Australian Baha’i Report/Volume 17/Issue 3/Text

Baha'iReport

Volume 17, Issue 3 - November 2013 www.bahai.org.au

A newsletter of the Australian Bahá’í Community INSIDECommunity engagement wins awards 5 Work to preserve endangered shrub 7 Persecution escalates 8 Youth attend conferences to seek ways to serve

Youth at the Sydney Conference

Thousands of youth from diverse backgrounds attended conferences across Australia in September and October to consider how they can help build a better world.

The conferences aimed at creating a space for youth to discuss how they may contribute to the betterment of society and the world, with one goal being to provide extra impetus to the community-building endeavours being undertaken by Bahá’ís worldwide.

Thousands of young people attended the series of 114 conferences held worldwide in localities as diverse as Brasilia, Helsinki, Kiribati, Madagascar, Mongolia, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The conferences were called by the international governing body of the Bahá’í Faith, the Universal House of Justice.

The first conference in Australia was held in Brisbane from 14-16 September, and was notable for its diversity in languages and cultures.

An indigenous ceremonial dance by youth from Far North Queensland opened the conference, and Torres Strait Island youth singing a prayer came at the end.

During the event, many youth expressed their joy at being able to join their peers in discussing how they could take steps to fulfill their longing for a better society.

More than 1,400 youth attended the conference held in Sydney from 4-6 October

and participated in intense study sessions to learn how to live a life of service to humanity. They found creative ways of expressing their insights through the arts.

After the conclusion of the conference, a special youth service was held at the Bahá’í Temple in Ingleside where spiritual songs in different languages resonated in the domed interior.

The 700 youth who attended the conference held in Perth from 4-6 October were welcomed by Noongar youth from southwestern Australia and by East Timorese youth who performed a dance from their homeland.

Among the subjects the youth investigated together were the influence that positive and negative social forces have on each generation and the ways in which today’s youth can assist those younger than themselves to reject the negative forces and overcome social ills.

A reaction to that conference came from a youth who had travelled from East Timor to attend: "We are learning how to work together, to continue hand in hand to bring this message to the world. I am so happy to know that it’s not just me. It’s not just East Timor and it’s not just Australia. It’s youth all around the globe who are trying to heal this world for the next generation."

For reports and videos visit:

news.bahai.org/community-news/youth-conferences

� Community and religions unite for peace service

Faith representatives with Pittwater Mayor Cr Jacqueline Townsend (second left) and State MP Jonathan O'Dea (back row, second left)

Representatives of seven faiths joined with community leaders and local residents at a service for the International Day of Peace at the Bahá’í Temple in Sydney on the evening of Saturday, 28 September 2013.

The Temple was specially illuminated for the occasion, its light spreading to the eucalyptus bushland that forms its backdrop.

Members of the Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, and Zoroastrian communities read extracts from their sacred scriptures, with the readings interspersed by songs of worship from the Temple choir.

Among the guests were the State MP for Davidson, Jonathan O’Dea, and the Mayor of Pittwater, Cr Jacqueline Townsend. Also attending were members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia, Dr Arini Beaumaris and Professor Fariborz Moshirian.

Youth from diverse backgrounds attended an interfaith and intercultural event at the Bahá’í Temple in Sydney on Sunday, 25 August 2013.

The youth came from the Bahá’í, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities.

Individuals without any religious allegiance also accepted the invitation to experience a service at the Temple and to learn more about each other.

The Australian Bahá’í Community and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies jointly organised the event.

In her introduction at a reception before the service, the MC, Venus Khalessi, addressed the theme of the evening, drawing from "The Promise of World Peace", a statement issued by the international governing body of the Bahá’í Faith, the Universal House of Justice.

"Peace is not just the mere absence of war but a state of being governed by spiritual principles," said Ms Khalessi, the Director of Public Information for the Australian Bahá’í Community.

Mutual Understanding

Mr O’Dea MP, who was representing the Minister of Citizenship and Communities, Victor Dominello, said the shared experience of the interfaith service further strengthens the community both locally and in the wider sense.

"It promotes mutual understanding and provides an opportunity for us to learn from each other's experience," Mr O’Dea said.

"What the Bahá’í community admirably does is try to look for commonalities rather than differences and I commend them on that."

Cr Townsend backed a call by UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon to teach children tolerance and mutual respect and to invest in schools and teachers to build a fair and inclusive world.

"Our community is made whole by the sum of its parts -- each of us, our cultures, our faiths, our heritage, our life experiences, form our make-up," she said.

Cr Townsend said it was fortunate that one of seven Bahá’í temples in the world was in Ingleside.

"The Bahá’í Temple is a place where we can unite in worship regardless of our faith and our heritage."

Scheduling arrangements meant that the event was held a week after the official International Day of Peace. The readers were:

• Bahá’í Faith: Dr Arini Beaumaris and Prof Fariborz Moshirian • Buddhism: Mr Sach Mohotti • Christianity: Ms Ashleigh Green • Hinduism: Prof Nihal Agar • Islam: Ms Asma Yusra • Judaism: Ms Lynda Ben-Menashe • Zoroastrianism: Mr Minoo Batliwalla Australian Baha’i Report -November 2013

� Extraordinary birthday celebrations for jailed sister

Extraordinary birthday celebrations for a woman jailed in Iran for her religion attracted a capacity crowd in Melbourne on 27 September 2013.

Attending the 45th birthday celebrations of Rozita Vasseghi were a Federal MP, the local mayor, members of Melbourne’s religious communities, media personalities, refugee advocates, artists, musicians, teachers, doctors, authors and police.

Melbourne writer Rosa Vasseghi organised the event for her sister, Rozita, who is serving a 10-year prison term in Iran for being a member of the Bahá’í Faith, the biggest non- Muslim religious minority in Iran.

Ms Vasseghi last saw her sister in 2008 when Rozita came from Iran to Melbourne on holiday, two years before she was jailed.

The celebrations were held at the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture’s Foundation House in Brunswick.

Rosa Vasseghi welcomed guests to the event. In an address to the absent Rozita, she said:

"Rozita, I wish I could call you and say to you 'Happy Birthday' but I know it is not possible. If only I could hear your voice."

The author of the book "Where is Justice? Stories from Behind Closed Doors", Ms Vasseghi concluded her address with a call for justice: "Each of us is a citizen of this world and we need to all walk together, talk together and work together based on moral principles because we are all human and we are one."

Guests

Among the guests who also addressed the gathering was the Federal Member for Wills, Kelvin Thomson MP, who said the Iranian government has put in place systematic measures to suffocate the Bahá’í community both economically and socially.

"I urge the Australian Government to push for the release of Rozita and others who are languishing in Iranian prisons," Mr Thomson said.

The director of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, Paris Aristotle, said that a crucial purpose of the event was to remember the struggle for justice and freedom of a passionate and dedicated

Rozita Vasseghi, prior to her unjust imprisonment in Iran

woman whose only "crime" is her unwavering belief in the Bahá’í Faith.

In his remarks, the Mayor of Moreland, Oscar Yildiz, observed that "out of something tragic, something good has happened in bringing us here together."

Arnold Zable, President of Melbourne PEN, said of Rozita: "We love her and we think about her and we will do everything we can to help her be free."

Others to address the gathering included religious representatives Azita Sobhani (Bahá’í), Ven Thich Phuoc Tan (Buddhist), Ethel Fullerton (Christian) and Elnaz Sultanzadeh (Muslim).

The MC, Natalie Mobini, referred to the recent address to the UN by Iranian president Hassan Rouhani in which he called for tolerance.

"A critical first test of his real intentions is whether he will begin to release the Bahá’ís who are currently in prison in Iran, including Rozita Vasseghi," said Dr Mobini, the Director of External Affairs of the Australian Bahá’í Community.

Kelvin Thomson MP with event organiser Rosa Vasseghi

Australian Baha’i Report - November 2013

� Geelong celebrations to include tributes to couple

Cyril and Emily Easey

Two remarkable people who established the Geelong Bahá’í Community 60 years ago will be the subject of a special tribute at anniversary celebrations in the city on 8 December 2013.

Terry Eichler, the biographer of Emily and Cyril Easey, will describe their lives as well as the circumstances which saw the couple, both in their sixties, leave Melbourne in 1953 with the specific intention of laying the foundations of the Bahá’í community in Geelong.

The Bahá’í community is now firmly established in Geelong. It hosts regular "Soul Food" gatherings which provide the public with a unique meditative experience featuring the accumulated wisdom of the Earth’s great spiritual traditions.

Emily Millar Easey (1890-1981), a dress maker, become a Bahá’í in 1926 after hearing

about the Faith from the founders of the Australian Bahá’í Community, John Henry Hyde Dunn and Clara Dunn.

So moved was Emily by the accounts of the life and teachings of the Prophet-Founder of the Faith, Bahá’u’lláh (1817-92), that she dedicated the rest of her life to His Cause.

In 1944 Emily married Cyril Easey (18871954), a printer with Kodak who joined the Bahá’í Faith three years later. The couple spent a decade together before Cyril died in the year after they moved to Geelong.

Mr Eichler said Emily remained in Geelong after Cyril’s death, committed to her dream of more firmly establishing a Bahá’í community in the city.

"She existed on a widow’s pension in frugal circumstances, and after many years of devoted effort was overjoyed when, in 1968, there were enough Bahá’ís to form the city’s first Bahá’í administrative council, the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Geelong," Mr Eichler said.

"Emily passed away in Geelong in 1981, and her remarkable life of service has inspired the Geelong Bahá’í community ever since."

Local dignitaries and members of other faith communities will be invited to participate in the anniversary celebrations.

Interfaith event honours indigenous heritage

Diane Kerr (Photo: James Henry, Museum Victoria)

In partnership with the City of Boroondara, the Bahá’í community of Boroondara in Victoria co-hosted an interfaith event to celebrate National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee Week.

"Spiritual Pathways – A Reflective Journey" was the theme of the well-attended event held at historic Kew Court House on 26 July 2013.

The event celebrated the cultural heritage of the local indigenous community and also provided an experience of different spiritual pathways in two of Boroondara’s faith communities.

Community Development Officer at the City of Boroondara, Theresa Rajah, welcomed those attending the gathering.

Aunty Diane Kerr, an Elder of the Wurundjeri community, gave a welcome to country and then spoke about her own spiritual heritage and connection with the land.

Aunty Diane urged participants to share their stories and beliefs with each other, and to live simply and in harmony with nature.

Members of the Bahá’í community of Boroondara presented readings from the Faith’s sacred writings accompanied by a presentation of photographs and live music, all intended to promote tranquility, inspiration and unity.

Members of the Rajasthani Kutumb of Victoria performed a Hindu reflection in which they recited verses from the Bhagavad Gita, and then led participants through a guided meditation session aimed at producing relaxed contemplation and reflection.

The formal part of the program was followed by a discussion on the teachings and insights provided by the different faith communities.

Australian Baha’i Report - November 2013

� Recognition given to youth for community involvement

Energising and educating youth in the ACT to think about international issues and ways to resolve conflict have led Alexa Pelkowitz, 19, to be named the 2013 South Coast/ Southern Inland Youth Volunteer of the Year.

After being elected Vice-President (Education) of United Nations Youth ACT in 2012, Alexa devised initiatives that resulted in the organisation reaching more local young people than ever before.

A member of the ACT Bahá’í community, she is now dedicating her gap year as a volunteer in Bahá’í-inspired youth programs in Queanbeyan. She is also assisting the Office of the Australian Bahá’í Community in Canberra as an intern.

Although busy with Year 12 study, Alexa Alexa Pelkowitz (right) and Michael Harrison. (Photo: The Queanbeyan Age) arranged 30 visits to high schools in the ACT and south-east NSW to educate pupils about others. When you see injustices you

about international issues and the role of have to work and do your bit and help the UN, and to help them develop problem-make it better." solving, speaking and negotiating skills. She

Michael Harrison was named the region’s

also thought up hypothetical international

Individual Volunteer of the Year for his

crises for the youth to resolve, and UN-style

work on a range of issues affecting youth.

resolutions to debate.

Thanks-a-million

Regional

Another Bahá’í youth has also won a

Among her myriad activities in the role,

volunteer award. Ten years ago, Nava

Alexa and her new education committee

Avazpour fled religious persecution in Iran

initiated the first UN Youth conference for

with her mother and three siblings. This

students in Years 7 and 8 and led the

year, during Volunteer Week, the City of

organisation’s first regional program,

Playford in South Australia gave her an

culminating in a visit to several schools in

award as part of its "Thanks-a-Million"

areas such as Yass, Crookwell and the

event. Goulburn/Mulwaree region.

Nava, 16, a member of the Playford Bahá’í Alexa and her team also developed

community in South Australia, has served

workshops so the youth could learn

as a member of the City of Playford Youth

leadership skills and how to be active in

Advisory Committee for the last two years. generating change in their community.

The committee organises events in the The decision to spend 2013 helping youth

community to benefit and interest the

was motivated by her belief that the 12-15

youth. It consults with youth to improve

age period is important because young

their interaction in community events and

people are then in transition and face

activities, and then forwards suggestions to

influential social forces.

the Playford City Council for She says it is important to emphasise to consideration. youth the value of contributing to the

Events have been organised to focus on

advancement of their own communities.

mental health issues and to provide general "We need to have a bit of selflessness," she health advice, including on healthy eating. told The Queanbeyan Age newspaper, which

In the Bahá’í community, Nava teaches

reported her award.

children’s classes and organises youth "You actually have to spend time thinking activities.

Australian Baha’i Report - November 2013

� Environmentally friendly Centre in high demand

The distinctive building of the Bahá’í Centre of Learning for Tasmania is an increasingly popular hub for activities that build capacity for the social, material and spiritual advancement and transformation of Tasmanian society.

Since the building at 1 Tasman Highway, Hobart, opened five years ago, it has served many Tasmanian organisations as a venue for education and training programs and other activities that support the centre's primary purposes.

These purposes include promotion of the principles of world peace, human rights, the equality of men and women, sustainable development, and inter-faith cooperation.

Events held include seminars, public talks, book launches, film screenings, festivals, devotional gatherings, cultural events, national and international conferences.

The centre has a particular focus on supporting the arts by holding art exhibitions, musical performances and concerts. In July 2013 it was a venue for the Festival of Voices, Tasmania’s biggest winter cultural event,

Bahá’í Centre of Learning in Hobart, Tasmania

during which participants from all over Australia made use of the superb acoustic qualities of the centre for their workshops. A recent art exhibition, the ninth in a series, featured work by Tasmanian artists Edward and Noel Broomhall.

The building regularly hosts many of the religious, educational, administrative and community activities of the Tasmanian Bahá’í community and the Australian Bahá’í Community, of which it is a part.

The building is near the Botanical Gardens, Queens Domain and the Hobart waterfront. Its environmentally friendly design incorporates extensive use of recycled materials, natural non-toxic finishes and native and water-efficient landscaping.

It is currently the subject of a joint research project conducted by the University of Tasmania and the University of Sunshine Coast exploring the contributions of faith- based organisations on sustainability.

For more information about the centre, visit:

www.tasbcl.com.au

‘Oneness of humanity’ recommended for policy

The Tasmanian Bahá’í community has recommended that the oneness of humanity be adopted as the underlying principle of Tasmania’s multicultural policy.

The recommendation was one of seven made by the community in response to an invitation by the State Government for submissions to a review of the 2001 multicultural policy.

Established in Tasmania in 1924, the Bahá’í community has active groups across the State and has long been involved with community organisations such as the United Nations Association and the Good Neighbour Council.

In its submission the community said it believed all Tasmanians have both the right to benefit from a materially and morally prosperous society, and a commensurate responsibility to participate in its construction.

It said it offered as a resource the Bahá'í Centre of Learning for Tasmania, a religious and educational institution established for the benefit of the people of the State.

Other recommendations included educational initiatives that foster human solidarity and global citizenship, and measures to foster interaction between people from different faith communities.

Australian Baha’i Report -November 2013

� Volunteers work to preserve endangered shrub

A beautiful endangered shrub will now have a much greater chance of flourishing as a result of a joint effort by volunteers who worked in bushland areas in the Bahá’í Temple property in Ingleside, Sydney in October.

Those involved included Bahá’ís and local Pittwater residents. The project was a joint initiative involving the Australian Bahá’í Community, the Pittwater Natural Heritage Association, the Pittwater Council, the NSW State Government’s Office of Environment and Heritage and the Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Authority.

On 21 October 2013 the volunteers carried out weeding and other conservation work in the habitat of Grevillea caleyi in the bushland near the Temple.

Grevillea caleyi, sometimes called the "Terrey Hills grevillea", is an open, spreading shrub, up to four metres tall and four metres wide with attractive flowers ranging in colour from crimson to dark burgundy.

The work was part of a restoration project to more firmly establish the healthy and ongoing presence of the shrub in the Duffys Forest area, including the Bahá’í site and other properties. Funding for the restoration project is being provided by the New South Wales State Government.

Yasha Siddiqi and Shervin Ali (right) with Gravillea caleyi

The Temple property is one of only three localities in Sydney still home to this species. The shrub is restricted to an eight kilometre square area across government and privately owned land.

Shervin Ali, landscape and grounds supervisor for the Temple grounds, said there had been previous conservation projects in the area but this project was a fresh impetus in the bid to look after the bushland.

"With the spiritual atmosphere of the Temple, the flora and fauna provide opportunities for contemplation about the wonders of creation," Mr Ali said.

To read more about the conservation work, visit:

www.pittwateronlinenews.com/saving-grevillea-caleyi-at-ingleside.php

Bahá’í student receives prize

Vilification of those who hold different beliefs or opinions should not be an option for parliamentarians, a young Bahá’í said in a prize-winning speech for a competition at Parliament House in Canberra.

Soraya Pradhan, a Bahá’í student from Seymour College in Adelaide, put forward her point of view in her entry in the "My First Speech" competition, which was open to students in Years 10–12.

The 96 entrants from across Australia wrote speeches imagining they were newly elected members of the House of Representatives and were delivering their maiden speeches in Parliament. The three winners came to Canberra to present their speeches at Australia’s Parliament House, as part of the 25th anniversary Open Day on Saturday 24 August 2013.

Soraya won second prize for her speech

about the notion of community in Australia, and how she has grappled with the challenges of belonging to a religious minority and identified with multiple cultures from her mixed heritage.

She also addressed a variety of issues, such as caring for the elderly, fiscal responsibility, sustainable city living, responsible management of water resources, and binge drinking among the young.

"While our opinions will be divided and our beliefs challenged, our disagreement cannot lead to vilification," Soraya said.

"Ultimately we all have the same goal- the

betterment of our nation. "The best path is one which all Australians can tread together."

To watch videos of the three prize winners visit: www.aph.gov.au/myfirstspeech

Soraya Pradhan

Australian Baha’i Report - November 2013

� International News

Persecution escalates despite promises to improve human rights

The Australian Bahá’í Report is published three times a year by the Australian Bahá’í Community.

The Australian Bahá’í Community is a nongovernmental organisation which encompasses and represents the membership of the Bahá’í Faith in Australia.

For more information on the stories in this newsletter, or any aspect of the Australian Bahá’í Community and its activities, please contact:

Australian Baha’i Report

173 Mona Vale Road Ingleside NSW 2101 Australia

Phone:

(02) 9998 9222 Email: opi@bahai.org.au World Wide Web:

www.bahai.org.au

Twitter: @Austbahai

Facebook: /austbahai

Editorial team: Michael Day Venus Khalessi Natalie Mobini

Staff Writer:

Michael Day

The Australian Baha’i Report is distributed free of charge. If you would like to have your name added to, or removed from, our mailing list, please contact us at the address above.

Printed on 100% recycled paper

An escalating pattern of systematic human rights violations appears to be targeting Bahá’ís in Iran says the UN expert on human rights in Iran, Dr Ahmad Shaheed.

Dr Shaheed’s assessment has been confirmed by international Bahá’í spokesperson Bani Dugal, who says the situation has been getting worse for Bahá’ís since the election of President Hassan Rouhani, who has made public promises for improvement in human rights.

In his report presented to the UN on 23 October 2013, Dr Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, said there was no sign of improvement in the human rights situation and, in fact, referred to "the deepening human rights crisis in the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Dr Shaheed said that religious minorities in Iran, including Bahá’ís, Christians, Sunni Muslims, and others, "are increasingly subjected to various forms of legal discrimination, including in employment and education, and often face arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment."

His report also referred to restrictions on freedom of expression and access to information, poor prison conditions, the high rate of executions, floggings and amputations, and violations of the rights of women and ethnic minorities.

"The Special Rapporteur continues to observe what appears to be an escalating pattern of systematic human rights violations targeting members of the Bahá’í community, who face arbitrary detention,

Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran

torture and ill-treatment, national security charges for active involvement in religious affairs, restrictions on religious practice, denial of higher education, obstacles to State employment and abuses within schools," he wrote.

Welcoming the report, Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the UN, said that recent reports from Iran give disturbing details indicating there has been no improvement whatsoever.

"Indeed reports to our office actually indicate a worsening of the situation facing Bahá’ís in Iran. And we note that although much has been made in the news media of recent releases of a few prisoners of conscience, no member of the Bahá’í Faith has yet been included among them."

Ms Dugal stated: "What we see is the continuation of the usual tactics, attempting to delude the international community and to appease the family of nations, even as repression continues at home with full force."

Calls for Iran to bring murderers to justice

The religiously-motivated murder of a Bahá’í in the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas on 24 August has prompted calls worldwide for those responsible to be apprehended.

Mr Ataollah Rezvani was found shot dead in his car after an ongoing series of threats by the authorities, menacing phone calls and incendiary sermons.

Australian Bahá’í Community spokesperson Venus Khalessi said: "The Iranian government should take all possible steps to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice."

"We hold grave concern for the ongoing situation of the Bahá’ís throughout Iran," she said.

"Despite being model citizens, Bahá’ís are being relentlessly and systematically persecuted."

To read about the murder of Mr Rezvani, visit:

www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2013/10/24/3876165.htm

Mr Ataollah Rezvani

Australian Baha’i Report - November 2013

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