Posted on 04/22/2002 7:19:12 PM PDT by Democrats are liars
| Gun battle at Church of the Nativity |
Heavy gunfire has broken out between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians holed up inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Stun grenades were heard around the church and a puff of white smoke rose up from the compound.
A Palestinian policeman inside the compound said Israeli fire was hitting the church walls.
Israel's army said Palestinians opened fire from several positions in the church compound and soldiers returned fire.
Bethlehem Governor Mohammed Mdani, who is inside the church, said the Israelis fired first, and armed Palestinians shot back. There were no reports of injuries in the 15-minute exchange.
Mr Mdani said fires set by the stun grenades damaged two rooms of Greek Orthodox monks and were put out.
A courtyard statue of the Virgin Mary near St. Catherine's church also was damaged by gunfire but the extent cannot yet be determined.
Palestinian policemen inside the church said Israeli soldiers were leaning ladders against compound walls.
The army has leaned up ladders before to throw in leaflets urging surrender and to allow people interested in leaving the church to get out. Israel has promised Christian leaders it would not storm the church.
On Sunday, five people used the ladders to get out, two civilians, two Palestinian police and one member of Yasser Arafat's guard.
kcrack and buffalo124 SNL skit flashback:
"Hey, we are two wild and crazy guys ... looking for fun and crazy chics with large American breasts ..."
The right or wrong of this situation is in the hostage taking. The Israeli's have shown restraint and respect for those wishing to come out. These terrorists will not come out. They are afraid. They willingly send children as bombs to kill unarmed citizens - yet, they cower and hide rather than use themselves as a bomb against armed soldiers or come out and face the soldiers.
A people that would treat their young in such a manner have no sympathy from me. Someone mentioned a great point yesterday on the tread about the abandoned dog on a ship. The Palestinians send their children in as bombs while in the U.S. our Coast Guard members flew over the ship, saw the abandoned dog left to die and dropped their lunches on board to feed it. They later returned to save the animal. I am so thankful I live among people such as these.
The problem is that it is not in our country, and we can't just walk in and blow up anyone in our way. That would make us no better than the people that are holding it now.
What the IDF is trying to achieve is to try all peaceful means to get the Palistinians out, and keep the monks alive.
Imagine if, somehow, terrorists managed to infiltrate the WHITE HOUSE, and were holding many of our leaders hostage. Would you have people from other countries come in and rush the WHITE HOUSE, possibly destroying it, and ending up with the President, his wife, etc. killed ?
No, you would do what was best to preserve the sanctity of the White House, and keep all hostages alive.
I think this is what the IDF is trying to do, and for us to butt in would not help in the least bit.
See HERE
Arafat has ordered them to keep it on the boil because he thinks its to his advantage and hoping that the Israeli's will make the mistake of invading the Church.
You say a hundred years ago (I think it might have been further back than that---maybe 1502---but OK for argument's sake let's say 1902) Christians would have been willing to die to save the church. I think the difference today is that public opinion is ruling the situation, and hostage taking is used to force good willed governments to grant concessions. (Dictatorships just rush in and kill everyone and care nothing for the consequences.)
If it were up to me, I would have pumped in sodium pentethal to put everyone to sleep, then gone in and ejected the human debris that took over the church. As it is, the priests and nuns seem to be in sympathy with the hostage-takers (they are all "Palestinians," whatever that is) and are also determined to stay to protect the church. The Israelis are already hated by the world and causing the hostage takers to kill their hostages by attacking the church would generate more hate. It's a no-win situation for the Israelis.
I suggest if you are a Christian (and I believe you are by your passion about this) you should pray for the safety of the true Christians, for wisdom for the leaders on the ground, and for preservation of the church structure. We can always fix the damage to the church.
Let us know more about you, where you are from, your native language - we would be interested.
I can see where you're coming from, but the nature of our governments are not theocratic and religion driven. This is yet another church being used in a PR stunt to make the Israelis look bad to the West. The Palestinian terrorists have a long history of pulling this crap...check out this link for examples: http://www.gamla.org.il/english/feature/free2.htm
Besides...your body is your temple as well....
Amen!
Unfortunately the news came out that there may be upwards of 50 children held in the basement by the gunmen. Since gas tends to settle, I would imagine a dose strong enough to knock out a terrorist would be in deadly concentration in a basement. No problem, Jews are patient, very patient. -grin-
Oh and Kcrack, Lighten up man. It does not matter if the pallies are in there or not, that building cannot last forever. Nature will see to that. We Christians (I am a Catholic if it matters to ya any) know that God is everywhere. Check out the Third Fatima sometime. It's the Catholic Churches (as in Clergy's) worst nightmare.
Yoda?
Now that shit is funny...
And just what are the Israelis to do? Just be slaughter animals for the Palestinians as the Palestinians kill their women and children with children bombs? There have been many efforts at getting Arafat to stop the bombings? He did not - so the Israelis have gone in to get the terrorists themselves. Any man would do the same when wife and children are in danger.
How come the Palestinians did not make an effort to have the Israelis allow the children to come out? All they had to do was release the children and they would be free.
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