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from the Chronology

date event locations tags see also
1880. 18 or 19 Jun Bahá'u'lláh visited the Druze village of Yirkih (Yerka). `Abdu'l-Bahá joined Him for the last four nights. [DH123]
  • See DH123 for other Druze villages visited by Bahá'u'lláh.
  • Yirkih (Yerka); Palestine Bahaullah, Life of; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Druze
    1914 1 Nov Turkey entered the war on the side of the Central Powers.
  • Palestine was blockaded and Haifa was bombarded. [GPB304]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá sent the Bahá'ís to the Druze village of Abú-Sinán for asylum. [AB411; DH124; GPB304, BWNS1297]
  • For `Abdu'l-Bahá in wartime see CH188–228.
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá had grown and stored corn in the years leading up to the war and was now able to feed not only local people but the British army. [AB415, 418; CH210; GPB304, 306]
  • Properties in the villages of Asfíyá and Dálíyá near Haifa were purchased by `Abdu'l-Bahá, and, at the request of Bahá'u'lláh, bestowed upon Díyá'u'lláh and Bahí'u'lláh. Land was also acquired in the villages of Samirih, Nughayb and 'Adasíyyih situated near the Jordan river. 'Adasíyyah was the village occupied by Bahá'ís of Zoroastrian heritage that produced corn for the Master's household. The village of Nughayb is where the relatives of the Holy Family lived. [CH209-210]
    • See 'Adasiyyah: A Study in Agriculture and Rural Development by Iraj Poostchi. This village was purchased by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1901. He paid 400 Turkish gold lira for 920 hectares and then gifted 1/24th of the total area to the family from whom He had made the purchase.
    • Under the guidance of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi this village became a model of agriculture and Bahá'í life. The Bahá'ís lost ownership after 1962 when Jordan implemented land reforms.
    • 'Adasiyyah is mentioned in the film Exemplar (17:40-18:50).
  • See as well `Abdu'l-Baha in Abu-Sinan: September 1914 by Ahang Rabbani.
  • See Senn McGlinn's Abdu’l-Baha’s British knighthood for more background.
  • Palestine; Israel; Abu-Sinan; Haifa; Asfiya; Daliya; Samirih; Nughayb; Adasiyyih (Adasiyyah); Jordan World War I; War (general); Druze; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Abdul-Baha, Knighthood (KBE); British; Charity and relief work; Social and economic development; History (General); - Basic timeline, Expanded; Abdul-Baha, Basic timeline; Diyaullah; Bahaullah; Exemplar (film)
    1915 May The Bahá'ís of Haifa and `Akká returned to their homes from the village of Abú-Sinán. [DH147] Haifa; Akka; Abu-Sinan; Palestine; Israel Druze; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Charity and relief work; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Abdul-Baha, Basic timeline
    1916 16 May The Sykes–Picot Agreement, officially known as the Asia Minor Agreement, was a secret 1916 agreement between the United Kingdom and France, to which the Russian Empire assented. The agreement allocated to Britain control of areas roughly comprising the coastal strip between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan, Jordan, southern Iraq, and an additional small area that included the ports of Haifa and Acre, to allow access to the Mediterranean. France got control of southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Russia was to get Istanbul, the Turkish Straits and Armenia. The controlling powers were left free to determine state boundaries within their areas. Further negotiation was expected to determine international administration in the "brown area" (an area including Jerusalem, similar to and smaller than Mandate Palestine), the form of which was to be decided upon after consultation with Russia, and subsequently in consultation with the other Allies, and the representatives of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. [Wikipedia] Haifa; Akka; Israel; Palestine Sykes–Picot Agreement (Asia Minor Agreement); History (general); Middle East
    1917. 2 Nov The Balfour Declaration was a letter sent to Lord Walter Rothschild by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour declaring support for the establishment of a ‘national home for the Jewish people’ in what was to become the British Mandate of Palestine. It was the first official declaration of political support for Jewish independence and is viewed by some as paving the way for the legal foundations of the modern State of Israel as evidenced by the level of international diplomacy that went into securing the letter. In the context of WWI which was still raging at the time, it offered Britain the opportunity for a stake in the Middle East in the expected wake of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It also marked one of the first major successes of the political Zionist movement which had officially been established with the First Zionist Congress in 1897.

    Given that the Balfour Declaration was not a unilateral document on behalf of the British but rather something which had been agreed upon privately by allied diplomats before it was issued, it is viewed as the beginning of a legal process, which involved the San Remo conference of 1920 where the Declaration was officially adopted by the allied powers and latter, the creation of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922.

    The implementation of the Declaration was not without its failings. It provided for the safeguarding of the rights of the residents of Palestine saying ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine’. In the run up to WWII that the British wanted to placate the Arab leadership in the Mandate. They issued a White Paper limiting Jewish immigration to the Mandate to fifteen thousand every year for five years, ultimately refusing entry to thousands of Jewish refugees from Europe, many of whom would tragically die in the Holocaust. [Wikipedia]

  • The Palestine Mandate.
  • Palestine; Israel; United Kingdom Balfour Declaration; Jews; Judaism; History (general); Palestine Mandate
    1918 Mar The British Military Administration of Palestine began. [BBR488]
  • Sir Ronald Storrs was detached from Jerusalem to organize the British Administration in Haifa. 'Abdu'l-Bahá offered him His staff and a gift of a little Bokkara rug from the Shrine of the Báb. He returned the visit to Sir Ronald at a later date in Jerusalem. [BW10 194-5; CH226]
  • Palestine British history; Ronald Storrs; Gifts; Carpets
    1920 (in the year) The British Mandate for Palestine began. [BBR488]
  • For `Abdu'l-Bahá's attitude to the administration see BBR339.
  • For British accounts of `Abdu'l-Bahá and the Bahá'ís in this period see BBR339-43 and CH225-8.
  • For details see SA140-3.
  • Palestine; Israel British history; History (general); Abdul-Baha, Life of
    1920 27 Apr `Abdu'l-Bahá was invested with the insignia of the Knighthood of the British Empire in a ceremony in Haifa. [AB443; BBRXXX, 343-5; CH214; DH149; GPB306]
  • For the document recommending `Abdu'l-Bahá for knighthood, see BBR344.
  • The knighthood was in recognition of `Abdu'l-Bahá's humanitarian work during the war for famine relief. [AB443]
  • He accepted the honour as a gift from a `just king'. [AB443]
  • He did not use the title. [AB443]
  • For Lady Blomfield's account see AB443-4 and CH214-15.
  • See SoW vol 13 No 11 p298.
  • See Senn McGlinn's Abdu’l-Baha’s British knighthood.
  • Haifa; Abu-Sinan; Palestine; Israel Abdul-Baha, Knighthood (KBE); Abdul-Baha, Life of; World War I; British; Charity and relief work; Social and economic development; Lady Blomfield; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Abdul-Baha, Basic timeline
    1927 May The funeral of a believer resident in the Holy Land, Mírá Moshen Afnán, was the first entirely Bahá'í funeral to take place in Palestine showing the strong independence of the Faith. [SETPE1p147] Haifa; Palestine Mira Moshen Afnan; funeral
    1928 31 Dec Ruth White, who had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York in 1912 and who had been on pilgrimage in 1922, wrote to the High Commissioner of Palestine with a charge that the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá was a forgery. [SETPE1p157]
  • See AY103 for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's reaction to Ruth White in New York in 1912.
  • See FMH64-65 for the story of how her plans to convince Doris and Willard McKay of her theories were thwarted by the sudden arrival of their two dogs who had had a recent encounter with a skunk.
  • Palestine; New York; United States Covenant-breakers; Ruth White; Abdul-Baha, Will and Testament of
    1929 4 May When the British Mandate in Palestine had been set up, an Order-in-Council had been enacted that allowed each of the recognized religious communities to be administered in all affairs of personal status according to their own religious laws and courts. The Bahá'í community had not, however, been accorded this "recognized" status and was thus compelled to submit to the Muslim Courts. In 1929 Shoghi Effendi asked Mountfort Mills to raise the matter with the authorities and the Bahá’í Community of Haifa formally petitioned the government that the Bahá’í laws on personal status be recognized in Palestine. [BBR459; PP284]
  • Recognition was granted later in the year. [BBR459; DH116; PP284]
  • Haifa; Palestine Recognition
    1938 (In the year) Shoghi Effendi remained in Europe for the year owing to terrorist activities in Palestine. [PP219]
  • "The Great Revolt" raged in Palestine from 1936 to 1939. It was a nationalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration of the Palestine Mandate, demanding Arab independence and the end of the policy of open-ended Jewish immigration and land purchases with the stated goal of establishing a "Jewish National Home".
  • An innocent casualty of the unrest was Habib Miskar. He was one of the oldest Bahá'ís in Haifa at the time. On the 6th of March, 1939, while on his way home he was passing the gate of the house of 'Abdu'l-Bahá when he noticed a party of militia pursuing a fleeing man. He hurried towards the entrance of the garden to take refuge but the soldiers, having no way of knowing that he was not the terrorist they were pursuing, shot them both. [BW8p679]
  • Europe; Palestine Shoghi Effendi, Life of; Shoghi Effendi, Travels of; History (general)
    1947 9 Jul Shoghi Effendi, as Head of the Bahá’í Faith resident in the Bahá’í World Centre, received a letter from the chairman of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine requesting a statement on the relationship the Bahá’í Faith had to Palestine and the Bahá’í attitude to any future changes in the status of the country. [BW11:43, Text]
  • Shoghi Effendi replied on 14 July setting out the non-political character of the Bahá’í Faith and explaining that Palestine is both the administrative and the spiritual headquarters of the religion. In his reply, Shoghi Effendi made it clear that “Our aim is the establishment of universal peace in the world and our desire to see justice prevail in every domain of human society, including the domain of politics.” The Guardian also pointed out his concern that “the fact be recognized by whoever exercises sovereignty over Haifa and ‘Akká, that within this area exists the spiritual and administrative center of a world Faith, and that the independence of that Faith, its right to manage its international affairs from this source, the rights of Bahá’ís from any and every country of the globe to visit it as pilgrims (enjoying the same privilege in this respect as Jews, Muslims and Christians do in regard to visiting Jerusalem) be acknowledged and permanently safeguarded.”[BW11:43–4; BW12 p596-597]
  • He also included a statement of the history, aims and significance of the Bahá’í Faith, later published by the American National Spiritual Assembly in pamphlet form. [BW11:44; PP351]
  • For the text of this latter statement see GTT1–10.
  • On May 9, 1947, the Guardian had written through his secretary to explain why he was encouraging Bahá’í association with United Nations: “He feels that the friends should bear in mind that the primary reason that he is encouraging Bahá’í association with the United Nations is to give the Cause due publicity as an agency working for and firmly believing in the unification of the human family and permanent peace, and not because he believes that we are at present in a position to shape or influence directly the course of human affairs! Also, he believes this association will afford the believers an opportunity of contacting prominent and progressive-minded people from different countries and calling the Faith and its principles to their attention. We should associate ourselves in every way with all movements of UN which are in accordance with our principles and objectives; but we should not seek to take the initiative or . . . focus a glare of publicity and public attention on a very wide scale upon ourselves which might prove very detrimental to our own interests. He considered, for instance, the ‘Bahá’í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights’ appropriate and believes this type of action to be wise and suitable.” [BW12 p597-598]
  • Haifa; Palestine United Nations; Shoghi Effendi, Life of; Shoghi Effendi, Writings of; Statements; Publications; Shoghi Effendi, Works of
    1948 (In the year) War broke out in Palestine.
  • See DH118 for the effect on the Bahá’ís.
  • Palestine War (general); History (general)
    1948 14 May The British Mandate in Palestine ended and the state of Israel was proclaimed. Palestine; Israel British history; History (general)

    from the Chronology Canada

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    from the Main Catalogue

    1. 1844 Ottoman 'Edict of Toleration' in Bahá'í Secondary Literature, The, by Michael W. Sours, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 8:3 (1998). This edict, issued the year the Bahá'í era began, permitted Jews to return to Palestine. The return of Jews to the Holy Land was thought by Christians to be an event anticipated by biblical prophecy, heralding the Second Advent of Christ. [about]
    2. `Abdu'l-Baha in Abu-Sinan: September 1914, by Ahang Rabbani, in Bahá'í Studies Review, 13 (2005). The story of Abdu'l-Bahá's relocating the Haifa/Akka Bahá'í community of some 140 people to a nearby Druze village to keep them safe during World War I. [about]
    3. Babi and Bahá'í Religions 1844-1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts, by Moojan Momen (1981). A lengthy collection of first-hand reports and mentions of the Bábí and Bahá'í religions in contemporaneous accounts and newspapers. [about]
    4. Babs and Their Prophet, The, by Laurence Oliphant, in Haifa, or Life in Modern Palestine (1887). A book described by E.G. Browne as "the first published notice of Behá and the Bábí colony at Acre." [about]
    5. Bahá'í Settlements in the Jordan Valley, 1882-1954, The, by Shay Rozen (2011). [about]
    6. Call of Mt. Carmel, The, by Maude M. Holbach, in Bible Ways in Bible Lands: An Impression of Palestine (1912). Includes passing references to Abdu'l-Bahá and Akka, a description of life in Haifa at the time, and some history of Laurence Oliphant. [about]
    7. Chosen Highway, The, by Lady Sarah Louisa Blomfield (1940). Oral Bahá'í histories collected by an eminent early English Bahá'í, first published in 1940. [about]
    8. Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu'l-Baha's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East, by Kamran Ekbal (2014). Abdu'l-Bahá was opposed to the cultural and political colonialism of foreign powers and their militaries. In spite of the Bahá'í principle of abstaining from politics, exceptions can be made in the face of tyranny and injustice. [about]
    9. Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, The: A World Religion, by Shoghi Effendi (1947). A summary of the origin, teachings and institutions of the Bahá'í Faith, prepared in 1947 for the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine by Shoghi Effendi in his capacity as Head of the Bahá'í Faith. [about]
    10. Humanitarian Responses to Global Conflicts, by Universal House of Justice (2015). A letter to and response from the House about why Bahá'ís do not condemn the 2014 attacks on Gaza, and principles to consider when addressing conflicts. [about]
    11. In the Noble, Sacred Place: One Rainy Day in a Holy City, by Sandra Lynn Hutchison, in elixir-journal.org, vol. 12 (2021). A memoir of visiting Jerusalem — a contemporary pilgrim's note written as a literary piece — with meditations on the spiritual truths of the Qur'an. [about]
    12. Letter to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, by Shoghi Effendi and Horace Holley (1947). Shoghi Effendi's summary of the relationship of the Bahá'í Faith to Palestine, written as an introduction to the pamphlet "The Faith of Bahá'u'lláh: A World Religion." Includes Holley's letter to the UN the next year on Bahá'í shrines in Palestine. [about]
    13. Remembering 'Abdu'l-Baha's Call for Unity, a Century after World War I, by Bahá'í World News Service (2018). Collection of newspaper articles and photographs of Abdu'l-Bahá, on the general theme of unity in the face of war. [about]
    14. Treasures of the East: The Life of Nine Oriental Countries, by Zia M. Bagdadi (1930). Descriptions of nine "Treasures" — Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Jijaz (Arabia), Transjordania (Arabia), Persia, India, and Turkey — by an Iraqi physician who traveled to the U.S. and was instrumental in the establishment of several Bahá'í communities. [about]
    15. Young Turks and the Bahá'ís in Palestine, The, by Necati Alkan, in Late Ottoman Palestine: The Period of Young Turk Rule, ed. Eyal Ginio and Yuval Ben Bassat (2011). Reform movements in turn-of-the-century Palestine and the influence of Abdu'l-Bahá on his political milieu. [about]
     
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