Thursday, July 28, 2016

Holocaust Survivor Tomi Reichental Calls for Protection for Baha’is in Iran

 “As a Holocaust survivor I am calling on the people of Ireland and the international community to protect the Baha’i community in Iran.

On June 8th a UN statement has revealed that their very existence may be under threat.

Two UN experts, Special Rapporteurs Heiner Bielefeldt and Ahmed Shaheed have said that the current state-led incitement to hatred goes beyond even stripping the Iranian Baha’is of their rights and puts them in a very dangerous position. The UN have renewed their call on the Government of Iran to end state-sanctioned discrimination against the Baha’is. It is most important to stress that if members of the government do verbal attacks on a vulnerable community it encourages acts of violence.  That’s what happened in Germany, my native Slovakia and other parts of Europe during the Nazi era. People that we lived with for generations turned against us, betrayed us and in many instances violently attacked us.