The Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention has been tracking the systematic harassment and persecution of Iran’s Bahá’í community for several years, with the fear that this religious group, Iran’s largest minority religion with around 300,000 members, may be the target of the world’s next genocide.
The recent escalation of international pressure on Iran has coincided with the potentially related escalation of harassment, arrests, and intimidation of Bahá’ís throughout the country. As a result, there is now an urgent need for international attention and action to safeguard the Bahá’í community.
One of the hardships that Iranian Bahá’ís face is the exclusion of their young people from universities, a common warning sign in the early stages of past genocides. Thus, it is with great pride then that we lend our support to the upcoming screening of Education Under Fire.
This internationally acclaimed documentary profiles the growth, struggle and spirit of the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education, an underground university set up to educate young Bahá’ís. Co-sponsored by Amnesty International, and produced by Single Arrow Productions, the documentary shines a bright spotlight on the struggle by the Iranian Bahá’í community to access the education which the Iranian state has forbidden to them. Despite raids, arrests, and the risk of personal harm, the Institute’s volunteer teachers, administrators, and students persevere.
With state-sponsored anti-Bahá’í propaganda continuing to marginalize the group, and with the population facing increasing persecution, Education Under Fire is a most timely of documentaries. It transcends the issues of the Iranian situation to ask a very global question – what if you were forbidden to learn?
We hope you join us at its Toronto screening this Thursday.
What: Education Under Fire
When: March 29, 2012
6:00 PM
Where: University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. West,
Toronto, Ontario
More information about the screening can be obtained at www.educationunderfire.com or by contacting info@educationunderfire.com
We hope to see you there.