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Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We’re writing you because seven of our dearly loved Baha’i brothers and sisters in Iran are in grave danger this week, and possibly face execution in a matter of days.   They have been held in prison for over a year with no access to their lawyer, Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi. 

The US State Department, the UK Foreign Office Minister, Amnesty International and others have roundly condemned the imprisonment and trial of the Baha’is:  http://iran.bahai.us. 

On February 13th, 2009, a bill was introduced in Congress, H. Res. 175, “Condemning the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Bahá’í minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights.”

Why should you care?

The Baha’i Faith is a peaceful religion that seeks to promote the unity of mankind.  Our principles are in alignment with American values:  http://www.bahai.org.    

We may be small in number (about 6MM worldwide), but we are spread out across almost every country in the world and are trying to be of service to humanity.  Baha’is have been  in Pasadena since the early 20th century.

A Familiar Pattern of Religious Persecution

We shun violence and believe that all the world’s major religions are from God.  For that, we suffer.  The Baha’is face repression in Iran and other parts of the world, ominously mirroring an insiduous pattern of behavior not seen since the years leading up to World War II. 

We need your help

You were probably unaware our situation until now, but we need advocates beyond the Baha’i Community: 

• Please let your friends, neighbors, and coworkers know about our situation
• Please urge our Congressman Adam Schiff to co-sponsor  H. Res. 175, “Condemning the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Bahá’í minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights”  626-304-2727 http://schiff.house.gov/HoR/CA29/Contact+Information/Contact+Form.htm
• Please urge our Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to consider introducing in the Senate a resolution similar to H. Res. 175  https://boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/policy.cfm    http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUS.EmailMe
• If you’d like to join us in prayer for the seven imprisoned Baha’is ithis Thursday, February 19th @ 7:30pm, please join us.  We’re working on getting the Western Justice Center (55 S. Grand Ave., at the intersection of Green Street and Grand Ave.).  Location confirmePlease stay tuned to this blog for updates.   Location confirmed:  7:30pm Thursday, February 19th, Western Justice Center 55 S. Grand Ave. at the intersection of Green Street and Grand Ave.

This isn’t exactly the way we wished to kick off our blog, but being the optimists we are, maybe this will give us a chance to become closer.

Your friends and neighbors,

The Baha’is of Pasadena, California