May 14. On this date in 1948, the Arab village of al-Nuqayb, where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had owned land and grown grain, was depopulated in the fighting which broke out after the U.N. General Assembly's adoption on November 29, 1947 of the Partition Plan for Palestine.
Al-Nuqayb (transliterated as Nughayb in the Bahá'í orthography) is mentioned in Lady Blomfield's The Chosen Highway, in the sectioned titled Bahá'í Villages.
The Master bought from time to time some land in various villages. Asfiya and Daliya, near Haifa--these two properties He bestowed upon Diya'u'llah and Badi'u'llah, the two younger half-brothers, at the request of Bahá'u'lláh.
Land was also acquired in the villages of Samrih, Nughayb, and 'Adasiyyih, situated near the Jordan.
In his book All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, the historian Walid Khalidi details the history of many of these Palestinian villages and how they were depopulated. For example, he notes that in the 1880s most of the village land of al-Samra was purchased by the Bahá'u'lláh, with the villagers continuing to farm as tenant farmers. In the 1920s, this land was sold by Shoghi Effendi to the Jewish National Fund.
Bahá'í Villages in The Chosen Highway chronicles in some detail how 'Abdu'l-Bahá used the grain he had grown in these villages to supply the British Army during World War I.
We learned that when the British marched into Haifa there was some difficulty about the commissariat. The officer in command went to consult the Master.
"I have corn," was the reply.
"But for the army?" said the astonished soldier.
"I have corn for the British Army," said 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
He truly walked the Mystic way with practical feet. [footnote: Lady Blomfield often recounted how the corn pits proved a safe hiding-place for the corn, during the occupation of the Turkish army. -Ed.]
According to Harry Charles Luke, an official in the British Colonial Office who served as assistant Governor of Jerusalem,
Sir 'Abbas Effendi 'Abdu'l Baha had travelled extensively in Europe and America to expound his doctrines, and on the 4th December, 1919, was created by King George V a K.B.E. for valuable services rendered to the British Government in the early days of the Occupation.
On April 27, 1920, 'Abdu’l-Bahá was ceremonially knighted, an event which was prominently reported in the Bahá'í periodical Star of the West.
THE following beautiful description of this event was written by Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi who was at that time in Haifa: "Among the kings and governments of the world who have become convinced that Abdul Bahá was the well-wisher and the lover of mankind are King George and his government. The King sent a medal to Abdul Bahá with the title, "Sir", thus making him a member of his household. On the 27th of April, 1920, the Governor and high officials of Haifa, Palestine presented in a beautiful garden a most wonderful celebration for the knighting of Abdul Baha. Bahai pilgrims from Persia, America and all parts of the world were present. Mohammedan, Christian, Jewish leaders, clergymen, notables and local officials from Haifa, Acca and other towns attended. A tent was pitched in the center of the garden. English troops stood on both sides, from the gate of the garden to the center where Abdul Bahá was seated. The military music added wonderful melody to the rustling leaves of the beautiful trees. The breezes of the spring on that sunny afternoon imparted a remarkable vigor to the physical body just as the presence of Abdul Baha strengthened the souls. The Governor stood behind Abdul Bahá and, after a short speech, interpreted by Mr. Wadie Bistani, presented the medal. Then Abdul Baha, rising from his seat, gave a brief talk and a prayer for the British government.
On February 23, 1914, at the eve of World War I, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had hosted Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild banking familywho was a leading advocate and financier of the Zionist movement, during one of his early trips to Palestine.
On September 8, 1919, subsequent to the British occupation of Palestine, at a time when tens of thousands of Jewish settlers were arriving under the auspices of the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association, an article in the "Star of the West" quoted 'Abdu'l-Bahá praising the Zionist movement, proclaiming that "There is too much talk today of what the Zionists are going to do here. There is no need of it. Let them come and do more and say less" and that "A Jewish government might come later."
At the time of 'Abdu'l-Bahá 's death, Shoghi Effendi was matriculated at Balliol College. In a letter to Marzieh Gail, Shoghi Effendi outlined his educational ambitions at Balliol College, specifically to study with eminent professors and Orientalists, noting alumni who were all Imperialists.
After 'Abdu'l-Bahá 's death, Shoghi Effendi would continue to have close relations with the leading political administrators and prominent Zionist leaders. For example, on January 24, 1922, Shoghi Effendi received a letter from Herbert Samuel, the British High Commissioner for Palestine. The receipt of the letter is in mentioned in Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum's The Priceless Pearl. As High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel was the first Jew to govern the historic land of Israel in 2,000 years, and his appointment was regarded by the Muslim-Christian Associations as the "first step in formation of Zionist national home in the midst of Arab people." Herbert Samuel welcomed the arrival of Jewish settlers under the auspices of the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association and recognised Hebrew as one of the three official languages of the Mandate territory.
While Shoghi Effendi was thus occupied and was gathering his powers and beginning to write letters such as these to the Bahá'ís in different countries, he received the following letter from the High Commissioner for Palestine, Sir Herbert Samuel, dated 24 January 1922:
Dear Mr. Rabbani,
I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of Jan. 16., and to thank you for the kind expression it contains. It would be unfortunate if the ever to be lamented death of Sir 'Abdu'l-Bahá were to interfere with the completion of your Oxford career, and I hope that may not be the case. I am much interested to learn of the measures that have been taken to provide for the stable organization of the Bahá'í Movement. Should you be at any time in Jerusalem in would be a pleasure to me to see you here.
Yours sincerely,
Six years after these events, on May 18, 1954, Ruhaniyyih Ruth Moffett, one of the outstanding traveling speakers for the religion who is known to have aided the founding of Bahá'í communities, described the founding of that country six years previous as "a most remarkable bloodless revolution occurred, when 4,000,000 Moslems fled and 1,000,000 Jews marched in and began tilling their ancestral soil, and a new nation was born. Today the blue and white flag with the star of Bethlehem flutters proudly over the world'' youngest democracy --"" nation as eternally old as yesterday, as eternally young as tomorrow". Phonex-like, from the ashes have risen again to build a new homeland, to develop the most stupendous, life-salvaging operation ever undertaken in the whole history of mankind, and to fulfil the promise of the Ages!"
At 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 18, the Royal Sabena glided along the runway to the first stop in Brussels, Belgium, after the long transoceanic flight. There the same plane was reconditioned and flew over Europe, and Brindisi, the tip of the heel of Italy, over the Ionian and Mediterranean Seas, and arrived in Athens, where the plane was again reconditioned, and arrived at 10:30 p.m., May 18, 1954 at the airport at Jappa, Tel Aviv, Israel. This is the modern miracle, to travel thousands of miles from Chicago to Tel Aviv in only thirty nine hours!
As the Royal Sabena plane winged its way toward Israel, Ruhaniyyih wondered how it would look in comparison with when she saw it before - a desert land filled with rocks, sand, thorny bushes and confusion, and where everyone seemed to be against his neighbor. As the approaching lights of the Holy Land again came into view, her heart was filled with joyful and reverential expectancy and she thought to the words of the song, "Israel - The Land of Promise Welcomes You".
As she gazed meditatively at the approaching lights of the Holy Land, the panorama of history seemed to unroll before her mind: of how Palestine was peopled by cave dwellers in about 3500 B.C.; of how Abraham was led to this land, and God made a covenant with Him, "that in the seed of Abraham shall all the nations of the earth be blest"; of the Cananites, and later how Moses led the Israelites out of bondage, and for forty years in the wilderness, and Joshua led them to the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey; how the Jewish people built up the land but turned away from God to gods of their own making. Then Saul became the first king and established a civic kingdom, but he died. David became the king unifying the kingdom and calling them to return to God: and David died and was called to his fathers. Solomon, his son became King. He expanded the kingdom, and to this day, the glory and unity of his kingdom is still sung. But Solomon died and the tribes became divided. Then the Assyrians in 1722 B.C., destroyed Damascus and Israel and took the tribes into captivity, and they became scattered. After the Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C. the remaining tribes of Judah were taken into Babylonia and scattered. Alexander the Great captured Palestine in 332 B.C. The coming of Jusus, the Christ, had a profound effect on the history of this land, which became a noted center of pilgrimages.
Under the Moslem dominion from 636 A.D. for four centuries, and the long period of the Christian Crusades, one lasting 100 years, there was much destruction and a little progress. It was under the control of the Ottoman Turks from 1516 until the first World War, then it cecame a mandate of Great Britain, under the League of Nations. "The White Paper" gave the promise that the doors of Palestine would again open to her people. Many outbreaks of violence have occurred between the Jews and Arabs, which have caused this land to become on of the danger spots of the world. After World War II, the Jews began returning in large numbers, until today there are about 1,465,000 Jews, gathered from 75 countries, 125,000 Moslems, 40,000 Christians, and 16,000 Druzes in Israel.
On May 14, 1948, a most remarkable bloodless revolution occurred, when 4,000,000 Moslems fled and 1,000,000 Jews marched in and began tilling their ancestral soil, and a new nation was born. Today the blue and white flag with the star of Bethlehem flutters proudly over the world'' youngest democracy --"" nation as eternally old as yesterday, as eternally young as tomorrow". Phonex-like, from the ashes have risen again to build a new homeland, to develop the most stupendous, life-salvaging operation ever undertaken in the whole history of mankind, and to fulfil the promise of the Ages!
Ruth J. Moffett was born on January 19, 1880 and met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on a train platform in Chicago in 1912. After attending one of his lectures, she became a Bahá'í and became active in service in 1919. Her teaching efforts took her throughout the Americas, Europe, Egypt and the Near East. The Greatest Holy Leaf (Bahiyyih Khanum) named her Ruhaniyyih, conoting spirituality, joy and beauty. Ruth J. Moffett died on July 5, 1978.
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