JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN
REVELATION 6:7-8 (500 MILLION DEAD EACH FROM THE 4 JUDGEMENTS)(2 BILLION TOT DEAD HERE)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion)
to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500
million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the
beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
THE COVID-19 TOTALS.
WORLD OVER ALL CASES 116,775,462 DEAD 2,593,937 AS OF SAT MAR 06,21
DR ZELENKO ON COVID-19 RECOVERY-TAMAR YONAH
https://soundcloud.com/israel-news-talk-radio/while-cautious-im-not-so-afraid-of-the-coronavirus-anymore-the-tamar-yonah-show
DR VLADMIR ZE'EV ZELENKOS MIXTURE FOR RECOVERY OF COVID-19
https://www.vladimirzelenkomd.com/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TaRDwXMhQHSMsgrs9TFBclHjPHerXMuB87DUXmcAvwg/edit
LIKE
BEN STEIN WARNS THIS LAST MODORNA SHOT IS STRONG. HE HAS SIDE EFFECTS
FOR THE LAST 5 DAYS. AND NURSES AND WORKERS IN OLD AGE HOMES HAD THE BAD
SIDE EFFECTS TO. SOME WERE OFF WORK 2 DAYS FROM THE SHOT. ALL HAD A
SORE ARM. ANOTHER WAS OFF ONE DAY. AND AT LEAST 5 OTHERS HAD SIDE
EFFECTS. ONE WORKER MADE IT THREW THE DAY. BUT SAID IT WAS HARD TO WORK
THREW IT. FATIGUE-COULD NOT THINK STRAIT AND SORE ARMS PLUS. ALL THE
EFFECTS BEN STEIN WAS TALKING ABOUT HE HAD.
Rabbi
invites Gentiles to make Sacrifice at Joshua’s Altar: The site of first
Sacrifice in Land of Israel-by Video Manager | Mar 3, 2021
At
that time Yehoshua built a mizbayach to Hashem, the God of Yisrael, on
Har Eival Joshua 8:30 (The Israel BibleTM)-Investigative archaeologist
Rabbi Harry Moskoff is on a mission to preserve the Altar of Joshua on
Mt Eval in the Samaria region. The Biblical site was heavily damaged by
the Palestinian Authority who was caught grinding the outer wall into
gravel in January.The Altar of Joshua was built 3,333 years ago he
explains. It was initially discussed in the Book of Joshua:At that time
Yehoshua built a mizbayach to Hashem, the God of Yisrael, on Har Eival
(Joshua 8:30)-Rabbi Moskoff is also launching an initiative to enable
gentiles to make a sacrifice on Joshua’s Altar – the site of the first
sacrifice in the Land of Israel.Additionally, Moskoff discusses the
left-wing NGOs trying to erase the site’s history.“My goal is to make it
an election issue” he explains. “It has to be protected.”The rabbi adds
that failure to protect the site is a “breach of the Oslo Accords.”
Religious
divorce refusal can now be recognised as a criminal offence-A husband
who refuses a 'get' can now be viewed as exerting controlling and
coercive behaviour, listed as a criminal offence under the Serious Crime
Act.-By Ellie Jacobs-March 4, 2021, 12:46 pm
Husbands who refuse
their wives a religious divorce are more likely to be prosecuted
following “momentous” changes to the government’s Domestic Abuse Bill.A
man who refuses a get will now be clearly recognised as exerting
controlling and coercive behaviour, which is listed as a criminal
offence under the Serious Crime Act of 2015.If found guilty, an offender
could face up to five years in jail.While get refusal could previously
have been considered a criminal offence under the 2015 Act, experts say
the law was ambiguous and had yet to be fully tested in court. New
amendments to the Act, combined with the Domestic Abuse Bill, have now
eradicated any doubt.Experts say that by adding to and clarifying
existing legislation it will now be easier to take action against
perpetrators. Joanne Greenaway, former get case director at the London
Beth Din, said she hopes that “the new Domestic Abuse Bill and working
together with the Batei Din who look after the Get cases, we see
additional protections for these victims of abuse”.Baroness Altmann, who
is part of a cross-party group of Jewish peers that has been working to
implement this in law, told Jewish News that this was a “momentous
development in our quest to protect British people whose partners refuse
to give them the get. We have long wanted to see this issue addressed
for the women affected and try and free them so they can get on with
their lives”. She added: “Finally, a Jewish wife can get support to
stand up and say this is not OK.”Previously, there were question marks
over whether an offence could be coercive if a couple was not cohabiting
in an “intimate relationship”.In some cases of get refusal, victims are
no longer living with their partner and may have divorced under secular
law. The ambiguities have meant that a husband can argue that as he is
longer living with with his wife, his behaviour cannot be deemed
coercive. Greenaway said: “Thanks to the Serious Crime Act 2015, two
prosecutions have already been brought which have led to the freeing of
women in very difficult circumstances of get refusal. This was despite
uncertainty as to whether the provisions related to couples
post-separation.”This tightening of the definition will bring clarity to
enable more people to use this avenue with confidence and more quickly
move on with their lives.”This week a review into controlling or
coercive behaviour conducted as part of the Domestic Abuse Bill, which
enters its report stage next week, was published. It clarified that
someone can be a victim of coercive behaviour even if the couple no
longer live together.Naomi Dickson-CEO of Jewish Women’s Aid Naomi
Dickson said she is “so pleased” this kind of abuse is being
acknowledged. “Domestic abuse does not end when a woman manages to leave
the home she shares with her perpetrator. Within the Jewish community,
post-separation abuse can include get refusal, when a couple are still
married in the eyes of Jewish law,” she said.Rabbanit Ramie Smith, who
in 2020 co-founded GETTOUT UK, a charity offering support and legal
advice to agunot, says the withholding of a get is often used as a way
for a husband to punish a wife or as a means of extortion when things
don’t go their way in court.“We have seen men asking women to accept
less money or less property in order to get the get. To say, ‘I won’t
give you your freedom unless you take less money than the court has
ordered you’ is a clear manipulation and a clear act of control.”Now,
campaigners like Baroness Altmann say the report has shown “beyond any
doubt that unreasonable get refusal is a crime” and so these tactics
will no longer be permissible.But rather than seeing anyone go to jail,
Altmann wants the report to act as a deterrent to “any husband who
thinks he may find a loophole in British law to withhold a get”. This
week’s Jewish News front page-She is hopeful that these new definitions
will “pave the way for a significant mindset change on the part of a
Jewish husband. Just as no one would say it OK for a husband to tie his
wife up and keep her hostage for days on end, now, too they will see
that it is simply not decent, not right, and in fact criminal to refuse a
get,”According to Jewish law, a woman may only be considered divorced
halachically once she receives a get from her husband. Women whose
husbands refuse a get are considered agunot (chained) and are unable to
remarry.However, for a get to be deemed kosher, it must be granted by
the husband of his free will. This means it is against Jewish law for
either a secular court or the Beth Din to force a husband to grant his
wife a get.Rifka Meyer, who was an agunah before receiving her get and
who co-founded GETTOUT UK, says: “Just knowing that lawyers and civil
courts can summon [husbands], and they can’t run or get away with it
will make a huge difference to the women we are working with.”
Israel’s
dilemma: To work with ICC war crimes probe or not?-Jerusalem could
oppose International Criminal Court investigation through diplomacy and
public opinion, by engaging with court, or by taking a middle pathBy AFP
and TOI staff-MAR 6,21-Today, 6:19 am
Israel faces a dilemma:
should it argue its case to International Criminal Court investigators
looking into alleged war crimes in the West Bank, Gaza and East
Jerusalem, or refuse to cooperate? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a
vocal critic of the ICC, declared Israel was “under attack” after
prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced Wednesday she was opening a probe
into the actions of all sides in the 2014 Gaza conflict.“We will speak
the truth in every forum, in every country, on every stage until this
outrageous decision is reversed and becomes null and void,” he said.The
ICC is the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal and was set up in
2002 to try the planet’s worst crimes where local courts are unwilling
or unable to step in.It does not try states, but top leaders or warlords
alleged to have given the orders. Even presidents have been hauled
before the court in The Hague.So in theory it might be possible that
Netanyahu or Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who led the Israel Defense
Forces during the 2014 conflict facing Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers,
could be targeted in the ICC investigation.Some countries have bridled
at moves to investigate top national leaders allegedly behind war
crimes.Under former president Donald Trump, the United States imposed
sanctions on Bensouda after she separately decided to investigate
alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan.Netanyahu’s office said Friday that
in a call with US Vice President Kamala Harris she had “expressed the
American administration’s complete opposition to the decision of the
prosecutor” to probe the Gaza war.Netanyahu has not made clear whether
Israel would fight back through diplomacy and public opinion — or by
engaging directly with the ICC, to which Israel is not a party.There is
also a middle path, said Pnina Sharvit Baruch, former head of the
international law unit of the Israeli Military Advocate General: to
provide less than full cooperation, but not a total boycott.“What Israel
can do and probably will do is provide the prosecutor with the relevant
materials” for its defense, but without formal cooperation because the
Jewish state “does not trust this court,” she told AFP.The ICC probe
will focus on the 2014 conflict between Israel and the Gaza-based Hamas
terror group, as well as on Israeli settlements and violence at the
Israel-Gaza border from 2018, Bensouda has indicated.The probe’s
jurisdiction begins on June 13, 2014, shortly before the conflict
began.Israeli observers noted the significance of the timing of the
investigation’s span: On June 12, 2014, Hamas terrorists kidnapped and
murdered three Israeli teenagers in the Gush Etzion area of the West
Bank. Bensouda’s investigation — based on the request submitted by the
so-called State of Palestine — is set to begin from the following
day.The brutal terror attack, which horrified Israelis and drew
international condemnation, was a pivotal moment in the lead-up to the
fighting in Gaza later that summer. With the investigation set to
consider events beginning on June 13, 2014, the crime could be excluded
from the court’s investigation.ICC judges paved the way for a war crimes
probe when they ruled a month ago that the tribunal has jurisdiction
over the situation due to Palestine’s membership of the court.Bensouda,
who is due to be replaced by Karim Khan in June, said Wednesday there
was a “reasonable basis” to believe crimes were committed by members of
the IDF, Israeli authorities, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist
groups.While Palestinian leaders welcomed the probe, Israel rejected
it.“The ICC lacks any jurisdiction on this matter,” Attorney General
Avichai Mandelblit said in a statement on Thursday.Mandelblit reiterated
that Israel and several other nations have argued that the ICC does not
have jurisdiction over the case as Israel is not a member and Palestine
is not a state. Hungary joined Israel and the US on Thursday in its
opposition to the probe, saying it disputes the court’s jurisdiction in
Palestinian areas.Mandelblit also argued that Israel itself “has in
place a robust system for examining alleged violations of international
law.”“There is absolutely no place for the ICC’s intervention in matters
that are under the jurisdiction of the State of Israel,” Mandelblit
said. ““The choice by the chief prosecutor to open an investigation
against the State of Israel, a democratic, law-abiding nation, harms the
legitimacy of the court’s work.”The probe will take several years to
complete, and any charges or arrest warrants would likely be kept under
seal.But the ICC’s move has raised fears that Israeli ex-soldiers and
politicians could become subject to international arrest
warrants.Sharvit Baruch said she had spoken to soldiers about the
potential threat.“They are really concerned, they are afraid of being
arrested tomorrow,” she said. “I tell them not to worry, that they were
just low-level soldiers… but the fear is there.”Over a decade ago,
Israel boycotted a UN committee that looked into the 2008-09 Operation
Cast Lead, a 22-day conflict in Gaza.Published in late 2009, the
Goldstone Report accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes and
“possibly crimes against humanity.”The report alleged that Israel
deliberately targeted civilians — an accusation its author, Richard
Goldstone, publicly withdrew after the report was published after, he
said, he’d learned the full story. Jewish groups and most of the US
Congress rejected the report as a one-sided attack on Israel.Now, as
then, there are supporters of taking a more pro-active line with
investigators and lawyers.“It seems that Israel will have excellent
arguments to disprove the allegations of war crimes, provided those
arguments are actually presented,” commentator Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in
Yediot Aharonot. “Israel erred in the past by failing to present its
arguments to the Goldstone Committee. We need to hope that Israel will
find the way not to repeat that mistake.”
13 Thou shalt not kill.(Murder)(THAT INCLUDES ABORTION)
MATTHEW 18:6
6
But whoso shall offend (HURT) one of these little ones (CHILDREN) which
believe in me,(JESUS) it were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the
sea.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY FOLKS)
EXODUS 21:12
12 He that smiteth (MURDER)a man,(OR BABY) so that he die, shall be surely put to death.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY PEOPLE)
REVELATION 9:20-21
20
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet
repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship
devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and
of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither
repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS)
nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE) nor of their
thefts.(STEALING)
Iran’s supreme leader says women in cartoons
must wear hijabs-Unclear if ruling issued by Ali Khamenei will be
enforced; foreign films showing unscarved women can be screened in Iran,
but locally made productions are banned from doing so-By TOI staff-FEB
26,21-Today, 9:06 am
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
has declared that women depicted in cartoons or animated films must
wear the hijab head covering.According to the country’s Tasnim news
agency, when asked on Saturday whether it is necessary for animated
female characters to be portrayed with their hair covered, Khamenei
answered that “observing hijab in animation is required due to the
consequences of not wearing hijab.”It was unclear whether the
declaration would be enforced in any way.Due to Teheran’s strict
censorship laws, scenes deemed immoral or offensive are often censored,
while films considered hostile to Islamic values are banned.Since the
Islamic Revolution of 1979, it became mandatory for women to wear a
hijab and modest clothing in public, a move enforced by the Islamic
religious police of Iran, known as Guidance Patrol.Iranian TV can show
foreign films with unscarved women — although too much leg or cleavage
gets blurred out or otherwise hidden.But local programs must normally
abide by strict rules in which no female hair can be shown, even for
historical dramas or scenes set in a family home where real-life women
do not cover their heads.Iranian film-makers must obtain three separate
authorizations: for the script, filming and release.But the authorities
admit that a majority of Iranians now own a satellite dish — even though
they are technically illegal — beaming in uncensored programming from
all over the world.It is part of the steady erosion of strict Islamic
rules — in practice, if not in theory — that has also seen headscarves
pushed further and further back, especially in wealthier parts of
Tehran.AFP contributed to this report.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3
JUDGEMENT) and the other left.41 Two women shall be grinding at the
mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)
IN
REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND
POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV
17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A
RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN
REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)
ISAIAH 34:10
10 It
(AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the
smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it
shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29
And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD
shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land
of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The
mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have
remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women:
they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
031 One
post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to
shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32
And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D)
and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are
affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)
COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3
For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her,
which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they
shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a
snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou
wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast
striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE
ATTACK ON AM
30,000 US organizations said hacked in Chinese
cyber-espionage attack-White House says spree is an ‘active threat’;
hackers exploit flaws in Microsoft Exchange, stealing email and
infecting servers to let them take control remotely-By AFP-MAR
6,21-Today, 2:47 pm
SAN FRANCISCSO — At least 30,000 US
organizations including local governments have been hacked in recent
days by an “unusually aggressive” Chinese cyber-espionage campaign,
according to a computer security specialist.The campaign has exploited
recently discovered flaws in Microsoft Exchange software, stealing email
and infecting computer servers with tools that let attackers take
control remotely, Brian Krebs said in a post at his cyber security news
website.“This is an active threat,” White House spokeswoman Jennifer
Psaki said when asked about the situation during a press
briefing.“Everyone running these servers needs to act now to patch them.
We are concerned that there are a large number of victims,” she
added.After Microsoft released patches for the vulnerabilities on
Tuesday, attacks “dramatically stepped up” on servers not yet updated
with security fixes, said Krebs, who cited unnamed sources familiar with
the situation.“At least 30,000 organizations across the United States —
including a significant number of small businesses, towns, cities and
local governments — have over the past few days been hacked by an
unusually aggressive Chinese cyber espionage unit that’s focused on
stealing email from victim organizations,” Krebs wrote in the post.He
reported that insiders said hackers have “seized control” of thousands
of computer systems around the world using password-protected software
tools slipped into systems.Microsoft said early this week that a
state-sponsored hacking group operating out of China is exploiting
previously unknown security flaws in its Exchange email services to
steal data from business users.The company said the hacking group, which
it has named “Hafnium,” is a “highly skilled and sophisticated
actor.”Hafnium has in the past targeted US-based companies including
infectious disease researchers, law firms, universities, defense
contractors, think tanks, and NGOs.In a blog post on Tuesday, Microsoft
executive Tom Burt said the company had released updates to fix the
security flaws, which apply to on-premises versions of the software
rather than cloud-based versions, and urged customers to apply them.“We
know that many nation-state actors and criminal groups will move quickly
to take advantage of any unpatched systems,” he added at the
time.Microsoft said the group was based in China but operated through
leased virtual private servers in the United States, and that it had
briefed the US government.Beijing has previously hit back at US
accusations of state-sponsored cyber theft. Last year it accused
Washington of smears following allegations that Chinese hackers were
attempting to steal coronavirus research.In January, US intelligence and
law enforcement agencies said Russia was probably behind the massive
SolarWinds hack that shook the government and corporate security,
contradicting then-president Donald Trump, who had suggested China could
be to blame.Microsoft said Tuesday the Hafnium attacks “were in no way
connected to the separate SolarWinds-related attacks.”
Pope asks
faith leaders to pray together for peace ‘as children of
Abraham’-Pontiff attends interfaith meeting in Ur as part of trip to an
Iraq riven by religious and ethnic divisions, calls for end to conflict
in Syria-By Agencies-MAR 06,21-Today, 1:25 pm
Pope Francis on
Saturday urged Iraq’s Muslim and Christian religious leaders to put
aside animosities and work together for peace and unity during an
interfaith meeting in the traditional birthplace of Abraham.He told the
gathering: “This is true religiosity: to worship God and to love our
neighbor.”Francis traveled to the ruins of Ur in southern Iraq to
reinforce his message of interreligious tolerance and fraternity during
the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, a country riven by religious and
ethnic divisions.With a magnificent ziggurat nearby, Francis told the
faith leaders that it was fitting that they come together in Ur, “back
to our origins, to the sources of God’s work, to the birth of our
religions” to pray together for peace as children of Abraham.He said:
“From this place, where faith was born, from the land of our father
Abraham, let us affirm that God is merciful and that the greatest
blasphemy is to profane his name by hating our brothers and sisters.
Hostility, extremism and violence are not born of a religious heart:
they are betrayals of religion.”He said there could never be peace as
long as Iraqis viewed people of different faiths as the “other.”He said:
“Peace does not demand winners or losers, but rather brothers and
sisters who, for all the misunderstandings and hurts of the past, are
journeying from conflict to unity.”“It all started from here,” Pope
Francis said, after hearing from representatives of Iraq’s diverse
religious communities.There were Yazidis, whose ancestral heartland of
Sinjar was ravaged by the Islamic State group in 2014, as well as
Mandeans, Kakais, Bahais and Zoroastrians.Shiite and Sunni sheikhs, as
well as Christian clerics, were in attendance.Each were wearing their
traditional religious garb, with a dozen different types of robe and
headdress on display in the red-carpeted pavilion set up for the
visit.Iraq is a Muslim-majority country of 40 million whose Christian
population has shrunk in the last two decades to just one percent, with
minorities still facing ostracism and persecution.During his address,
Pope Francis said freedom of conscience and of religion were
“fundamental rights” that should be respected everywhere.“We believers
cannot be silent when terrorism abuses religion,” Francis said, in a
message of solidarity with the minorities persecuted under Islamic State
rule.Iraqi security forces patrol near the Great Ziggurat in the
archaeological area of the Sumerian city-state of Ur, 20 kilometers
south-west of Nasiri.He also made an impassioned plea for “unity” after
conflict.“Let us ask for this in praying for the whole Middle East. Here
I think especially of neighboring war-torn Syria,” he said.Following
the prayer service in Ur, Pope Francis is to head back to Baghdad to
preside over a mass at the St. Joseph Cathedral.
Pontiff: Cleric
'raised his voice in defense of the weakest'-Iraqi Shiite leader Sistani
tells Pope Francis that Christians must be protected-Top cleric affirms
Christians should live in peace; visit is a highlight of pontiff’s
4-day trip to Iraq, where Sistani played key role in tamping down
tensions over the decades-By ANMAR KHALIL and Nicole Winfield-MAR
6,21-Today, 8:47 am
NAJAF, Iraq (AP) — After his historic meeting
with Pope Francis on Saturday, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric affirmed that
religious authorities have a role in protecting Iraq’s Christians and
said they should live in peace and enjoy the same rights as other
Iraqis.For its part, the Vatican said Francis thanked Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani and the Shiite people for having “raised his voice in
defense of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most
violent times in Iraq’s recent history.He said al-Sistani’s message of
peace affirmed “the sacredness of human life and the importance of the
unity of the Iraqi people.” The Vatican said the historic visit was a
chance for Francis to emphasize the need for collaboration and
friendship between different religious communities.Pope Francis met
Saturday with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the most senior
clerics in Shiite Islam, in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf to deliver a joint
message of peaceful coexistence, urging Muslims to embrace Iraq’s
long-beleaguered Christian minority.Pope Francis, center left, arrives
to meet Shiite Muslim leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf,
Iraq, March 6, 2021 (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)-In a statement issued by his
office after the meeting, al-Sistani affirmed that Christians should
“live like all Iraqis, in security and peace and with full
constitutional rights.” He pointed out the “role that the religious
authority plays in protecting them, and others who have also suffered
injustice and harm in the events of past years.”Al-Sistani wished
Francis and the followers of the Catholic Church happiness, and thanked
him for taking the trouble to visit him in Najaf, the statement
said.Al-Sistani is a deeply revered figure in Shiite-majority Iraq and
and his opinions on religious and other matters are sought by Shiites
worldwide.For Iraq’s dwindling Christian minority, a show of solidarity
from al-Sistani could help secure their place in Iraq after years of
displacement — and, they hope, ease intimidation from Shiite militiamen
against their community.The historic meeting in al-Sistani’s humble home
was months in the making, with every detail painstakingly discussed and
negotiated between the ayatollah’s office and the Vatican.When the time
came, the 84-year-old pontiff’s convoy, led by a bullet-proof vehicle,
pulled up along Najaf’s narrow and column-lined Rasool Street, which
culminates at the golden-domed Imam Ali Shrine, one of the most revered
sites in the world for Shiites. He then walked the few meters (yards) to
al-Sistani’s modest home, which the cleric has rented for decades.A
group of Iraqis wearing traditional clothes welcomed him outside. As a
masked Francis entered the doorway, a few white doves were released in a
sign of peace. He emerged just under an hour later, still limping
heavily from an apparent flare-up of the sciatica nerve pain that makes
walking difficult.The “very positive” meeting lasted a total of 40
minutes, said a religious official in Najaf, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.The official said
al-Sistani, who normally remains seated for visitors, stood to greet
Francis at the door of his room, a rare honor. Al-Sistani and Francis
sat close to one another, without masks, with their hands on their laps.
A small table was between them with a box of tissues on it.The official
said there was some concern about the fact that the pope had met with
so many people the day before. Francis has received the coronavirus
vaccine but al-Sistani has not.The visit was being carried live on Iraqi
television, and residents cheered the meeting of two respected faith
leaders.”We welcome the pope’s visit to Iraq and especially to the holy
city of Najaf and his meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani,” said
Najaf resident Haidar Al-Ilyawi. “It is an historic visit and hope it
will be good for Iraq and the Iraqi people.”Francis arrived in Iraq on
Friday and met with senior government officials on the first-ever papal
visit to the country, aimed at promoting his call for greater fraternity
among all peoples. It is also his first international trip since the
start of the coronavirus pandemic, and his meeting Saturday marked the
first time a pope had met a grand ayatollah.Nearly 25,000 security
forces were deployed in Najaf ahead of the pope’s arrival, according to
the province’s governor. Rasool Street was emptied of its usual bustle
to clear the path for the pope’s arrival. As soon as his motorcade left a
swarm of people rushed to the street, filling it up again to see him
off.On the few occasions where he has made his opinion known, the
notoriously reclusive al-Sistani has shifted the course of Iraq’s modern
history.In the years after the 2003 US-led invasion he repeatedly
preached calm and restraint as the Shiite majority came under attack by
al-Qaida and other Sunni extremists. The country was nevertheless
plunged into years of sectarian violence.His 2014 fatwa, or religious
edict, calling on able-bodied men to join the security forces in
fighting the Islamic State group swelled the ranks of Shiite militias,
many closely tied to Iran. In 2019, as anti-government demonstrations
gripped the country, his sermon lead to the resignation of then-prime
minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.Iraqis have welcomed the visit and the
international attention it has given the country as it struggles to
recover from decades of war and unrest. Iraq declared victory over the
Islamic State group in 2017 but still sees sporadic attacks.It has also
seen recent rocket attacks by Iran-backed militias against US military
and diplomatic facilities, followed by US airstrikes on militia targets
in Iraq and neighboring Syria. The violence is linked to the standoff
between the US and Iran following Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015
nuclear accord and its imposition of crippling sanctions on
Iran.Francis’ visit to Najaf and nearby Ur traverses provinces that have
seen recent instability. In Nasiriyah, where the Plains of Ur is
located, protest violence left at least five dead last month. Most were
killed when Iraqi security forces used live ammunition to disperse
crowds.Protest violence was also seen in Najaf last year, but abated as
the mass anti-government movement that engulfed Iraq gradually petered
out.A heavy security presence was also awaiting Francis in Ur, where the
pope was to preside over an interfaith meeting later Saturday. Ur, with
its ancient ziggurat, is said to be the traditional birthplace of
Abraham.
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