Posted on 12/24/2001 8:36:44 AM PST by KQQL
Vatican Condemns Israel’s Ban on Arafat’s Travels to Bethlehem
(IsraelNationalNews.com) The Vatican today publcly condemned Israel's ban on Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat from travelling to Bethlehem. The Vatican is reported as attempting to convince Israel to reverse the decision
I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.
The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
1) It is legal - no matter what the cost. Cost only determines the practicality of keeping or obtaining something, not your right to it;
2) Those in Israel opposed to continued occupation are simply tired or afraid. They are also shortsighted, as the Pallies will be after Israel proper as soon as they get a state. They are also in a minority, especially after the latest series of suicide bombings. They and their position is also, and most importantly, totally irrelevant to how the Vatican deals with Israel as a nation.
3) This further has nothing to do with the Vatican's stance on the Beast Arafat visiting Bethlehem tonight;
4) The failure of the Vatican to recognize Israel for so long has aided and abetted the cause of Israel's enemies.
That works for me
Christians, Islam and Jews praying together at the Temple Mount, all Abraham’s children praying together. Isn't this how it was meant to be?
Israel can end the suicide bombings tomorrow by sealing off the occupied territories and stopping this nonsense of allowing Palestinians free reign to travel within Israel.
One of the untold secrets of this affair is that these Palestinians are NOT invaders. They are permitted to enter Israel and travel within the nation's borders for one simple reason: they represent a major source of cheap labor for Israel.
Believe me, if Mexican immigrants were blowing up buses in Los Angeles on a regular basis I would be the first one to admit that if we didn't have the b@lls to keep them out then we didn't really deserve to exist.
Update - from abcnews.com:By Michele GershbergJERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel set a condition on Monday for lifting a ban on Yasser Arafat's annual pilgrimage to Bethlehem, in the first sign it might ease up on a Christmas Eve showdown with the Palestinian leader.
Arafat would be able to go to the town revered as Jesus's birthplace "if he arrests people involved in the killing (of an Israeli cabinet minister) who are in Ramallah -- and the Palestinians know who they are -- by this evening," a senior Israeli political source said.
Palestinian cabinet minister Yasser Abed Rabbo denied any such condition had been relayed to Palestinian officials as part of international mediation efforts to change Israel's decision.
"It's only in the media, for public relations," he said.
The frail, 72-year-old Palestinian president said he would defy the order and attend Christmas Eve festivities in Palestinian-ruled Bethlehem even if he had to walk all the way to historic Manger Square from his Ramallah headquarters.
Israeli forces tightened their blockade on Ramallah overnight -- a move which Israel's Army Radio reported was to prevent Arafat from sneaking out but which an army spokeswoman said was part of a broader security operation.
Israel said on Sunday it decided to bar Arafat's journey to Bethlehem, through roads sealed off in places by Israeli tanks and troops in the West Bank, because he had failed "to dismantle Palestinian terror organizations."
It was a clear attempt to strike another symbolic blow against Arafat. Israel recently branded him "irrelevant" to efforts to end 15 months of bloodshed, but the United States and much of the international community has opposed the declaration.
Israeli Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said on Monday that Israel still viewed a crackdown by Arafat on militants as a priority despite criticism of its ban on the Bethlehem visit.
"Arafat wants to take advantage of this place (Bethlehem) as a political stage to advance his aims," Landau told Israel's Channel Two television.
"We must decide how we want to act -- either to look good or...to pursue (Arafat) as long as two murderers...are walking around Ramallah near him," he said.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine took responsibility for assassinating Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in October to avenge Israel's killing of their leader.
The Vatican's envoy, Papal Nuncio Pietro Sambi, when asked for the view of Roman Catholics, told Reuters in Bethlehem: "Freedom of religion is a basic right."
ARAFAT VOWS DEFIANCE
A defiant Arafat charged that Israeli occupation blocked Palestinian Muslims and Christians alike from their places of worship and said "no one can prevent me from going" to Bethlehem.
He said he would visit the town "even if I have to go there on foot." But it seemed an unlikely trip for a man of Arafat's age and health. Bethlehem lies 20 km (12 miles) south of his headquarters in Ramallah.
Troops blocking every major road have been ordered to prevent Arafat from passing. Even if he evaded checkpoints he would face a long, difficult hike across hilly terrain.
Some Israeli commentators said it was more likely Arafat would drive to an army roadblock with television crews so the world could see him being turned back from visiting a town that interim peace accords have placed under his legal control.
Arafat, a practicing Muslim, has attended the Christmas Eve midnight mass at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity every year since the town was turned over to Palestinian rule in 1995.
Rabbo condemned the ban as a humiliation for all Palestinians and said it was an example of the "arrogance" of Israel's occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "wants blood and tears instead of Christmas carols," he said.
The violence which flared with the start of a Palestinian uprising in September 2000 has scared most tourists away from Bethlehem -- home to the largest Palestinian Christian community -- and this year's festivities were expected to be subdued.
SHARON FACES DISSENT
Rightwing leader Sharon also faced strong dissent within his own cabinet over the decision.
"I don't want our prevention of Arafat visiting Bethlehem to become the talk of Christmas around the Christian world...Let him go, pray, do what he wants to do," Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Army Radio.
Arafat has been stranded in Ramallah since Israel destroyed his helicopters in the Gaza Strip, stationed tanks near his Ramallah office and launched air strikes against symbols of his power in retaliation for a wave of suicide attacks.
The United States and the European Union have joined Israel in demanding that Arafat dismantle militant groups behind the deadly assaults that killed 29 Israelis in the past month.
Arafat ordered a halt to violence against Israel a week ago and arrested scores of militants. Sharon has called it a sham.
The Islamic militant group Hamas announced last week it was suspending suicide attacks inside the Jewish state. Islamic Jihad, another militant group dedicated to Israel's destruction, has given mixed signals about whether it would follow suit.
Israel has dismissed the Hamas move as a tactical ploy.
I think it's more a matter of mis- and under- education - and in a GREAT many fields ... of course, it doesn't help that so many people/organization and many, many news organizations have their own propaganda agendas in play.
Just remember the words from Spinoza's Ethics:
"Anything noble is as dificult as it is rare."
That also goes for 'getting the straight dope' on any particular event/situation - whether current or historical, too.
While the Pope is the leader of the Catholic world, I would think the other "branches" of Christianity give him a huge amount of respect/deference.
I thought you had to perform miracles to be sainted.
Jude 1:9 " Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
Is the Vatican so Christian, to me the Vatican sound more like the enemy of the Archangel disputing the body of Moses.
As for cheap labor, they could always allow more immigration from Poland, Russia and other places with poor economies.
What the Vatican cares or doesn't care about should not impact the decisions of the leaders of Israel regarding fundamental issues such as right and wrong. Muslims desecrate the holy places of other religions whether they be Jewish, Christian, or Hindu. The desecration needs to be stopped. It's the right thing to do and that's the bottom line.
I recall hearing about how Jews were doomed to wander the face of the earth until they accepted Jesus as the messiah. If that is part of Catholic/Christian dogma, then the State of Israel may be an affront to that part of the theology. If this is correct, it may account for at least one reason for the Church's actions/attitudes towards Israel.
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