For persecuting Bahai's & should also condemn the Muslim countries where the Bahai religion is banned. Bahai's are just more victims of the Religion of Peace.

UN is a corrupt bureaucratic entity designed to protect corrupt 3rd world megalomaniac dicators like Mugabe, while both blaming sponging cash from industrialized western nations. It is a society where regional groups can teem up together and form an automatic majority to bully tiny countries which are barred from serving on the Security Council simply for not being part of a regional grouping. The UN is in violation of its own Charter day after day, and must be reformed or disbanded.

You're absolutely right, and it was interesting to see how UNESCO, not surprisingly, managed to completely side-step the issue of the Bahai's persecution.

that a faith that had early in its history derived from Shi'a Islam is banned where it started. There could not have been a better place to put it than Israel. Do they serve in the army?

for welcoming a persecuted faith and allowing those gardens to flourish. They wouldn't in Bahá'u'lláh's homeland.

Dear David, the Baha'is in Israel do not serve in the IDF because there is no indigenous Baha'i community in Israel. From the time of Baha'u'llah himself, there has been a policy not to teach the faith in Israel. Therefore, the Baha'is living in Israel (600-700) are all foreign citizens who come to work at the world center of their faith for a limited time - they are international volunteers/employees of an international faith that happens to have its HQ in Israel, due to the force of historical circumstances. The King of Persia and the Ottoman Sultan exiled Baha'u'llah and his family to Palestine in 1868 in the hopes that they and the new faith would rot in the penal colony of Acre. The Baha'is of the world are particularly thankful to the government of Israel for putting forward the nominations.

Your information on the background of the Baha'is was especially interesting, and I'm delighted that The Gardens were given this honor because it was certainly well-deserved.

Dear Terry, thank you for your concern for Baha'is and your speaking out for religious freedom. I just wanted to add that we Baha'is believe, as Baha'u'llah teaches us, that the faith of Islam was a legitimate revelation from God Almighty for its time, and that the Prophet Mohammad was a messenger from God. We hold the Qur'an as holy, on a par with the Tanakh or the Bhagavad Gita and Baha'i scripture. We do not agree with the actions or interpretations of those Muslims who persecute or commit violence. In fact if it were not for the love and kindness of most Muslims in Iran, the Baha'is would all be dead now. Finally, we do not agree with those interpretations of the Qur'an that preclude any possibility of a future messenger after Mohammad. Peace to all.

You're quite welcome and again thank you for your kind comments. Have you by chance visited the Baha'i cites in Israel, or any other country?

Thank you for the info.

Actually, I've only seen the one in Israel because my husband's family lives in Haifa. But since I've had the opportunity to experience the gardens firsthand, I think that anybody who visits Israel should really make an effort to visit them and, hopefully, their selection by UNESCO will generate a lot of interest.

"The King of Persia and the Ottoman Sultan exiled Baha'u'llah and his family to Palestine in 1868 " In 1868, Haifa was located in the Sanjak of Acre, in the Vilayet of Beirut, in the region of Bilad a-Sham (Ottoman Syria; there was no Ottoman subdivision called Palestine).

Thank you for the correction, Jake. You will forgive me with your graciousness. I was mistaken. Not intended.

Thank you for the correction, Jake. You will forgive me with your graciousness. I was mistaken. Not intended.

simon sangi you are a beautiful person. i only wish that all muslims will be like you. your attitude and words are kind, inclusive and moral. i saw both the temples in chicago and haifa and they are incredible. you feel such a sense of peace there. i am proud that israel, my country, has given your temple and faith the respect it deserves. it is in fact ironic that this part of islamic belief system will find refuge and sanctuary not in an arab or persian country, but in a jewish one.

It's in Canada but, it's lovely. It was once a rock quarry that the wife insisted should be reclaimed and made lovely w/ gardens. In appreciation, it has no religious affiliations. Does that count or, is the 'religious' only recognized?

Dear # 15, an essential correction: :) You said: "this part of islamic belief system.." when referring to the Baha'i faith. The Baha'i faith is actually an independent religion. We do not consider ourselves Muslims, and Islamic courts have since an early 20th c. al-Azhar ruling correctly recognized the faith as being non-Islamic. That is the irony. The Baha'i faith recognizes the divine-ness of Islam, yet supercedes it. We believe Baha'i is not just a new religion but really a new chapter in God's one eternal faith...all religions are historical manifestations of one Truth. God bless you and thank you for your kind comments. I pray for peace and unity in the whole world, including the Holy Land.

UNESCO recognizes all kinds of sites: natural, human-made, religious, secular...