Tag: Holy Land

On The Road To Armageddon?

It may sound like a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby movie or some religious prediction from the 700 Club.

No sooner than the  news looks good for one war and another seems to fire up again.

Do you know where Megiddo is?

Well there seems to be a situation developing around that ancient site…..and in Syria……we have Israel attacking Syria….Turkey attack Syria and Russia backing Syria….Russia attacks Turkey….all in all this is not a good situation in the making.

Continuing Israel’s recent attacks into Syria, attack helicopters crossed the line of control into the Syrian Golan on Thursday, attacking a number of Syrian military positions around the area.

Details on what was being targeted or why was not entirely clear. Israeli media suggested Hezbollah was being targeted, while Syrian state media reported a civilian was killed in the attack.

(antiwar.com)

There are reports that Russia has attacked Turkish forces in Syria….

Weeks of threats by Turkish President Erdogan to retake Syria’s Idlib Province by force went extremely poorly on Thursday, when Turkish forces moved into an observation post south of Idlib City, and were immediately hammered by airstrikes from both Russia and Syria.

At least 34 Turkish soldiers were reported killed in this strike, a major number of casualties. Turkey’s Hatay Governor reported casualties were still flowing into his province from Idlib.

Turkey has put thousands of troops in Idlib recently, and Erdogan had promised to reclaim all 10 of the observation posts, while ultimately expelling Syria from Idlib. They negotiated with Russia on getting Syria to surrender, but that failed.

Turkey seemed to be under the assumption that they could overrun Syria’s military, still taxed by a long civil war, with little problem. The presence of Russian troops, however, made this very risky, and Russia seems to be underscoring their willingness to get involved.

(antiwar.com)

In response to the deaths of Russians the Navy has decide to participate…..

Russia has announced on Friday that they are sending a pair of warships armed with cruise missiles to the Syrian coast, after recent fighting with Turkish troops.

Over 30 Turkish troops were killed in Idlib Province, and Russia says that they hold Turkey responsible for their own casualties. They said Turkey was not disclosing the location of their troops, and also were embedded with Islamist rebels, making themselves a target.

(antiwar.com)

Turkey shoots down Syrian jets…..

Turkey’s military shot down two Syrian government fighter jets over northwest Idlib, hours after forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad brought down a Turkish drone over the region. 

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Turkey’s defence ministry said its forces struck two SU-24 aircraft in response to the downing of the drone. 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/syria-closes-airspace-idlib-plane-shot-200301094353040.html

And somewhere in the mix are US troops guarding the Syrian oil fields…..it is only a matter of time until something goes terribly wrong….again.

But not to worry Erdogan has Trump’s support…..

President Trump had a call with Turkey’s President Erdogan on Friday, and according to White House officials, Trump backed Turkey absolutely in Syria, demanding Syria and Russia immediately halt their offensive in Idlib Province.

The White House comments again presented Turkey’s operations as trying to “de-escalate the situation in northwest Syria,” when it would be more correct to say they are trying to keep Islamist groups from being defeated outright by the Syrian government.

With Turkey’s military operations risking running up against Russia, what they likely want is US military backing. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has already said that’s not under serious consideration.

Other US officials say that the US is looking to “help” Turkey in this operation, but it will most likely be in the form of information-sharing and equipment, not direct US military involvement.

(antiwar.com)

That is the good news so far….”not direct US military involvement”.

Appears that not all the admin are on the same page on this situation….State and Pentagon butt heads….

A senior State Department official is at odds with the Pentagon over sending additional military equipment to help Turkey fight against Russian-backed Syrian government forces, four people familiar with the matter tell POLITICO.

James Jeffrey, the U.S. special representative for Syria engagement, has been pressing the Defense Department to send Patriot missile defense batteries to Turkey to help it repel the Syrian government’s assault in Syria’s Idlib province, the people said. But Pentagon officials are worried about the global ramifications of a move they see as reckless.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/28/turkey-patriot-missiles-pentagon-118256

And the beat goes on.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Who were The Knights Of Hospitaller

Please do not confuse these people with the now famous knights of the Holy Land, the Knights Templar, they we two distinct groups of crusaders.

The Crusades became more popular with modern bloggers after the attacks of 9/11 and the term “crusaders” came back into vogue.

But there has been enough “magical, mystery” BS passed around on what some call the “history” channels on your Boob Tube.

The Knights of Hospitaller…..On February 15, 1113, the reigning Pope of the Catholic Church, Pope Paschal II, issued a Papal Bull titled “Pie Postulatio Voluntatis,” recognizing the Order of Hospitallers, a military order of Catholic knights that had existed in the Holy Land since about 1099.  The order had begun in Jerusalem during the 11th Century in service of an Amalfitan (established by people from the Italian city-state of Amalfi) hospital that was founded in Jerusalem to see to the medical needs of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land, part of the Christian Crusades.  Known more formally as The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers saw themselves as protectors of Christian pilgrims in a very dangerous land teeming with robbers and warring factions.

February 15, 1113: Who Were the Knights Hospitaller?

These knights were tasked to protect the pilgrims to the Holy Land…..and that was what the Templars were tasked to do as well….so what is the story here?

The difference is simple, and not very subtle; the Templars ceased to exist, and the Hospitallers certainly exist right now, working for the sick. Originally the latter were of a military order, the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. The name comes from the dedication to St. John the Baptist of their headquarters in Jerusalem.

These are not their only names: from 1310 they were the Knights of Rhodes, and from 1530 the Knights of Malta, but they were established themselves first in (or around) 1070 with Muslim permission, managing a hospital for sick pilgrims in Jerusalem. They only became a formal order of knights when the city fell to the first Crusaders in 1099.

Knights Hospitaller & Knights Templar: the difference

More information for those who actually like history……http://www.medievalwarfare.info/templars.htm

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“lego ergo scribo”

Middle East: The Holy Land

A little archeology for a Sunday……

This is about the history of the region not some diatribe on religion or some other fanciful topic.

The Middle East is choke full of history….history that needs to be learned not from some myth but rather from the archeology of the area.

First there is a story that Babylon invaded and now evidence has been found…..

Researchers digging at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s ongoing archaeological excavation on Mount Zion in Jerusalem have announced a second significant discovery from the 2019 season—clear evidence of the Babylonian conquest of the city from 587/586 BCE.

The discovery is of a deposit including layers of ash, arrowheads dating from the period, as well as Iron Age potsherds, lamps and a significant piece of period jewelry—a gold and silver tassel or earring. There are also signs of a significant Iron Age structure in the associated area, but the building, beneath layers from later periods, has yet to be excavated.

https://phys.org/news/2019-08-evidence-babylonian-conquest-jerusalem-mount.html

Personally, that is where the Ark ended up…its gold was put in the treasury of the Babylonians.

Then from the history written in the Book….the Edomites, a foe of the ancient Hebrews have been identified……https://www.theblaze.com/news/archaeologists-ancient-biblical-kingdom-of-edom

A mysterious kingdom mentioned in the Bible underwent a massive technological leap nearly 3,000 years ago, perhaps because of the imperial ambitions of an Egyptian pharaoh. 

The kingdom, known as Edom, was in what is now known as the Arabah Valley, which falls within the boundaries of both Jordan and Israel. The area is the site of extensive copper-mining and smelting dating back to at least 4000 B.C.. 

The kingdom is also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: The book of Genesis refers to the  Edomites, who were thought to be descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau, as “the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned” (Genesis 36:31). Later, the Biblical narrative holds that King David of Israel defeated the Edomites, and supposedly killed every male in the Kingdom.

https://www.livescience.com/edomites-went-through-technological-leap.html

Probably the biggest deal to come out of the region we call the Holy Land was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls…..and now something new has been discovered about these scrolls…..

The Dead Sea scrolls have given up fresh secrets, with researchers saying they have identified a previously unknown technique used to prepare one of the most remarkable scrolls of the collection.

Scientists say the study poses a puzzle, as the salts used on the writing layer of the Temple scroll are not common to the Dead Sea region.

“This inorganic layer that is really clearly visible on the Temple scroll surprised us and induced us to look more in detail how this scroll was prepared, and it turns out to be quite unique,” said Assistant Professor Admir Masic, co-author of the research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.

“These salts are not typical for anything we knew about associated with this period and parchment making,” he added.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/sep/06/dead-sea-scrolls-study-questions-origins

This is fascinating stuff for a lazy Autumn day….but if this is not your cup of tea then I am sure that an episode of Dr. Pimple Popper is on somewhere.

MoMo awaits.

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“Lego ergo scribo”

History For a Sunday

Let me begin my day with a wish that all my fathers have a great Father’s Day……..

It has been awhile since I gave a history lesson and this Sunday seems like a good time to do so…….(I hear those heavy sighs and eye rolling)……

It is written that Hitler saw himself as a reincarnation of German Emperor Barbarossa…..seriously? That is who you want to emulate?

It is June 1190 and the leader of the Third Crusade dies…..this great warrior king did not even make it to the fight in the Holy Land…..he drowns crossing a river in Turkey on the way to the fight…..

On June 10, 1190, during the Third Crusade, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (r. 1155-1190) drowned in the river Saleph while leading an army to Jerusalem.

Frederick I Barbarossa (known as “red beard”) is generally considered one of Medieval Europe’s greatest emperors.  He had a long reign as not only Holy Roman Emperor but also as King of Italy, King of Germany (which at the time also meant King of the Romans), and King of Burgundy, ruling some of these realms from 1152 until his death in 1190, or nearly forty years!

https://www.historyandheadlines.com/june-10-1190-emperor-frederick-barbarossa-drowns-third-crusade/
 
Death peed on his dreams of glory in the Holy Land….I guess Hitler overlooked that part of the legend of “Red Beard” Barbarossa…..drowned while crossing a river (maybe someone should have told him that swimming in armor never ends well)
 
Ain’t history grand?
 
Plus it was fairly painless.
 
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Class Dismissed!

Don’t Be A Philistine

Sunday so why not something sort of religious…..the Bible goes on and on about those darn pesky Philistines….Goliath and the boys…..the problem is that there has been little evidence that they actually existed…..some even thought they may be figment of someone’s imagination…..

When I was in college and studying Middle East I was fascinated by the early history of the region….and consumed all I could on the subject (I shall write about this a little later).

In the past there have been a few pieces of pottery but no actual physical evidence……well that has been put to bed…..

Harvard University archaeologist Lawrence Stager has led the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon since 1985, clocking more than 30 years of excavations in a 150-acre site in the ancient seaport 35 miles south of Tel Aviv, reports the Harvard Gazette. Now, a major find related to the little-known Philistines, some of the Hebrew Bible’s “most notorious villains,” as National Geographic puts it, with Goliath and Delilah (of David and Samson infamy, respectively) among their ranks. To unlock the mysteries of the Philistines, archaeologists needed to find bodies, not just artifacts, but until now human remains have been elusive. “Archaeologists who study the Philistines began to joke that they were buried at sea like the Vikings—that’s why you couldn’t find them,” one archaeologist tells National Geographic. Sunday brought the news that the expedition has for three years been excavating the first Philistine cemetery to be found.

From the time the Ashkelon expedition team first discovered a human tooth in 2013 until this week, when the year’s final expedition came to a close, archaeologists have counted at least 145 sets of human remains in several burial rooms, reports the BBC. Most are buried without any objects or ornamentation, though some perfume, food, jewelry, and weapons were unearthed, and the small number of children and infants buried were found covered in a “blanket” of broken pottery. DNA analysis and carbon dating will hopefully shed light on some long-running mysteries about the Philistines’ origins and whether they have a connection to the mysterious Sea Peoples who tore across the Mediterranean in the 13th and 12th centuries BC; the remains date to the 11th to 8th centuries. “So much of what we know about the Philistines is told by their enemies,” says the expedition’s co-director. “We’ll really be able to tell their story by the things they left behind for us.” (Check out where these Philistine pottery shards were discovered.)

I have been doing research on the Hanging Gardens Of Babylon and the event we call the Exodus…..all of which I shall share as soon as the research is done and I compile my findings…..

Have a great day….I shall return to normal tomorrow….peace out…..

Intifada for Dummies

I have been writing about the “intifadas” of the Palestinians….I was in the area when the first one was happening….December 1987……I witnessed some amazing bravery and gonads by the Palestinian protesters…..

Americans do not understand what or why the intifadas were important…..they were the people of the Occupied Territories trying to reclaim their heritage and their rights…..something most Americans could understand and would understand if it were anybody but Palestinians protesting Israel.

I have tried to explain as best as I can but I have fallen short on every occasion……I did find a good article by Ramzy Baroud that does the very thing that I tried……

Please check it out if you are interested in knowing why a people would resort to this sort of situation……

Whether history moves in a straight or cyclical line, it matters little. The uncontested fact is that it is in constant motion. Thus, the current situation in Palestine is particularly frustrating to a generation that has grown up after the Oslo Peace Acco

Source: Intifada for Dummies: Why a popular uprising is yet to take off?

Take a little time and see why a people would feel the necessity to resort to this as a way to make a point…….

Middle East: The Clock Is Ticking

Note:  I wrote this draft before the latest “intifada” erupted…….

I write a lot about the situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians…..it is a subject that I have watched and analyzed for decades…..and after all those years the sides are NO closer to finding a way to deal with each other as equals……but the clock is ticking!

The sands are running through the hour glass and no one can find a way to stop it…..a dream for years has been a peaceful Middle East…..many have tried and ALL have failed.

I have written in the past of the possibility for peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis and even offered up a couple of suggestions on how to achieve a lasting peace……but sadly few listen and even fewer care…..

When the Palestinians go on the offensive it is major news…..the media tells all but what caused the action…….they will give the reasons that Israel retaliates against any action and it is always the same…..self-defense which as we have seen in recent years is the call of the people that have to justify the bloodshed they spill.

But think about the causes of the anger of Palestinians……crops destroyed, house destroyed and fruit trees uprooted, loss of livelihood….. and for what?  Would you sit by passively while your livelihood was destroyed?  Would you allow someone to throw you out of your house to make room for an apartment complex?

The one situation that has caused more destruction and bloodshed is Israel’s constant desire to build settlements on Palestinian land.

United Nations special committee has blasted Israel’s policy of settlement expansion, saying it is the root cause of violence towards Palestinians.

In a press release issued on Aug. 10, the committee revealed that testimony from a range of civil society groups and Palestinian officials all pointed to one conclusion: that until the government of Israel reigns in illegal settlement activity in the West Bank, the violence will likely continue.

Besides annexing Palestinian land and further fragmenting West Bank territory, settlement expansion has also contributed to a climate of impunity in which crimes against Palestinians – often at the hands of settlers themselves – continue unchecked.

Settlers also routinely attempt to destroy Palestinian farmland by cutting down trees, setting fields ablaze, damaging machinery or stealing and poisoning livestock.

Israel and the construction of these settlements are the cause of much of the violence in the West Bank then it is time for the US to man up and find a way to force Israel to top this practice and start looking for ways to end this conflict.

Unless of course………Israelis have NO intention of finding a peace and that it was all about the destruction of Palestinians all along and the self-defense BS was just the cover screen……in other words the complete destruction of a people.  That is called genocide….something Israelis should be well aware of from their past.  But wait the world allows it in the name of “self-defense”….did that excuse work in the 1930’s?  Why should it work in the 21st century?

You would think that they would be sensitive to such an act….but they seem to have short memories….you see religion is on their side……funny how religion is not a good excuse elsewhere….but it is when applied to the Israelis……the whole world is one huge communities of hypocrites!

Time is quickly running out.  Both sides, even though it does not appear to be so, have been working to end this hostility…..but as long as the settlements continue and the vicious attacks continue this relative peaceful period will end……and when it ends it will be all out conflict with all the death and destruction that anyone can imagine.

The only hope this situation has is the international community……sadly these entities will do whatever Israel wants……does Israel want a return to all out conflict?  It would give them the excuse they need to totally destroy the Palestinian people and fulfill some mythical promise from an unproven history.  And that is all the excuse they need!

Why Are Christians So Compliant?

Whenever I write anything remotely pro-Palestinian I usually get some Christian that tries to derail me in one way or the other….usually it is a quote from their book about Israel is for the Jews given to them by God….so it sez in the Old Testament….I then ask them who wrote the book?  The answer is simple……Jews.

Their unshakable support for anything Israel just amazes me…..why?  Is it that for the prediction of the “end of days” there must be an Israel and a rebuilt temple?  Whatever it is most are almost rabid in their support of Israel.  I hate to tell them but the feeling is NOT mutual.

They never seem to grasp that Christians are not as welcome as they think they are……at Christmas and Easter okay but that is a money thing from the tourism not some religious tolerance.

In the past Christian chapels and churches have been destroyed in various ways not by Palestinians but rather Ultra-fundamentalist Jews….the most recent attack…..

In recent years, the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth) has become a significant religious holiday for evangelical Christians who support Israel. They come to Jerusalem by the thousands from all over the world for a week of celebrations that include study sessions of the Bible and the New Testament. This year, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem held a convention at an auditorium in Jerusalem attended by thousands of Christian Zionists.

It seems, however, that certain groups in Israel are deeply concerned by the growing phenomenon and even fighting it. According to those opposing it — for the most part, ultra-Orthodox and other religious Jews — it is actually Christian missionary activity aimed at encouraging Jews to convert to Christianity. Recently, in an unusual move, Israel’s Chief Rabbis David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef issued an appeal against the convention, describing it as “a spiritual danger” “undermining the Jewish character” of Israel.

The Yad L’Achim organization, which its leaders say has been fighting Christian missionary activity for 50 years, is behind the struggle against the convention in Jerusalem. Yad L’Achim considers it a dangerous and even an illegal attempt to proselytize about Christianity in the Land of Israel. “For years we had a tacit understanding with the International Christian Embassy in Israel, whereby they steered clear of missionary activity, and over the years, they did keep their part of the deal,” Rabbi Shmuel Lifschitz, who heads the organization, told Al-Monitor. “However, last Sukkoth, they hosted soldiers and young Jews and openly preached for conversion to Christianity. As far as we are concerned, it was crossing a red line.”

Christians time to wake up and smell the coffee…..you are NO more welcome in Israel than is a Muslim!

Ask the Catholic Church if you do not believe what I say…….read this…..

Last week Israeli security forces arrived with bulldozers at a piece of property owned by the Catholic Church in east Jerusalem, close to the West Bank city of Bethlehem. They said it had been built without a permit and proceeded to destroy it.

This provoked a backlash from the head of the Catholic Church in Israel who said the demolition was carried out without any prior warning.

“This act is against the law, against justice and humanity, against any ideology upon which peace can be built and increases segregation and hate,” Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Faud Tawwal told AFP at the site of the demolition on Tuesday. The property had been standing before Israel annexed the area after the 1967 Six-Day War, he said.

Embedded image permalink

Does this sound like anything you have heard or read in the last year or so?

Time for Christians to get off this soapbox of some fictional occurrence from some unproven historical outlook and realize that Christians are NOT wanted in the Holy Land…….your dollars are fine….but your religion has to GO!

STOP! Letting some religious promise blind you to reality!

IST Classroom: Remember The Crusades

Yep…that time again.  I will force feed my readers a little history to make their day.  I apologize if you are not a history buff but…..you will get over it!

These days with all the Islamophobia there is always someone somewhere that will bring up the Crusades and use it as some sort of example of how to handle things…..the problem is most of their knowledge is second hand and biased…..for instance the 1st Crusade……1095.

The most passed around story is that the Seljuk Muslims were brutally attacking Christians in the Holy land……and the Pope got pissed……Launched by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095, the First Crusade was the most successful. Urban gave a dramatic speech urging Christians to swarm towards Jerusalem and make it safe for Christian pilgrims by taking it away from the Muslims. The armies of the First Crusade left in 1096 and captured Jerusalem in 1099.

Now there is proof that the 1st Crusade was not necessarily needed……while Urban was lathering up the people to go to the Holy Land……you see the Muslims that were preventing the pilgrims from entering into the Holy Land were the Seljuks….by the time Urban got his troops on the way the Seljuks had been defeated by another Muslim group…the Fatimids.  The Fatimids had no problem with the influx of pilgrims for they were interested in trade and tourism….their presence, the pilgrims, meant more cash for the coffers…..

The problem arose when the Crusaders got to the Holy Land and started their Holy War….the butchers of Europe, the same groups that had got on a Jew killing spree only years before the Crusade began killing everything insight…..both Muslim and Jews until they finally captured Jerusalem in 1099.

Another problem with these invaders……… From these conquered lands Crusaders carved out small kingdoms for themselves which endured for some time, though not long enough to have a real impact upon local culture.in doing so they began to oppress the locals until 1187 when Muslim general Saladin defeated the Crusaders army and retook Jerusalem.  So the whole “saving the Holy Land” was a smoke screen for plundering the region…..

We could say that with a little patience Urban could have avoided all the death and destruction….that is if it was truly about the pilgrims and their visits to the Holy Land.

Haste makes waste!

Some things never change…….rush to war…….when war could have been avoided.

Sound familiar?

Thanx for your attention…….

Class dismissed!

Apartheid: Then And Now !

An op-ed that I wrote for Ace News Room…….

There is much going on in the Holy Land but for some reason the media will not report on it……that is unless it has something to do with Israel…..any negativity will NOT be reported.

Israel is in the process of building an Apartheid State….something we thought was gone with the fall of South Africa……we were WRONG!

Please read the op-ed and comment if you would like to…..and visit Ace News Room for all the news you may have missed……

Source: Apartheid: Then And Now !

You just thought apartheid ended with the fall of white South Africa……Israel is doing all it can to keep the practice alive…..