August 17

Our Bahá'í attitude towards the Jewish question and Palestine is not difficult to define: first we have the prophecy of the Master in "Some Answered Questions"; how much that entails we cannot be sure of; all we can say is that God has forgiven the Jews in this Dispensation and that they will return to their homeland. We must not go further than this.

Second, we must discuss their problem with sympathy, but dispassionately; we are not concerned with, and must--for the protection of the Faith--keep out of, political controversies; all we can say is that the Jews, like every other minority in the world, are entitled to help, consideration, and justice. We must be broad in our approach to all such extremely heated controversies, and while giving our Bahá'í point of view, not take sides.

Needless to say we profoundly sympathize with the Jews, and deplore with all our hearts the cruel treatment they have received.  (From a letter dated 26 July 1946, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation ’Holocaust, the Greater Plan of God, and the Destiny of the Jewish People’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)