by Živilė Juonytė

Israelis sometimes joke that while Tel Aviv is partying, and Jerusalem is praying, Israel’s third-largest city and largest port Haifa is busy at work. Maybe that’s why the people of Haifa don’t have time for squabbles and why the different ethnic groups—Jews, Druzes, Arab Christians and Muslims, Ahmadiyya Muslims and Baha’i—get along so well, despite their many differences.

Newest World Religion Recognizes All Others

The unique Baha’i, Druze and Ahmadiyya communities in the kaleidoscope of cultures and religions of Haifa are probably the least known to outsiders. Baha’i is one of the newest religions of the world whose origins are found in 19th century Persia, now Iran. It was immediately banned there, and continues to be. Baha’i believe all religions are valid and study them and their sacred texts. Their emphasis on the shared features of all religions means they are tolerant of mixed marriages. Children born to Baha’i parents don’t become Baha’i automatically. It is the parents’ duty to teach them about all religions, and the young adult chooses the one which most resonates with him or her at the age of 15.

The Baha’i religious center was established in Haifa on Mount Carmel. Out of respect for Baha’u’llah, one of the founders of the Baha’i faith, internal Baha’i rules forbid them to move to Israel permanently. Baha’i believers may live and volunteer in Israel only temporarily, from one half year to five years. Often they become guides and caretakers of the Baha’i gardens located in Haifa and nearby Acre. The gardens which are included on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites and draw thousands of pilgrims and tourists annually to their charming symmetry with the temple with a golden cupola located at the center, the final resting place of the founder of Babism and one of the founders of Baha’i, the Bab. Incidentally, the Baha’i themselves must pay for expense of keeping up the temple and the religious center because they are forbidden from accepting donations from people adhering to other religions.

You Can’t Become a Druze, You Must Be Born One

The Druze say they came out of Egypt where there religion parted ways with Islam in the 10th century. As with the Baha’i and Muslims, the Druze recognize Moses, Jesus and Mohammed as prophets, but they also subscribe to belief in metempsychosis, or reincarnation, and believe every Druze will reincarnate as a Druze even if it happens in another country, every Jew will reincarnate as a Jew, and so on. There are a number of prohibitions placed on Druze: they may not eat pork, use alcohol or smoke. The Druze believe one must be born a Druze, and don’t recognize conversion or tolerate mixed marriage.

There are about 130,000 Druze who live in the Haifa region, Galilee and the Golan Heights. The Druze have never had their own state and adhere to the principle of loyalty to the state and the government of the state where they reside. Since 1956 Druze young people have served for three years in the Israeli Defense Forces, unlike Arab citizens of Israel. Service in the military facilitates integration in Israeli society and greater prospects for employment later. Even so, Druze who serve in the military don’t always fit in with the Israeli majority. This situation was described by the Israeli singer Yehonatan Geffen in his “Ballad to the Druzi”:

With the Doboon and Uzi
Who can see that he is Druzi?
Without the Doobon and the Uzi,
Everyone can see that he is Druzi.

Druze girls do not serve in the armed forces, although their traditional roles in society are also undergoing changes and are increasingly extending beyond the home and family.

Islam for Peace and Education

Ahmadiyya Islam began in British India near the end of the 19th century and by 1928 its first representatives had established themselves in Haifa. Today there are around 2,500 Ahmadiyya Muslims in Israel who differ significantly in their beliefs from other Muslims. They seek to preserve their identity and thus usually marry within their group, although they tolerate converts.

Ahmadiyya Muslims believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) was the long-awaited Messiah in Mohammed’s prophecies. The community of Ahmadiyya interpret the Quran as a book of peace and jihad in their view can only be carried out by peaceful means, primarily through education. It is to their credit the Quran has now been translated into over 70 languages, as part of their missionary/educational “jihad.” Ahmadiyya Muslims are also involved in humanitarian activities and have established the charity organization Humanity First to render aid to victims of natural disaster.

The Ahmadiyya community also perform all the requirements of Islam—they pray to Mecca five times daily, fast during Ramadan and so on—and consider themselves followers of true Islam, although more radical Muslims might take a different view of them. Pakistan, where the world center of the group operated, adopted constitutional amendments discriminating against the Ahmadiyyim in 1974 and 1984, defining them as un-Islamic and apostate. This forced the world center of the Ahmadiyya community to remove to London, and many believers followed. In Saudi Arabia Ahmadiyya Muslims are forbidden from performing the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, forcing them to go underground and deny their affiliation with this peaceful branch of Islam. Of all countries in the Near and Middle East, only Israel provides safe haven for the Ahmadiyya Muslims to practice their religion freely.

As one travels around Haifa, one gains the impression there is no place here for religion and ethnic intolerance even as the rest of the country faces increasing conflict and growing tensions. At the Druze settlement of Isfiyah on Mount Carmel many Christians, Jews and others live as well, including students of Hebrew University who find much cheaper lodgings here than in the city. Haifa is also the only city in Israel where, in consideration of the large population of non-Jews, buses run on Saturdays between bus stops where one sees small stickers with the inscription: “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.”

Bernardinai.lt

Živilė Juonytė is the editor-in-chief of the Bagel Shop magazine and is currently earning her master’s degree at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Full story in Lithuanian here.