Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian and Baha’i. While providing a sense of the integral day to day coexistence they all share even through exercise, despite religious persecution and certain attitudes which try to convey that the different religions of the world are in conflict.

In fact Bahá’u'lláh told Bahá’ís to “Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.”

Coexistence in Iran: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fPkqd83RvgI