Posted on 04/13/2002 11:22:16 AM PDT by colette_g
BBC News Ticker reports breaking news "Fighting has broken out near Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity"
Is it not odd that mosques are almost never damaged and destroyed?
Even when used as ammo dumps?
I would change that in an instant.
One mosque per church damaged, entered or destroyed.
Careful there.
The mangy dog Mass Murder muslims have been known to force people out with weapons to "invite" a killing.
That fact continues to escape the EU,CNN,Reuters,AP...........
Then thank G-d you're just another kook behind a keyboard and not in a position of authority in the IDF.
"The Israelis are saying that the religious leaders may leave the compound, but they're afraid to do so because they want to maintain the sanctity of the holy place." At least four priests have left the church since the standoff began. On Wednesday, Israeli forces shot and injured an Armenian monk as he walked through the compound near the church. The IDF said it "deeply regrets" the incident, which occurred as Israeli troops were delivering food and medicine to the church. The monk was taken to a Jerusalem hospital, where he was in intensive care after surgery.
From Via Dolorosa website:
Tony Salman, a Palestinian lawyer trapped inside the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, told Via Dolorosa by cellular phone April 5 that there are currently 245 people inside the church, ten of whom are wounded waiting for a miracle to save their lives.
Salman explained how he ended up inside the church saying, "After rumors circulated in Bethlehem alleging the Palestinian resistance forces attacked priests and took them as hostages, infuriated Bethlehem Governor Muhammad Al Madani —who is standing right next to me as we speak—called me and insisted that we enter the church together to investigate those rumors. You know this is a very sensitive subject in Palestine, and we had to know the truth. So we entered the church from the western side, and we were pleased to see the situation inside, opposite to what we heard and exactly as we expected. Priests and nuns are taking care of the wounded and are doing all they can to alleviate the dramatic situation. Franciscans, Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests inside the church are making sure everyone is having something to eat. They exhausted all flour they had in store making bread for everyone during the first two days. Now everyone is having one small meal a day which contains either a little bit of spaghetti or rice, all that is left in the church."
When asked why the Palestinian resistance took refuge in the the church, Salman explained they were left with two choices, either to be killed in cold blood by the Israeli occupation forces or run for their lives to the church. They chose the latter. This happened right after the Israeli tanks shelled Omar Bin Khattab Mosque last Tuesday located just across the square from the church. They ran into the church for protection. He pointed out, "Usually, there are a lot of armed policemen and security agents protecting governmental buildings here. When the Israelis invaded the Nativity Church area, snipers targeted those armed policemen and started killing them without hesitation. Their only choice was to take refuge in the church. For the last 1700 years, the Church of the Nativity has embraced the poor and the persecuted, and it will keep doing that in these difficult days too," Salman added.
Salman confirmed the Israelis tried to knock down the main door of the Nativity Church a number of times without success, however, they succeeded in destroying part of a wall. He pointed out that his main mission, together with the governor now, is to negotiate the release of the wounded with the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. "So far we haven't been successful," he added.
Lawyer Tony Salman is also the head of the Catholic St. Anthony Charitable Society in Bethlehem.
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A good start might be a dialogue between the governor of Bethlehem and Israeli authorities.
And St. Etienne Cathedral in Caen, Normandy, which was bombed by either us or the British, I am not sure which.
I guess those Pali terrorists are as durable as Mick Jagger.
Thursday, April 11, 2002 BETHLEHEM, West Bank — An Armenian monk seriously wounded in the besieged Church of the Nativity compound was apparently shot by an Israeli soldier who mistook him for a gunman, a senior Israeli military official said Thursday. The army initially said the monk was shot by one of the more than 200 armed Palestinians holed up in the church, one of Christianity's holiest shrines, as troops were delivering supplies to clergymen in the compound. However, preliminary results of an army investigation into Wednesday's shooting indicated that the monk was shot by an Israeli soldier who mistook him for a Palestinian gunman, said a senior military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
That Monte Cassino and others in times of dumb bombs have been destroyed is no foundation upon which to lay the statement(idiotic) that the U.S. military would level Bethlem. The suggestion that any U.S. commander would even consider doing what you suggest is repulsive. Times have changed. End Times kooks suggest tearing down the Al Aqsa (sp?)Mosque. That too is repulsive. The notion that the U.S. would even launch an operation that could ACCIDENTALLY destroy the churches of Bethlehem is beyond my comprehension. That Israel IS DOING IT suggests that Israel is led by a mad man.
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