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Islamic State destroys famous lion god statue in Palmyra
Jihad Watch ^ | 5/28/15 | Robert Spencer

Posted on 05/28/2015 4:53:31 PM PDT by markomalley

Still pursuing al-Lat after all these years. “The statue was dedicated to the pre-Islamic Arabian goddess Al-Lat, who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca along with Manat and al-Uzza.”

The Qur’an says: “So have you considered al-Lat and al-Uzza? And Manat, the third, the other one? Is the male for you and for Him the female? That, then, is an unjust division.” (53:19-22) This passage is ridiculing the idea that these three goddesses are the daughters of Allah, for that would mean that the deity only had daughters while human being have sons, who were assumed to be superior to daughters — that would have been “an unjust division.” The three goddesses of Muhammad’s tribe, the Quraysh of Mecca, were overthrown by Islam, but it is not insignificant that the Islamic State did the most damage to the lion of al-Lat.

Incidentally, that passage in the Qur’an’s 53rd sura is the only trace left of the celebrated “Satanic Verses.” Long before the novel of the same name by Salman Rushdie, this term referred to an incident recorded in Islamic tradition, in which Muhammad tried to achieve reconciliation with the Quraysh by a “revelation” in which he declared, “So have you considered al-Lat and al-Uzza? And Manat, the third, the other one? They are the exalted cranes (gharaniq), worthy of veneration.” The Quraysh, hearing this, prostrated to Allah with the Muslims, who accepted the three goddesses as Allah’s daughters. But Muhammad soon realized that he had thus compromised the absolute monotheism that he had preached up to that point, and so he reneged, and claimed that Satan, not Allah, had inspired those verses, which were then duly replaced by the “revelation” recorded in Qur’an 53:19-22. The concept of abrogation, which ultimately led to the idea that the Qur’an’s violent passages take precedence over its peaceful ones, justified this change in still another “revelation”: “We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth better than it or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah is over all things competent?” (Qur’an 2:106)

“ISIS ‘destroys’ famous lion god statue in captured Syrian city of Palmyra… just days after promising locals they would not obliterate ancient monuments,” by John Hall, MailOnline, May 28, 2015 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):

Militants fighting for the Islamic State have reportedly destroyed a famous statue of a lion in the captured city of Palmyra – despite promising locals they would not obliterate the ancient city.

Following their capture of Palmyra last Thursday, ISIS militants are understood to have won the support of much of the local population by promising not to destroy the city’s famous monuments.

But it appears that promise was too much for the jihadis to keep, with eyewitnesses claiming they destruction of millenia-old Statues and buildings is already very much under way, with the most significant loss so far being the celebrated Lion of Al-Lat, which dates back to the first century AD.

The lion statue was destroyed by ISIS militants on Saturday, according to the International Business Time, who quoted eyewitnesses on the ground in Palmyra.

‘I heard a loud noise, so I went up to the roof to see what is going on,’ one local man said.

‘I saw Daash crushing the ‘god lion’ statue with construction machines. There were many other crushed statues but I could not recognise the rest of them because they were totally ruined,’ he added, using an Arabic acronym for the terror group.

The act of destroying the statue came just days after ISIS gathered Palmyra’s citizens together and publicly promised not to bulldoze the city’s ancient buildings, as they previously did in Nimrod.

‘As for the historical monuments, we will not touch it with our bulldozers as some tend to believe,’ ISIS commander Abu Leith was quoted as saying on a local radio broadcast.

However the promise did come with a get-out clause, as the depraved fighters insisted they would ‘pulverise’ any statues they discovered in the city that the believed citizens secretly prayed to.

The lion statue in Palmyra dates from the first century AD and stood outside the city’s famous Temple of Bel.

The statue was dedicated to the pre-Islamic Arabian goddess Al-Lat, who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca along with Manat and al-Uzza.

The Temple of Bel itself was built in 32 AD – six hundred years before the arrival of Islam in Syria – and was dedicated to the Semitic god Bel – who was worshiped by Palmyra citizens along with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Yarhibol.

Since ISIS seized control of Palmyra, the temple and its surrounding area have been appropriated by ISIS militants, who are said to be using it as a military base.

Locals who preserved the site for the last 1,900 years are now said to be banned from entering the area unless the are willing to sign up to become ISIS jihadis….



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Syria; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 53rdsura; allat; aluzza; godsgravesglyphs; isis; manat; palmyra; quraysh; salmanrushdie; satanicverses; syria; templeofbaal; waronterror
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To: Crazieman

On what planet of crazy people is Barack Obama a better choice than Mitt Romney, in 2008 or 2012?

The responsibility for what’s happening now lies directly at feet of people like YOU, whether or nor you are willing to admit or accept it.


21 posted on 05/28/2015 6:28:56 PM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
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To: tcrlaf
Isn’t it GREAT that Conservatives threw temper tantrums about Romney, and stayed home not voting??

You mean....the same conservatives that are going to throw a similar temper tantrum if Jeb Bush is nominated, and stay home and not vote in 2016?

22 posted on 05/28/2015 6:37:48 PM PDT by XenaLee (The only good commie is a dead commie)
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To: XenaLee

Yep, same ones...
Like it or not, the BIG (and I mean really BIG) money is behind Bush, and he’s polling number in 3 of the first four primaries, including Florida.

Doesn’t mean I have to like it, but I’m not going to not vote, and let Hillary win.
I actually DO care about my children and grandchildren’s future.


23 posted on 05/28/2015 6:40:25 PM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
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To: tcrlaf

If it takes you losing your world to finally come to your senses than so be it.


24 posted on 05/28/2015 6:44:34 PM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: Norm Lenhart

So do inactions.......


25 posted on 05/28/2015 6:59:05 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: Red Badger

Not when those actions told you they’d work with Barry as part of their campaign promises. Not when those actions armed Isis and gave the power they needed to destroy what a decade of American lives bought.

Lesser evils and their chosen evils caused this.


26 posted on 05/28/2015 7:04:40 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: tcrlaf

AS I said to another lesser evil the other day...

Heres what you just said without all the excuses:

“I will vote for anyone the GOP puts up because I don’t really believe in conservative politics. If I did, I would not cast aside my conservive beliefs on election day to elect a liberal”.

Your liberal voting habits have destroyed the country you live in, liberalized the GOP and endangered not only all of Americas people but many of those in other countries since your lesser evils are in the terrorist arming business. You and those like you are fully responsible for everything those weapons do. You and those like you are fully responsible when those weapons come home with the jihadists that the lesser evils YOU and THOSE LIKE YOU empowered import them by the tens of thousands UNCHECKED...because your lesser evils said they would WOTRK WITH Barry before you elected them.

When Israel is vaporized in a nuclear ball of fire, remember it was YOU AND THOSE LIKE YOU that cast aside their conservatism on election day to elect the very people giving Barry the Go-ahead on his Iran deal.

YOU AND THOSE LIKE YOU elected them. They TOLD YOU they were going to work with Barry and they have. Do not complain about what you brought on yourself. But you do owe the world an apology for what you caused. For which I can say for certain, Hillary and Barry DO thank you for. Because your lesser evil voting gave them exactly what they wanted. Republican cover for their evil.

Not hyperbolic. Not overwraught blathering. Fact. SOMEONE is responsible for putting those people in power and you are one of those responsible. Not me.


27 posted on 05/28/2015 7:08:46 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Norm Lenhart

So tell me, how has that strategy worked out for the last seven years?
NOT voting is/was the exact same as voting FOR Obama.

Just a few thousand more conservatives turning out in Ohio and Florida could have saved this entire nation a whole lot of grief.

The time to make a difference for values IS IN THE PRIMARIES.
Allowing a Democrat, especially one as malicious as Obama, to be elected afterward because you are throwing a self-righteous temper tantrum, is costing us/will cost us all and our children more than you and I can ever imagine.

There is no scenario ON EARTH in which Mitt Romney would have been a worse President than Obama has been.

HOPEY-CHANGEY!!!


28 posted on 05/28/2015 7:32:09 PM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
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To: tcrlaf

How about telling me what part of what I said isn’t the 100% truth? Then we can talk about why you failed America and continue to advocate others fail America so badly.

If any part of my post is in error point it out. They DID tell you they would work with Obama.

Romney IS an arch Liberal with a record to match.

The GOP DID assist Barry in arming ISIS and covering for him.

You and other lesser evils DID vote for them when you were warned, given facts and told by the candidates themselves what they would do if elected, as well as had their records available to go from.

Now. Show me where I am wrong.


29 posted on 05/28/2015 7:35:57 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Norm Lenhart

My ass was out walking miles of sidewalks in Cinci for Repubs on election day, trying to get rid of the terror of Obama, so don’t pretend to preach to me about not voting to “prove a point”.

You KNEW by 2012 exactly who and what Obama was. And yet you stood by and let it happen. AGAIN.

If you stayed home to “protest”, you deserve to be cussed out by your children’s children, as much as anyone who voted FOR Obama does. Everything he is doing now is as much YOUR FAULT, as it is Obama’s.


30 posted on 05/28/2015 7:40:31 PM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
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To: tcrlaf

So what you are saying is that you cannot counter one point I made and just want to keep screaming that it ain’t your fault.

It is.


31 posted on 05/28/2015 7:42:46 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Norm Lenhart

I’ll get off my soapbox now, and apologize for getting bent.

I’ll close by saying this, if you think Romney would have been worse than Obama, “lesser evil” or no, and didn’t vote, you did EXACTLY what the Democrats paid millions of dollars buying propaganda for.
That’s just how it is.

You staying home is exactly the same as someone voting for Obama.


32 posted on 05/28/2015 7:48:52 PM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
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To: tcrlaf

No it isn’t. And I didn’t stay home. I voted for a conservative. And will again if it’s Jeb or Rubio or another Lib vs. Hillary. If she wins, it is the fault of lesser evils just as it is the fault Romney won. I agree staying home is wrong. But it is what it is. A ‘vote’ for no one.


33 posted on 05/28/2015 7:51:32 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: colorado tanker; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
Thanks colorado tanker.

34 posted on 05/29/2015 2:43:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
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To: SunkenCiv
Wow, did this thread get highjacked in the meantime.

I really hope this report isn't true and the statue is intact or suffered minor damage. It is a magnificent piece.

35 posted on 05/29/2015 2:59:43 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: Crazieman; MinuteGal

“And I’ll proudly not vote for him again.”

Obviously you don’t mind watching the destruction of your own country and it being turned into a fascist/commie state. That’s very unfortunate, and what’s more unfortunate is that you will probably do it again if the Pub candidate doesn’t meet up to your standards of purity, while the whole of America will suffer the consequences. Thanks a heap. I think your name is very apropos.


36 posted on 05/29/2015 3:23:29 PM PDT by flaglady47 (The useful idiots always go first)
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To: Tax-chick

I think these things are important to our knowledge of human history; the history of religious belief and human aspiration at various times, of art and technology - all kinds of history.

And beautiful old things should be preserved simply for the sake of beauty itself.

The compulsion of these wretches to spread ugliness and destruction everywhere they go, in everything they do, alone should be a dire warning; but I’m not even hearing much outrage over burnings-alive and crucifixions and beheadings.

-JT


37 posted on 05/29/2015 3:28:49 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: dp0622

for the same reason Lois has not been tried and executed


38 posted on 05/29/2015 3:49:19 PM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12, 73, ..... No peace? then no peace!)
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To: Norm Lenhart; tcrlaf; MinuteGal

“As I said to another lesser evil the other day...

Heres what you just said without all the excuses:

“I will vote for anyone the GOP puts up because I don’t really believe in conservative politics. If I did, I would not cast aside my conservive beliefs on election day to elect a liberal”.”

False premise. It means being a realist, and knowing what will happen if another Dem regime is elected. Your “method” guarantees that will happen, so effectively, you voted by your inaction or 3rd party vote, for a commie/socialist/fascist/pinko Dem President and his regime.

Most conservatives are also rational realists, practical folk who see what the alternative will be if they don’t vote for the Pub, even if that Pub is not totally “pure” according to your definition of conservatism. Your “purism” (your peculiar brand of it) will end up destroying our way of life and with each succeeding Dem regime our country will be further eroded with such rapidity that it will become irretrievable without another civil war or a dictatorship, which could just as easily be a dictatorship of the left, as opposed to the right. See Trotsky/Lenin/Stalin Russian regime progression as an example.

And you don’t seem to mind that our country will be destroyed. I find that perverse thinking and not based in reality. A hostile rather than a rational approach to what really is. Your approach is more “it depends on what the meaning of is, is.” In the end, a morally relativistic approach, even though you call yourself a conservative. What kind of conservative are you truly? One that can live with the destruction of your own country?


39 posted on 05/29/2015 3:50:19 PM PDT by flaglady47 (The useful idiots always go first)
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To: Norm Lenhart; tcrlaf; MinuteGal

“As I said to another lesser evil the other day...

Heres what you just said without all the excuses:

“I will vote for anyone the GOP puts up because I don’t really believe in conservative politics. If I did, I would not cast aside my conservive beliefs on election day to elect a liberal”.”

False premise. It means being a realist, and knowing what will happen if another Dem regime is elected. Your “method” guarantees that will happen, so effectively, you voted by your inaction or 3rd party vote, for a commie/socialist/fascist/pinko Dem President and his regime.

Most conservatives are also rational realists, practical folk who see what the alternative will be if they don’t vote for the Pub, even if that Pub is not totally “pure” according to your definition of conservatism. Your “purism” (your peculiar brand of it) will end up destroying our way of life and with each succeeding Dem regime our country will be further eroded with such rapidity that it will become irretrievable without another civil war or a dictatorship, which could just as easily be a dictatorship of the left, as opposed to the right. See Trotsky/Lenin/Stalin Russian regime progression as an example.

And you don’t seem to mind that our country will be destroyed. I find that perverse thinking and not based in reality. A hostile rather than a rational approach to what really is. Your approach is more “it depends on what the meaning of is, is.” In the end, a morally relativistic approach, even though you call yourself a conservative. What kind of conservative are you truly? One that can live with the destruction of your own country?


40 posted on 05/29/2015 3:53:53 PM PDT by flaglady47 (The useful idiots always go first)
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