Oh, and as a side-note, comments will stay turned off while I’m gone both because I’m still drowning in comment spam and because I really won’t have time to keep an eye on what’s going on down there in comment-land. So, as per usual, just drop me an email instead.

The decision upholds current government policy, a policy which forces the Baha’is either to lie about their religious beliefs or give up their state identification cards. The policy effectively deprives Egyptian Baha’is of access to most rights of citizenship, including education, financial services, and even medical care.

“We deplore the Court’s ruling in this case, which violates an extensive body of international law on human rights and religious freedom to which Egypt has long been a party,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

“Since this was the last avenue of appeal in this particular case, the Court’s decision threatens to make non-citizens of an entire religious community, solely on the basis of religious belief,” said Ms. Dugal.

Now, to get everyone up to speed, back in April an Egyptian Administrative Court ruled that Baha’is in that country could actually identify themselves as Bahá’ís on official government documents. Sadly, the ruling was suspended less than a month later and the govenment annouced that it would be appealing the decision.

So now, after a nine-month trip through the courts, the rights of the Baha’is in Egypt are right back where they were before this all started. Of course, the one bright side to all of this is the incredible amount of media coverage that the story has recieved. The issue has been debated in magazines and newspapers as well as on television both inside Egypt and around the world. And I’m sure it will only intensify after this ruling.

For a much more complete picture of the situation of the Baha’is in Egypt, head over to Baha’i Faith in Egypt, a blog all about, well, the Baha’i Faith in Egypt.

(Update: The story is starting to show up everywhere now. Here are articles from Reuters and AFP, as well as this commentary (and more links) from Egyptian blog The Arabist, and finally this post by Hossam el-Hamalawy, who was at the courthouse when the verdict was delivered.)

The Baha’i community director, Daisy Bamuno, said, “There is need to have the spiritual ingredient in the fight against poverty if it is going to be successful.”

Bamuno was yesterday addressing Baha’i members at their temple at Kikaya during prayers in commemoration of the Human Rights Day.

The function was organised to foster ways of fighting poverty as the main cause of human rights abuses in Uganda.

Bamuno said, “There are other persistent ills obstructing the peaceful development of people and the nation. Marginalisation of girls and women, failing states, lack of political freedoms and the HIV/AIDS scourge are some of the aspects. This has led to serious human rights abuses in turn.”

The relief state minister, Musa Ecweru, said, “The Baha’i community’s belief in the spiritual aspect of fighting poverty should be upheld. “The human virtue of trustworthiness is so vital in the social development process that if lacking, no progress can be attained.

For more on the Baha’i perspective on the need for the elimination of poverty, check here and here.

“I used to be quite notorious,” said Jia Chin, who is now in his late teens. “I was involved in cheating and fighting.”

But Jia Chin decided to give up on his life of crime after participating in a moral education program sponsored by the local Baha’i community here. “One day I was attending a Baha’i-inspired program with my friend and I saw that I can live differently,” said Jia Chin. “I decided to join the classes. Now my life is different. I am happy and glad now because I have transformed.”

[…]

Now 28 years old, Mr. Lim was recently honored for this work in a ceremony on 4 November 2006, when he was named the Young Outstanding Malaysian for Moral or Religious Leadership by the Junior Chamber Kuala Lumpur Mandarin, a community service organization affiliated with Junior Chamber International.

And check out this little doco all about Mr. Lim (thanks Amy):

• The Swiss Winter School (linked page is german) is running from December 25th to the 30th at the Boldern Centre near Zurich. The theme this year is “One Common Faith” and there will be afternoon workshops in film-making, learning Arabic, singing, deepening and much more. All talks and workshops will be held in or translated into French, German and English.
  Register here or write to tracyshoe@bluewin.ch for more info.
• In the US, there’s the Lou Helen family winter school running from December 27th to January 1st. Registation information here.
• The registration for Japan’s winter school ended on December 2nd, but you may be able to sneak in if you’re going to be Takamatsu City between the 23rd and 25th of December
• And instead of me listing every winter school out there, check the list here for details about winter schools in Ireland, Slovakia, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, New Caledonia & The Loyalty Islands and New Zealand (astute readers will note that these last two are technically summer schools, but let’s not split hairs shall we?)

(Update: An astute reader who, no doubt, noticed that New Zealand is having its summer school now, aslo noticed that if you go to this page of the Swiss summer school site, you can read all about the program en francais)

The hushed Baha’i pilgrimage to the Holy Land focuses on personal prayer and meditation, and is like no other in a region long torn between religions struggling — often noisily and sometimes violently — for hearts, minds and land.

“It was a spiritual journey for me,” said Mutale Salimu Hobbs, 30, from Zambia in southern Africa.

“It was a great experience, with people coming together as one,” she said on Mount Carmel, the world headquarters of the Baha’i movement above the busy Israeli port city of Haifa.

I was lucky enough to go on pilgrimage back in January and, at risk of sounding cliche, it really was a life changing experience. So if you haven’t yet, be sure to get yourselves signed up.

I’m going to be dropping off-line for a few weeks owing to a change of job, change of house and change of continent. Then I’m goign to go on vacation, and then my computer is going to die and I’m going to have to get it fixed… And by the time all of that is over, I’m sure I’ll hardly even remember how to blog. So bear with me. Be back soon.

Yeah, so anyway, I’m back now and I’ve got a whole pile of stuff to catch up on.