Posted on 04/20/2008 11:20:47 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Israeli police rushed into Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre to break up fist fights between dozens of Greek and Armenian worshippers on Orthodox Palm Sunday, witnesses said.
Some 20 officers intervened after Armenian worshippers threw a Greek Orthodox priest out of the church, sparking a free-for-all, they said.
Several worshippers then started beating the police officers with palm fronds they were holding for the Palm Sunday celebrations that mark the return of Jesus to the Holy City a week before he was crucified.
After the incident, dozens of members of Jerusalem's Armenian community marched from the church to the Old City's police headquarters in protest at the detention of two Armenians.
Brawls are not uncommon at the church, which is shared by various branches of Christianity, each of which controls and jealously guards part of site -- considered one of the holiest in Christianity.
Precisely in order to prevent such disturbances, two Muslim families have been entrusted for the past 800 years with opening and closing the gates of the church, a cavernous labyrinth of chapels and crypts built on the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried.
Orthodox Christians celebrate Palm Sunday according to a different calendar from Catholics and other Christians in the west, who marked the day on March 16.
Tens of thousands of Orthodox worshippers from across the world packed the streets of the Old City for the celebration.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli police.
Wow, it seems like the Greeks are as annoyed at the Armenians as the Calvinists are.
(OK, that was a bad joke... I’ll be leaving now.)
>> Several worshippers then started beating the police officers with palm fronds <<
What’s comical (Pathetic?) is the MSM news media’s description of this as a “beating.” Beaten by PALM FRONDS? They make wet noodles seem deadly.
Once again, Bustard's Principle is demonstrated:
MSM lie, distort, and fabricate. All the time. About everything.
“Wow, it seems like the Greeks are as annoyed at the Armenians as the Calvinists are.
(OK, that was a bad joke... I’ll be leaving now.)”
Boy, I must be getting slow in my dotage! How did I miss that one??????????????
How stupid and how sad. Cheez.
How stupid and how sad. Cheez.
Thank you, MarMema!!!! May God bless you!
And wildandcrazyrussian and eleni121, see my post #10.
This week is my favorite of the entire year, with the most beautiful services, and you picked a great time!
Brawls are not uncommon at the church, which is shared by various branches of Christianity, each of which controls and jealously guards part of site -- considered one of the holiest in Christianity.This wouldn't happen under Palestinian rule. Of course, the Church would be razed and a mosque built in its place, but the point is, Israel is to blame for these fights. /sarcasm
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