American Nun, Priest Join Gaza Standoff

AP ^ | 11/22/06 | IBRAHIM BARZAK

[kiriath_jearim]

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip -- An American priest and nun spent several hours Wednesday at a militant's home that Israel has targeted for destruction, the first foreigners to join a weeklong standoff between Palestinian "human shields" and the Israeli air force.

Father Peter Dougherty, 65, and Sister Mary Ellen Gundeck, 55, both Michigan-based peace activists, said they were sent by God to help protect the Palestinians. The pair arrived Wednesday morning at the family home of Mohammed Baroud, a militant involved in rocket attacks on Israel.

For the past week, Palestinian militants and civilians have crowded into five militants' houses to try to thwart Israeli threats to hit them with missiles. The use of human shields is a new tactic in the Palestinians' war against Israel's mighty military.

Since militants allied with the ruling Hamas party kidnapped an Israeli soldier in June, the air force has destroyed the homes of at least 73 militants, usually after calling owners and warning residents to evacuate.

House demolitions are considered harsh punishment in crowded Gaza. Most people live in densely populated apartment blocks with extended families, and dozens are often left homeless when one building is destroyed.

Dougherty and Gundeck said they had visited several of the houses under threat on Tuesday, and on Wednesday they reached Baroud's three-story home.

"It is wrong for Israel to bomb people's houses," Dougherty said. "We are here in solidarity, and to try communicate to the world what is really going on."

The nun and priest, dressed in shirts and pants, said they were staying for several hours at each of the targeted houses. They were warmly welcomed by Ahmed Baroud, a brother of the militant.

[MPJackal]

""It is wrong for Israel to bomb people's houses,"

"But is is OK for Palies to bomb Israeli houses, schools, cafes, buses, markets,............"

[Vaquero]

Holy friggin *ssholes......

these moe-rons...havent figured out that their heads are deemed to be eminently lop-able by the Mooselimbs.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Jeeze Louise ping!

[marron]

Father Peter Dougherty... and Sister Mary Ellen Gundeck... arrived Wednesday morning at the family home of Mohammed Baroud, a militant involved in rocket attacks on Israel.

Where are the human shields surrounding Israeli homes? Any priests or nuns ready to protect Israeli civilians from rocket attack?

[Alouette]

Notice it does not say what diocese "Father Peter" belongs to or the name of the order where "Sister Mary Ellen" took vows.

[darkwing104]

For them killing Israelis is ok...but don't you better not retaliate against the killers!
They would of done well in Pre-WWII Germany.

[MissEdie]

Geuss they didn't hear that one about the girl from the US who stood in front of an Israeli tank.....

[Kenton]

Uh oh. I hope the Palesimians don't figure out that they're both really CIA undercover operatives... oops, maybe I shouldn't have posted that in public... oh well, nobody here but us conservatives, no problem...

But just in case, if they behead them on TV tomorrow, let's all have the grace not to make jokes about them being "turkeys"...

[wideawake]

Some checking reveals that Dogherty was a priest of the Lansing Diocese as late as the 80s. Yet he was a campus chaplain at Eastern Michigan but resigned to found an organization named - you can't make this stuff up - The World Tree Multi-Cultural Center for Peace, Justice and Mother Earth.

His current cardination status is unclear.

Though I would say it is rare for a priest in good standing to leave a specific diocesan ministry while only in his mid-50s to found and run a non-Church affiliated protest group.

As for the improbably-surnamed Mary Ellen Gundeck - I have yet to find a shred of data.

[claudiustg]

So Palestian property trumps Israeli lives now?

[kcar]

The World Tree Multi-Cultural Center for Peace, Justice and Mother Earth

WTF? Blow them all up!

[John Lenin]

These morons claim to represent God? God doesn't approve of suicide bombers and rocket attacks.

[wideawake]

Good eye, Alouette. See my post 10.

He is apparently not assigned to any parish, despite being ten years short of retirement age.

In a diocese like Lansing, where there are only 180 priests to serve a Catholic population of 250,000 in 100 parishes, this doesn't pass the smell test.

He hasn't held an official diocese-assigned post in at least 15, maybe 20 years.

There is much more to his story.

[atomic conspiracy]

Father Peter Dougherty, 65, left, and Sister Mary Ellen Gundeck, 55, right, both Michigan-based peace activists, sit on the roof top of the house of Mohammed weil Baroud, leader of the Popular Resistance Committees that Israel targeted for destruction, in Beit Layiha, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006. They are the first foreigners to join a week-long standoff between Palestinian 'human shields' and the Israeli air force. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

These evil tools are committing an unambiguous war crime by holding truly innocent children while they expose themselves to military attack.

This is apparently the gang's homepage in Michigan.

[Recon Dad]

Let them stand in Sedrot when the Qusams are falling and I'll buy into their crap.

[timsbella]

Michigan based - guess we know who influenced them on the home front...

[AndyTheBear]

When are these "human shields" going to start protecting Israeli citizens as well?

[sure_fine]

they have got the fleas from the dogs they have decided to sleep with as far as I am concerned

[wideawake]

Great info, thanks. Apparently "Fr." Peter is telling the press he's 65 and his cohorts in the pro-terrorism movement that he's 71.

The website indicates that he has been absent from the Catholic ministry for 27 years - or since he was 44.

Nowhere is there any clear description of how he came to leave a cushy diocesan appointment (campus chaplaincy) for the exciting world of pagan (World Tree? Mother Earth?) community activism.