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The following article appeared in an Israeli paper.
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Saturday, September 01, 2001 Elul 13, 5761 Israel Time: 03:06
(GMT+3)
Bahai feel bashed by local media
By Charlotte Halle
CONTROVERSIAL: Haifa newspaper claims Bahai center received
irregular
tax breaks.
The Bahai movement, which plowed $250 million into re-landscaping
the
gardens of its Haifa world headquarters, charges that it has been
unfairly treated by the local media.
Articles have appeared in the local and national press accusing the
Bahai
World Center of receiving government tax reimbursements which it is not
entitled to, of having unethical links with the Labor Party, of using
excessive amounts of water to maintain the gardens and, most absurdly,
of
worshiping idols and using incense during religious practices.
Officials are particularly furious about an "untrue and
unfair" article
that appeared in the Haifa weekly newspaper Zman Haifa earlier this
month, which claimed that the world center had received millions of
shekels in irregular payments from the Israeli government. The Bahais
are
particularly distressed because they say the newspaper gave them just
one
hour to respond to the allegations before the article went to press.
"It upsets us that people look for an ulterior, negative motive in
what
we are doing," says Glen Fullmer, senior information officer at the
center. He attributes the attacks to the Bahai community's dramatic
shift
from "obscurity" to "high-profile" target for media
coverage following
the opening of the new garden project.
"We were silent citizens," he says, "and sometimes
the story we have to
tell - that we are beautifying our holy places with voluntary
contributions from Bahais around the world on a nonprofit basis - just
doesn't seem to add up."
Based on an acceptance of all world religions, the Bahai faith
supports
the unification of humanity and the emergence of a global civilization.
Its principles forbid accepting donations from any individual or
institution outside of the faith.
The opening of the gardens surrounding the world-famous golden-domed
Shrine of the Bab - a tranquil haven for visiting pilgrims - is the
result of 15 years of planning and construction, and a $250-million
investment by the Bahai community. The center signed an agreement with
the Israeli government in 1987, entitling it to tax exemptions on the
basis of the fact that it is an international religious, nonprofit
organization. The center stands to receive a tax refund on the order of
$20 million.
The Zman Haifa article was based on questions about tax
reimbursement
that were submitted by an independent auditor to the Ministry of
Tourism.
Bahai sources claim that all the auditor's queries were
satisfactorily
answered, and that it was "defamatory" and unfair of the
newspaper to
portray the questions as based in fact. Furthermore, the world center
placed a full-page advertisement in the newspaper a week later, refuting
the paper's claims with quotes from Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of
Finance officials. The Bahai center is still considering taking legal
action against the newspaper for the "malicious and
unprofessional"
article.
Zman Haifa editor Sharon Gal told Anglo File that reporters had
given the
Bahais about seven hours to repond to the claims. Due to a
"technical
error," their response to the allegations had not appeared, but
added
that a response was printed in full the following week, the same week
the
full-page advertisement was published. He added that many editors would
not have agreed to print the advertisement of the Bahais because it was
so overtly critical of the newspaper.
Murray Smith, deputy secretary-general of the Bahai World Center,
says
the gardens have given a "big boost" to the social and
economic life of
Haifa, with almost 35,000 Israelis visiting the site every week since
June. This represents a radical rise in the number of day visitors to
the
city, at a time when tourism is at an all-time low. He emphasized that
entrance to the gardens is free and that they are open daily.
The opening of the gardens, Smith adds, has forced the Bahais into the
"limelight," although they prefer to keep a low profile, to
avoid
"upsetting people in a way that will be of negative consequence to
Bahais
in other countries."
Smith dismisses as "completely false and erroneous" the
claims in the
media that the Bahais worship idols and use incense. He also outlined
the
world center's strict regulations - built into the planning of the
gardens - stipulating avoidance of water-intensive plants, and use of
state-of-the-art irrigation technology. He adds that many
"positive"
articles also appeared in the press following the opening of the
gardens.
In general, says Smith, the Bahai center has enjoyed good relations
with
all Israeli governments, a fact that has not escaped the attention of
the
government of Iran. There, Bahai believers are persecuted under the
fundamentalist Islamic regime, which accuses them of being Zionist
collaborators. Baha'u'llah, the founder of the monotheistic Bahai faith
-
which broke off from Islam 150 years ago - arrived in the Holy Land from
Iran as a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire in 1868 and died near Acre in
1892. According to Smith, when the Bahais arrived in Palestine,
Baha'u'llah instructed his followers that they must not seek or accept
converts here, a rule which is still strictly observed today.
The elected governing body of the world's Bahai community, the
Universal
House of Justice, has its seat in Haifa on Mount Carmel, adjacent to the
Shrine of the Bab and the new gardens. Haifa and Acre together comprise
the international spiritual and administrative center for the five
million followers of the Bahai faith, of whom 800 live in Israel,
volunteering for a time at the Haifa headquarters before returning home.
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