To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [bprlist] UFOnet: Million dollars to DISPROVE life after death!
From: "David
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 02:11:09 -0800
There is an irony to this story.
This Victor Zammit fellow does not use the Bible as proof of his statement, but that of mediums. His is a demonically inspired after-life scenario.
The life after death that people who follow mediums and such-like will consist of the resurrection prior to judgement day and then the lake of fire (the sun?).
>To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
>From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
>Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 08:35:43 -0500
>Reply-To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [bprlist] UFOnet: Million dollars to DISPROVE life after death!
>
>Subject: UFOnet: Million dollars to DISPROVE life after death!
>From: visions, visions@ntlworld.com
>
>Here's something to counter Randi's famous million dollar 'prove the
>paranormal' offer! Victor Zammit is a lawyer who runs a website
>http://www.ozemail.com.au/~vwzammit/ presenting evidence for the
>afterlife.
>
>He has been sponsored for this amount by a law firm that looked into the
>evidence for life after death he presented and agreed to guarantee one
>million dollars to anyone who could 'rebut the evidence to show that the
>afterlife does not and cannot exist.'
>He says the the lawyers agreed with him that it would be utterly
>impossible to rebut the evidence. Zammit says "In fact they stated you
>could raise the reward up to ten million and ten times that amount - no
>one on earth will ever be able to rebut the evidence for the afterlife
>and to show that the afterlife cannot exist!"
>
>Because of strict ethics, the legal firm do not want to be involved with
>any publicity and want to remain anonymous.
>
>Zammit is booked to go on the US, Sharina Psychic Encounters radio
>program on Sunday 11th March and launch the challenge to any skeptic in
>the world who will take up the challenge.
>Zammit says "I am getting this wonderful feeling that we now are winning
>the war with the skeptics. It is like telling the skeptics: put up or
>shut up!"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Lawyer Offers $1,000,000
>
>
>$1m is offered to any skeptic or anybody else who can:
>
>i) rebut the evidence for the afterlife and ii) prove that the afterlife
>does not or cannot exist.
>
>
>1. For far too long, those who do not believe in the existence of the
>afterlife- including the hardcore skeptics, humanists, some rationalists,
>those sitting on the fence and the agnostics- have been unfairly but
>dogmatically telling us that there is nothing after death, that we do not
>survive physical death.
>
>
>2. The closed minded skeptic in fact is saying: there is no 'life' after
>physical death. But the closed minded skeptic is not in a position to
>prove his/her assertion that the afterlife does not exist. Never. Our
>considerable experience dealing with the anti-survivalists, some of them
>academic psychologists and others, shows that the common imputed
>argument
>against survival is that there is a worldwide conspiracy by those who
>actually experienced communication with the afterlife to fool the rest of
>the world!
>
>
>3. Whilst there have been and there are many scientists who have produced
>EVIDENCE amounting to proof for the afterlife, there has NEVER been one
>scientist ever in history - biologist, physicist, astronomer, engineer,
>psychiatrist, mathematician, or any other scientist who ever produced
>evidence that the afterlife does NOT exist.
>
>
>4. Opposition to psychic phenomena of the afterlife has come from those
>who have a great deal to lose: eg University psychologists. The
>acceptance of the existence of the afterlife will inevitably lead to the
>virtual collapse of psychology as we know it to-day.
>
>
>5. Subjective scepticism itself is technically a belief NOT supported by
>
>hardcore science and like religion, belongs to a 'belief system'. Beliefs
>in a 'belief system' such as scepticism and traditional religion are
>inevitably subject to fundamental errors, even subject to complete
>invalidation.
>
>
>6. Psychic scientists and researchers duplicated objective experiences
>conducted overseas in at least six countries. The results are
>overwhelming - see the SCOLE EXPERIMENTS.
>
>
>7. For the genuine searcher, the objective scientific evidence for the
>afterlife is available. Questions being asked about the afterlife: will
>there be bliss? Will there be pain? Is life eternal? These are vitally
>crucial questions which scientific communication with the otherside has
>already answered for you! The evidence for the afterlife has NEVER been
>rebutted. The implications are enormous!
>
>
>Any applicant who wishes to prove beyond possible doubt that the
>afterlife does not exist will consent to three fundamental conditions:
>that the applicant will rebut the evidence for the afterlife, secondly to
>show how the afterlife does not and cannot exist. Thirdly, if any
>applicant fails to meet the challenge, the applicant will accept to pay
>all costs of expert witnesses and other litigation costs associated with
>the challenge.
>
>
>For all enquiries: ph/fax 9453-5119 0412-562-677
>
>
>Victor Zammit B.A.(Psych.),M.A.(Hist.),LL.B(Univ.NSW), Ph.D
>
>retired SOLICITOR & ATTORNEY OF THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW
>SOUTH WALES and
>the High Court of Australia author of A Lawyer Presents the Case for the
>Afterlife - irrefutable objective evidence.
>
>
>
>
>************************
>
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Surgeon prepares for human cloning
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 08:39:12 -0500
FRIDAY MARCH 09 2001
Surgeon prepares for human cloning
FROM RICHARD OWEN IN ROME
AN ITALIAN surgeon said yesterday that he would partly disclose plans today
to clone a human being by the end of the year despite charges by British and
American scientists that he was creating a monster.
Professor Severino Antinori, who runs a fertility clinic in Rome, said he
would hold a seminar at Rome University with colleagues from his cloning
team in which he would discuss how they would do it.
A Council of Europe convention prohibiting human cloning came into force
this week. The convention, signed by 29 European countries, including Italy,
incorporates the European Convention on Bio-Ethics of 1997 and updates it to
forbid "the creation of beings which are genetically identical to one
another".
Professor Antinori and Professor Panos Zavos, who runs a fertility clinic at
Lexington in Kentucky, announced in January that they intended to create
clones for infertile couples who were not able to have children in any other
way.
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times
Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to
reproduce material from The Times, visit the Syndication website.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-96566,00.html
via: isml@yahoogroups.com
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) Arutz-7 Op-Ed: THE FOUR SECRETS OF THE MEGILLAH
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 08:52:18 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 10:15:00 +0200
To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnew=
s.com
Subject: Arutz-7 Op-Ed: THE FOUR SECRETS OF THE MEGILLAH
***Note to our readers: Today, Purim, there will be no news report.
Arutz-7 Op-Ed: The Four Secrets of the Megillah
by Rabbi Shlomo Goren
Arutz-7 Israel Radio: <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
In This Article:
1. One Miracle After The Other
2. Marching Unyieldingly Towards "Good"
3. How to Measure? Israel!
4. The Quadruple Secret
ONE MIRACLE AFTER THE OTHER
The Nation of Israel is an ancient people, well-experienced in=20
miracles. In fact, its history is nothing more than one long chain of=20
divine miracles - concealed and otherwise. Everything it has gone through,=
=20
all of its ups and downs, its victories and its defeats, and even those=20
that appear to have occurred via a natural course of events, cannot be=20
taken at "face value." They cannot be analyzed using the normal=20
scientific-historical methodology, nor can quantifiable considerations such=
=20
as the balance of powers be solely employed for their understanding.
There are historians and researchers who attempt to socio-historically=20
explain the divine phenomenon known as Israel. They endeavor to clarify=20
how, despite the perpetual hatred against them and constant persecution by=
=20
their neighbors, the Jewish People have managed to survive throughout the=20
centuries as a nation. In trying to explain how this lone sheep can=20
continue to survive and thrive amidst the 70 wolves surrounding it, they=20
ignore the simple historical truth that is the bottom line of the universal=
=20
bookkeeping - namely, that the Divine Good that is the purpose and destiny=
=20
of all Creation is the final, determining force.
MARCHING UNYIELDINGLY TOWARDS "GOOD"
True, there are frequent and serious breaks in the historic timeline of=20
mankind's progress towards the longed-for aspiration of Supreme=20
Good. There are reversals and deviations from the path towards the goal,=20
and these are manifest in the suffering of entire generations, in ethical=20
decay, in social corruption. But all these cannot put a stop to the=20
unceasing advance of the Divine Goodness, for always in the end, the final=
=20
determination is towards the good. Goodness is the driving force behind=20
the predestined progress of the universe.
HOW TO MEASURE? ISRAEL!
The worldwide standard for measuring good and bad, progress and retreat,=20
the highs and lows of mankind - is the People of Israel. The way in which=
=20
the nations of the world relate to us, on the one hand, and the ethical=20
tensions within Am Yisrael itself, on the other, are the ways in which the=
=20
world can measure whether it is progressing towards the ultimate goal, or=20
whether it is in a stage of reversal.
This is the fundamental principle on which the teachings of the Prophets=20
are founded. It is the basic truth on which is based the Torah's ideal of=
=20
the End of Days for all of humanity.
A most enlightening historic lesson, one which reflects the struggle of the=
=20
great powers of good and bad, of Amalek and Israel - a struggle that is=20
manifest in a deep-rooted hatred of the nations of the world towards the=20
Eternal People - is provided for us in the Book of Esther, which we read on=
=20
Purim. Esther herself, the Talmud teaches, asked the Sages to accord "her"=
=20
Book a distinctive stature among the Holy Scriptures, and for Purim to=20
become a special holiday and be granted a special status in our Torah=20
tradition. As the great Maimonides wrote:
"All the Books of the Prophets and the Writings will become null and void=
=20
during the times of the Messiah - except for the Megillah [Scroll] of=20
Esther, which will stand forever just like the Five Books of Moses and the=
=20
laws of the Oral Torah that will never be nullified. And even though the=20
memory of all our suffering will be forgotten=85, the days of Purim will=20
never be erased, as is written [Esther 9, 28], "These days of Purim will=20
not fail from among the Jews, nor their memory perish from their seed."
THE QUADRUPLE SECRET
What is the secret of the eternity of this Megillah? What is the vision of=
=20
the future that is hidden in it and in the days of Purim for the End of=20
Days? The answer lies in four eternal fundamentals of Judaism that came to=
=20
the fore in a concrete way for the Jewish people during the critical period=
=20
in which the events of Purim occurred. It is in these four tenets that the=
=20
holiness and supremacy of Megillat Esther are shown.
The frantic pace of events that occurred during the story of Purim=20
reflected the excellent qualities of Israel. The Book of Esther was not=20
written to teach us only about that specific period or about the kingdom of=
=20
Persia - but rather about the future and about the entire world.
Fundamental 1: The complete and utter negation of the Exile.
The events of Purim teach us that the presence of Am Yisrael [the Nation of=
=20
Israel] in Exile is not only a national and spiritual danger for Israel,=20
but also a genuine physical and spiritual threat to each and every=20
individual Jew, Heaven forbid. As far as the Jew is concerned, the nations=
=20
of the world have no grasp of elementary social laws that will safely=20
guarantee his individual and national existence. The Torah's decree, "You=
=20
will not find calm amongst the nations," is well in force, and has almost=20
always expressed the bitter and true reality of the relationship between=20
the Jews and the nations.
Fundamental 2: Divine Providence over Israel.
The Megillah teaches us that it occurs in hidden ways, buried among the=20
myriad details of events, each of which is a link in one long and involved=
=20
chain. We see that the details of time, of place, of form, come together=20
in a great maze of events and people that, in the end, prove to have been=20
intricately woven in advance into one complex and uniform picture. The=20
final picture is what we call a "miracle," even though when it is broken=20
down into its individual pieces we do not see anything unusual.
Fundamental 3: Amalek.
Another aspect that is hidden among the events of Purim is the memory of=20
the eternal war and hatred from Amalek towards Israel. In this case, it=20
was manifest by Amalek's descendant Haman. The concept of Amalek, the=20
source of all corruption and evil in the world, always appears in an=20
individual or a group, weaving itself in wherever hatred and killing are=20
being perpetrated against Israel. This war is the symbol of the contrast=20
between light and darkness, and between good and bad, and it is for this=20
reason that the Torah commanded us to remember what Amalek stands for and=20
to increase our hatred for the root of the world's evil. "By the L-rd's=20
throne, the L-rd will have war with Amalek throughout the generations."=20
[Ex. 17,16]
Fundamental 4: Integrity and Purity in Warfare.
The Torah concept of "Your [army] camp shall be holy" is a constant=20
reminder that the purpose of war in Israel is for the defense and personal=
=20
and national security of Israel. The Megillah repeats three different=20
times that the Jews "did not take from the booty." This is the true=20
standard for the holiness of the army during battle and victory. For it=20
was not the personal interest of the fighters that stood before them, but=20
rather the salvation and honor of the entire nation, as is written, "The=20
other Jews in the other nations of the King gathered to protect themselves,=
=20
and had rest from their enemies - and did not lay their hands on the plunde=
r."
These are the eternal basics of Am Yisrael, and within them hides the=20
secret of the holiness and supremacy of Megillat Esther and Purim for Am=20
Yisrael in general and for its army in particular.
* * * * * * *
Rabbi Shlomo Goren was the first Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces,=
=20
and later served as Chief Rabbi of Israel. This article was translated=20
from an article on the Yeshivat Beit El website <http://yeshiva.org.il/>
*******************************************************
Arutz-Sheva's JEWISH UNIVERSE - Simple Surfing w/ Pictures of each website!
Stay tuned for new features coming in the next few weeks
<a href=3D"http://www.jewishuniverse.net"> www.jewishuniverse.net </a>
*******************************************************
____________________________________________________________
Arutz Sheva's Radio Reports and Live Broadcasts - Now by Phone!
http://a7.mobilee.com/cgi-bin/arutz7/arutz_entry1.pl
Arutz-7 Educational Radio: a project of Beit El Institutions=20
http://yeshiva.org.il
Individual news items may be reproduced in any form, provided Arutz-7
is credited and its e-mail address and URL is listed alongside the quote.
Subscribe (free): <a href=3D"http://subscribe.a7.org/subscribe.asp">Arutz-7=
</a>
To Unsubscribe: mailto:unsubscribe@IsraelNationalNews.com
For other subscription-related=20
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] BNI.Priority News 3, 1 (3/8,9/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 08:54:00 -0500
1. Motorist attacked by PA gunfire north of Hebron
(BNI-MAR.8) An Israeli motorist was attacked by gunfire near el-Aroub,
north of Hebron, on Thursday night. There were no reports of injuries or
damage to the vehicle.
****
2. No injuries in shooting attack near Peduel=20
(BNI-MAR.8) There were no injuries in a Thursday night shooting attack
directed at an Israeli motorist traveling in Samaria near Peduel. Bullets
did strike the car carrying a couple and their infant daughter. (Kol Rina
News Agency)=20
****
3. Bombs found near Elon Moreh
(BNI-MAR.8) Two bombs were found near the northern Samaria community of
Elon Moreh on Thursday night. One of the devices exploded and the second
was neutralized by bomb squad officials. There were no injuries.=20
****
4. Netzarim residents ordered into safe rooms and shelters
(BNI-MAR.8) Shortly after 8:00pm Thursday night, residents of Netzarim in
northern Gaza were ordered into bomb shelters and safe rooms. IDF forces
used heavy caliber machineguns to respond to mortar rocket attacks into
the civilian community.=20
were no immediate report of casualties.
****
5. Netanya resident injured in stabbing attack
(BNI-MAR.8) A Netanya resident, 31, came into the emergency room of
Laniado Hospital in that city, presenting with multiple stab wounds. The
victim, whose condition is described as light-to-moderate, was stabbed and
cut on a hand, abdomen and buttocks. Police add the victim is =93known to
local police=94 and the motive for the attack is under investigation.
****
6. IDF positions attacked in northern Samaria
(BNI-MAR.8) IDF positions in northern Samaria were attacked near Mount
Eval and Mount Greizim. There were no injuries to IDF forces that returned
fire.
****
7. Firebomb attacks on road from French Hill to Maale Adumim
(BNI-MAR.8) Two firebombs were hurled at Israeli motorists traveling on
the road from French Hill, in Jerusalem, to Maale Adumim. The incendiary
devices were thrown from the Arab village of Issawiya. The devices ignited
on the road. There were no injuries.
****
8. Tanzim terrorist leader: Tomorrow is Sharon=92s first test
(BNI-MAR.8) A senior Tanzim terrorist leader on Thursday stated that
=93tomorrow will be [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon=92s first test regarding
attempts to suppress the warfare known as the Intifada.=20
=93We have no problems with weaponry since we have enough guns that were
given to us by Israel,=94 stated Abed el-Qader. El-Qader warned that is
pushed past the =93red lines=94 by Sharon, the PA forces would not hesitate=
to
strike back with a forceful blow.
****
9. IDF fires warning shots at Reuters staff in Gaza
(BNI-MAR.8) IDF forces near Netzarim in northern Gaza on Thursday
afternoon fired warning shots at journalists employed by the Reuters News
Agency.
IDF officials explained that the gunfire was just a warning and there were
no injuries, adding that no one is permitted in proximity of IDF positions
in the area for fear of a terror attack.
****
10. Senior EU delegation to meet with PM Sharon in Israel
(BNI-MAR.8) A senior EU delegation will next week meet in Israel with
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.=20
The delegation is expected to arrive in the region on Monday and EU
officials will then meet with PA Chairman Yassir Arafat. On Tuesday, the
senior delegation will meet with the prime minister, President Moshe
Katzav and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
****
11. Lebanese security officials: We have uncovered Israeli spy ring
(BNI-MAR.8) Lebanese security officials on Thursday announced uncovering a
spy ring that is passing intelligence information to Jerusalem. Officials
report the espionage ring was operating in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials add the Israeli spy ring is the third uncovered in
Lebanon in the past two months, indicating the others were also spying for
Israel.
****
12. PA: Israeli forces create a lot of damages while conducting search
(BNI-MAR.8) PA officials on Thursday reported that IDF soldiers conducting
a search in the village of Salim in northern Samaria created a great deal
of damage to the ten homes searched by Israeli forces. PA officials added
that at least three persons were injured as a result of beatings by IDF
soldiers.
****
13. Livnat fires ministry DG
(BNI-MAR.8) Newly appointed Minister of Education Limor Livnat on her
first day dismissed the ministry=92s director-general, Shlumit Amichai.
Livnat aides explained that Amichai was a political appointee of the
former minister, MK Yossi Sarid, who heads the left-wing Meretz Party.
In response to the move, opposition leader Sarid stated the move was
irresponsible, adding that Amichai was among the most veteran employees of
the ministry and a professional of the highest order. Sarid decried
Livnat=92s actions on her first day in office, accusing her of taking a pat=
h
of political appointments rather than work with the professional already
in office.
Amichai stated she was not embarrassed to admit she had hoped she would=20
be
able to continue in her current position, adding it was the prerogative of
the minister to appoint her own director-general.
****
14. Cabel to fill Barak spot in Knesset
(BNI-MAR.8) Eitan Cabel will be sworn into the Knesset, filling the seat
vacated by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Following Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon taking the oath of office, Barak resigned from the Knesset
and political life.
****
15. Arabs open fire at Israeli near northern Sharon area
(BNI-MAR.8) Four Arabs on Thursday afternoon opened fire at an Israeli
near an IDF position in the northern Sharon area.
The Haifa businessman was entering into the PA autonomous area of Tul
Qarem, near an IDF checkpoint, to sell electronic items. The four directed
gunfire at his car. He managed to flee the scene without injury.
****
16. Policeman stabbed in Old City terror attack
(BNI-MAR.8) An Arab woman, 45, a resident of Ramallah, stabbed and lightly
wounded a policeman in the Old City of Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon.
Police apprehended the attacker but during the arrest, were attacked by
local storeowners who threw stones and other objects.
The policeman sustained light hand injuries.
The woman told police under interrogation that she stabbed a policeman in
the hope of being killed to get away from her abusive husband.
****
17. Neve Dekalim attacked by PA gunfire
(BNI-MAR.8) The southern Gaza community of Neve Dekalim was attacked=20
by PA
gunfire during the early afternoon hours on Thursday. There were no
reports of casualties. Soldiers returned fire.
****
18. Meah Shearim store attacked with grenade
(BNI-MAR.8) A man described to police as wearing ultra-Orthodox garb on
Thursday threw a hand grenade into a Meah Shearim area store. The grenade
did not explode and police bomb squad officials safely neutralized it.
The store, located in the ultra-Orthodox Meah Shearim section of the
capital, makes photocopies and was learned to also be selling pornographic
movies. It was not the first time the store was attacked.
There were no injuries in today=92s incident.
****
19. Motorist attacked by PA gunfire on Nablus bypass
(BNI-MAR.8) An Israeli motorist on Thursday morning was attacked by PA
gunfire on the Nablus bypass road south. There were no injuries. Soldiers
in the area returned fire.
-----------------
1. 3 Israelis under arrest in Magen Farm shooting of Arab man
(BNI-MAR.9) Hebron area police have arrested three Jews from the Southern
Hebron Hills area on suspicion of shooting and moderately wounding an Arab
man.
The three are suspected of firing shots that struck the Arab man who was
transported to the trauma unit of the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
The shooting occurred on Friday morning according to police.=20
Residents of the Magen Farm area deny police allegations, explaining the
wounded man came to the area after he was already shot, apparently in a
dispute with another Arab man.
Police are reporting with a modicum of certainty that the shots were fired
from within the farm, explaining the decision to detain the three.
****
2. PA rejects calls to stop violence in order to resume talks
(BNI-MAR.9) Senior PA official Yassir Abed Rabo issued a statement
rejecting calls by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who called upon the PA to
stop the daily attacks and Intifada in order to permit both sides to
return to the negotiating table. Sharon stressed that his administration
would not participate in peace talks as long as Israel remained under fire
by the PA.
The senior official stated that the residents of PA areas have little to
no hope of a peace deal with the new Israeli administration of Sharon and
as such, the Intifada would continue.
Similar remarks were made on Friday morning by Tanzim force terrorist
leader Marwan Barghouti.=20
****
3. Carnage on nation=92s roads continues
(BNI-MAR.9) As of noon on Friday, sixteen (16) persons were killed on the
nation=92s roads this past week. Israel=92s Magen David Adom Emergency=20
Medical
Service treated 1,150 persons injured in motor vehicle accidents, fifteen
(15) seriously, twenty-five (25) moderately, and the remainder light.
Since January 1, 2001, 99 persons were killed on our roadways.
Police report that 300 summonses were issued to motorists during the night
as part of the ongoing effort to enforce motor vehicle laws and reduce the
number of accidents, injuries and fatalities. Tens of motorists had their
licenses suspended during the night for serious motor vehicle offenses.=20
****
4. Altercation at traffic signal results in stabbing
(BNI-MAR.9) An altercation at a Netanya traffic signal resulted in one
driver sustaining multiple stab wounds.
The drivers got out of their vehicles and one pulled a knife, stabbing the
other over his body. The injured man was taken to the emergency room of
Laniado Hospital in Netanya. The search for the assailant continues.
****
5. No injuries in Thursday late night shooting attack
(BNI-MAR.9) There were no injuries in a shooting attacked directed at an
Israeli motorist traveling north of Ramallah late Thursday night. Bullets
did strike the vehicle of the intended victim.
****
6. Sharon=92s first backtrack regarding Oslo process
(BNI-MAR.9) In response to a fax sent by PA Chairman Yassir Arafat, Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon stated he was intending to honor all agreements
signed between Israel and the PA by previous governments.
During his election campaign, Sharon stated numerous times that =93Oslo was
null and void=94 and =93Oslo was dead,=94 telling supporters that in light =
of
the PA=92s failure to comply with any of the signed accords, pointing out
the daily terror attacks, he feels no responsibility to comply with
previous agreements. Sharon stated that the latest agreements reached
between the former Barak administration and the PA would not be honored by
his administration.=20
In his congratulatory fax to Mr. Sharon, Arafat expressed his good wishes
and willingness to continue efforts towards peace, indicating he was
hopeful the new administration would honor previous accords, not
specifying any by name.
****
7. Chomesh attacked by PA gunfire
(BNI-MAR.9) The northern Samaria community of Chomesh was attacked by=20
PA
gunfire on Thursday night. There were no reported casualties. Soldiers
stationed in the area returned fire.
****
8. Thursday night shooting attacks
(BNI-MAR.9) IDF forces in Samaria, near Mount Greizim and Mount Eval,=20
were
attacked on Thursday night for a second time by PA gunfire. Soldiers were
also attacked earlier in the night as reported by BNI.
There were no injuries in any of the attacks. Soldiers returned fire.
****
9. Shooting attacks in Gaza
(BNI-MAR.9) IDF positions in Neve Dekalim and Netzarim were attacked by=20
PA
gunfire on Thursday night. There were no reports of Israeli casualties.
Soldiers returned fire.
****
10. Caf=E9 patron injured lightly by gunfire
(BNI-MAR.9) A patron of the Rondo Caf=E9 on Jerusalem=92s King George Stree=
t
was injured by gunfire on Thursday night. The victim sustained light
injuries.
According to eyewitnesses, the shooter escaped in a Ford Fiesta. Police
are investigating. The motive for the shooting attack is unclear at this
time.
****
To subscribe to the BreakingNews-Israel list, send a blank email
message to 44828-subscribe@listbot.com=20=20=20=20=20
To subscribe to the BNI.PriorityNews list, providing news of
importance, send a blank email message to=20
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Israel worried by Syrian bid for UN role
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 08:57:45 -0500
Friday, March 9, 2001
Israel worried by Syrian bid for UN role
By Nitzan Horowitz
Ha'aretz Correspondent
WASHINGTON - The inclusion of Syria as one of the non-permanent
members of the United Nations Security Council is becoming a growing
concern in Israel, and Jerusalem is considering how to foil the possibility.
The elections for the new grouping of non-permanent Security Council
members are planned for November. Each of the 10 countries elected in
addition to the five permanent members (U.S., Russia, Britain, France and
China), holds the position for two years.
It has become a tradition at the Security Council that one Arab country is
included among the non-permanent members. Currently, Tunisia holds the
post. Now Syria is hoping to fill the position.
Syria's bid has already garnered significant Arab and Asian support at the
UN. It is also believed that there is African support for Syria. In recent days,
major international players, such as France, Russia and China, and other
countries, have agreed to support the Syrian quest.
A European Union source told Ha'aretz yesterday that Brussels will find it
difficult to oppose the election of Syria.
What still remains unclear is whether the U.S. will pose serious opposition to
the Syrian bid. In the past, Washington placed serious obstacles to the
inclusion of Arab countries in the Security Council because of their alleged
involvement in terrorism. During the 1990s, the UK and the U.S. succeeded
in preventing the inclusion of Libya in the council, and supported the entry of
Egypt as an alternative.
It is still uncertain what the stance of the new U.S. administration will be,
although it is expected that there will be opposition to the Syrian bid. At this
stage Washington is not enthusiastic about taking on the UN in a struggle
against Syria, particularly since the Bush administration is making efforts to
rally Syrian support in a revived Arab coalition against Baghdad. However,
active Jewish and Israeli lobbying may alter the situation by November.
The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Yehuda Lancry, said yesterday that the
candidacy of Syria contradicts article 23 of the international body's charter
which emphasizes that the candidates for Security Council membership
must contribute to international peace and security.
Israeli sources say it may be difficult to suggest to the U.S. to implement a
stance to the Syrian candidacy like it did for Libya and Sudan, because
Syria has already participated in peace talks with Israel.
http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=3/9/01&id
=112884
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) Palestinians have prepared to shoot Katyushas at Kfar
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 09:04:44 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 08:34:18 -0500
From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Palestinians have prepared to shoot
Katyushas at Kfar Sava, Raanana
and Hod Hasharon
Palestinians have prepared to shoot Katyushas at Kfar Sava, Raanana and Hod
Hasharon
Aaron Lerner Date: 9 March 2001
The following item appeared by reporter Hadas Stiff published in the 9 March
edition of the weekly "Sharon Times" - a regional publication of the Ma'ariv
newspaper chain
"This week at a preparatory meeting by the police of the Sharon region run
by the head of the intelligence branch in the police, commander Danny Ronen,
various scenarios for a Palestinian attack against Israel were considered.
Among the scenarios was the possibility that the Palestinians would fire
Katyusha rockets from Kalkiliya and Tulkarem at the cities in the Sharon.
Sound like a fear campaign by the extreme right? Not any more.
Information reaching one of the officers in the Sharon region is that the
imaginary scenario raised today may easily turn into the daily reality in
Netzarim. A security source in Kalkiliya even related that recently a line
from one of the steel factories in Kalkiliya was directed towards the nearby
hills that have a view of Kfar Sava. He says that the Palestinians paved a
special path so that Katyushas can be fired at communities in the Sharon, if
it is decided to increase the struggle against Israel."
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-5480092
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6750750 subscriber 4811
Website: http://www.imra.org.il
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
For free regular subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) Jordanian journalist proposes Palestinians opt for peace talks
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 09:06:40 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 08:35:56 -0500
From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Jordanian journalist proposes
Palestinians opt for peace talks with
Israel while continuing with toned down intafada
Jordanian journalist proposes Palestinians opt for peace talks with Israel
while continuing with toned down intafada
Where is the Intifada now? The Palestinians' lack of moderation, realism and
political daring has lead to heavy losses during the uprising - the most
important of which has perhaps to do with Israeli public opinion.
By Issa Shu'ebi Ha'aretz 9 March 2001
AMMAN - The Intifada is now entering its sixth month, laden with a great
deal of baggage that the Palestinian people is carrying on its back, and
with a heavy burden which is causing the infrastructure of the Palestinian
Authority to collapse.
All this is happening because of flaws and shortcomings, part of which are
home-made, and the other, objective part of which has accompanied in the
past and is accompanying today the glorious and bloody Palestinian struggle.
This is a struggle that is fraught with pain and hope, taking place under
circumstances that are becoming more and more difficult.
What is needed is to take a time-out, to re-evaluate and to draw the
necessary conclusions from the five months that have passed. There is no
doubt that the Intifada looks quite different now to its supporters than it
did at its outset, with scenes of teenagers, their faces exposed, surging
forth at the sites of daily conflict, along with scenes of simultaneous mass
demonstrations in other cities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Now the schoolchildren are back in the classrooms, and this is an excellent
thing; the streets have emptied of demonstrators, apart from those who walk
in the funeral processions of the shahids (martyrs), and sometimes after the
Friday prayers. The conflicts are devoid now of the participation of sectors
like schoolchildren, women and other workers that characterized the first
Intifada.
Though I realize that the call for a re-evaluation will arouse some people's
anger or misunderstanding, this anger must not prevent us from saying that
the Intifada - which right after it broke out, looked like the final round
of the prolonged Palestinian struggle for independence - today looks like it
has become totally bogged down, at a dead end.
Supporters of the Intifida have to engage in this confrontation today with
tools that are not equivalent to those in the hands of the enemy. Above all,
they must carry on without the widespread popular Arab involvement that was
expressed at the outset in demonstrations of solidarity from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Persian Gulf, as well as without official - not rhetorical -
support in the form of funds from foundations and Arab charitable
organizations.
From a position of deep solidarity with the Intifada, I believe that the
aggregate of mistakes that have been made during these past five months has
caused the picture of the Intifada to fade in a way that is cause for
concern. The lack of moderation, realism and political daring has lead to
heavy losses - the most important of which has perhaps to do with Israeli
public opinion. Without the support of significant sectors of Israeli public
opinion, the Palestinian aims cannot be achieved.
The way the Intifada, in the wake of demands, has been dragged into an armed
struggle and onto the playing field of pompous slogans, combined with the
agendas of local forces that do not believe in the peace option and, in the
importance of public opinion, have caused the Intifada to reach a dead end,
the very dead end that is expressed in the rise to power of Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon on a wave of the broadest public support.
I am not calling for an end to the Intifada, which is perhaps the only means
of struggle remaining to the Palestinian people. But this is the same people
that, under the occupation, has moved from a situation in which it was on
the verge of liberty and independence, in 95 percent of its territory, with
a capital in East Jerusalem and sovereignty over a contiguous geographical
area - to being a people under siege and supported by international food
organizations, and one that the European countries have been forced to
supply with emergency aid in order to rescue a Palestinian Authority on the
verge of collapse.
And all this as the barbaric occupation and the strangulation of life that
was miserable before and which has become even more miserable, continue. All
this is taking place in an atmosphere of official Arab indifference, when at
the popular level, Arabs have ceased to follow developments in a situation
that is too hard to bear even by those who are observing it from afar.
--------------------------------------------
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Fwd: [e-news] URGENT NEED FOR PRAYERS
From: "Norm"
Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 12:15:13 -0500
*********** BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE ***********
On 3/9/2001 at 8:39 AM Bible League e-News wrote:
URGENT NEED FOR PRAYERS FOR KAZAKSTAN, CENTRAL ASIA
A new law has been drafted which will greatly affect the freedom of religio=
n
for the Christian community of Kazakstan. If this law is passed, the only
religions that will be permitted in Kazakstan will be Islam and Russian
Orthodoxy. Any other religions will be outlawed.
The bill forbids all evangelism, distribution of literature, humanitarian
aid by Christian organizations, and ministry work. The proposed law
violates the country=92s constitution and breaks human rights treaties sign=
ed
by Kazakstan over the last few years.
Kazakstan has faced potential legislation that would limit religious freedo=
m
before, but this new bill has not been made public and the general
population of Kazakstan is unaware the impact this bill will have on
constitutional rights. Attempts are being made to pass this legislation on
March 16th without a public reading.
The whole Christian community will pray and fast on Friday, March 9th in
support of the leaders who will present their objections to the president.
They will appeal to the president for a public reading of the law and
request the dismissal of this legislation from the docket of Parliamentary
consideration.
It is expected that the law will be read before Parliament on March 16th an=
d
the president will be presented with 5 variants of the law, one of which he
is supposed to sign. All of the variants are filled with anti-Christian
points.
Please pray for grace and favor as the Protestant leaders stand to make
their appeal to the president. Pray that they will be given ample
opportunity to adequately represent the benefits of a free Christian
community to the country of Kazakstan.
Please join the Christian community in prayer on Friday, March 9th. Please
pray that freedom of religion will continue to exist in Kazakstan.
For more information, please contact The Bible League at
e-News@BibleLeague.org <mailto:e-News@BibleLeague.org>. Or, visit the
website at www.BibleLeague.org <http://www.BibleLeague.org>.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Bible League=92s e-News mailing list is constantly being updated. If yo=
u
would like to make changes or additions to your listing, e-mail your reques=
t
to e-News@BibleLeague.org.
*********** END FORWARDED MESSAGE ***********
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Scorpion is model for new military robot
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 12:48:01 -0500
7 March 2001 21:08 (ET)
http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=166055
Scorpion is model for new military robot
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Using scorpions as a design model, scientists
funded by the Navy are creating tiny solar-powered robots. Endowed
with computers, sensors and transmitters, these robots will one day
scurry unaided across rugged terrain while performing a variety of
tasks, including military reconnaissance.
The research is part of a small but growing scientific field known as
biomimetics, whereby researchers use the concepts of animal neural
mechanisms and biological processes as blueprints for building better
machines, in this case robots. The Navy began funding biomimetics
programs around 1984 and its total investment is near $6 million,
including the scorpion program, said Dr. Bill Vaughn, a program
manager for the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
Evolution has rendered the scorpion a highly efficient invertebrate
that operates with little food in extreme heat, defends itself and
travels deftly over difficult topography. A similarly designed robot,
the Navy hopes, will one day glean information from its surroundings
and communicate its findings via radio. They might one day assist
rescue workers, inspect nuclear reactors and detect mines.
"Essentially, we are looking to build robots that keep people out of
harm's way," Vaughn told United Press International. "The whole thrust
of these robotic applications is using MEMS (microelectromechnical
systems) to build robots that can be sent out on a variety of
missions." Program officials hope that by the summer of 2002, the
robotic scorpion will face its first test. The device will be set
loose in the Mojave Desert and will walk 25 miles before returning to
its original location, completing a 50-mile journey.
"We are interested in arthropod locomotion in general," said Dr. Keith
Ward, an ONR program manager. "For one thing, scorpions and related
animals that have multiple legs posses unusual and powerful ways of
walking, sensing and guiding themselves, ways that are different than
the way we walk and build our vehicles."
Ward said one of the more daunting technical obstacles is working out
how the robots will communicate.
Navy officials said investigators are studying many efficient natural
systems.
"We've also been looking at the cockroach, for example, which are
great biological models with high survivability," Vaughn said. "The
roach has very fine sensory systems connected to its legs that allow
it to sense the slightest brush of air and respond rapidly. We want to
understand the neuromechanics and neural networks that make that
happen and then build systems like those."
Vaughn said ONR is funding biomimetic projects focusing on various
underwater animals, such as lobster and tuna.
"The field of biomimetics started about 10 years ago and has been
growing thanks to the recognition that evolution has provided a number
of elegant solutions to various engineering problems," said Arthur
Heuer, chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at
Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
"I think perhaps it's better to use the term bioinspired. In fact, if
we tried to emulate birds we'd never have planes because birds flap
their wings," Heuer said. "But the advantage is that birds taught
people it might possible to move in the air. If we didn't have birds,
I don't know if anyone would have ever though of flying. So, again,
one doesn't want to slavish commitment to mimicking systems exactly."
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) TIME MAGAZINE DOES IT AGAIN HEBRON A LOOK INSIDE
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 12:55:22 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: BSaphir
Date sent: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 22:19:44 EST
Subject: TIME MAGAZINE DOES IT AGAIN HEBRON A LOOK INSIDE
To: freemanlist@lists.io.com
Editor's Note: Time Magazine did not print any of the hundreds of
letters on its Arafat issue in this weeks magazine. Not surprising.
TIME MAGAZINE DOES IT AGAIN
By Bernard J. Shapiro
Now, two weeks later, Time Magazine (March 12, 2001) in a four page
cartoon entitled HEBRON, A LOOK INSIDE. Aside from presenting a very
serious issue in cartoon form, which I find offensive, it presents
Arab lies as if they were the truth. As always there is a moral
equivalence between Arab attacks on the Jewish population and return
defensive fire.
The most obscene part is at the end of the cartoon and I quote:
"Meanwhile, Abu Ilhalaweh says he lives only half a kilometer from the
grave of Dr. Baruch Goldstein.....and on the anniversary of
Goldstein's crime and other occasions, settlers gather at the grave.
From the road we can see them celebrating. We hear music from up
there....They shout, "Where are you Goldstein?"'
I say this is blood libel against the Jews of Hebron and Kiryat Araba.
------- End of forwarded message -------
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========
To: messynews@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Israel through the smoke
From: Stafford's Mail <simmonds@freeuk.com>
Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 18:22:24 GMT
Dear Friends
As the new administration settles in to work so Israel faces more and
more difficulty. Keep praying. Blessings Stafford
1. JERRY GOLDEN REPORT FROM ISRAEL
2. NEW ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER SEES INTIFADA UP CLOSE.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
1. Jerry Golden "REPORT" from Israel
Shabbat Shalom,
The Israeli election is over, the power has changed hands and it looks
like nothing has changed. Well possibly the smoke screen is lifting a
bit, for us to see more clearly what is really happening.=20
In Ariel Sharon=92s speech last night (which was written and handed out
in advance) he omitted the line "undivided capital" when asks about it
today, he would give no commit. Over and over during his run for the
office he made that commit "Jerusalem will never be divided, it will
always be the undivided capital of Israel" But within hours after
being sworn in, he omits that line from his speech.=20
In his coalition, he has Labor holding the highest positions, with
Likud his own party coming is a weak second. It is the same as if
George W. Bush would have asks Bill Clinton to be his Secretary of
State, and Albright to stay on as his chief of staff. To ask Shimon
Peres to be Foreign Minister is saying that he has hidden plans or
that he is a liar. It is also now being revealed that Sharon has been
holding secret meeting with Peres for months in his home on a weekly
basis. Every minister in the Knesset has received the Barry Chamish
reports that tie Peres into the Rabin Assignation. In fact, the
evidence is so overwhelming many are beginning to wonder why this man
who brought us Oslo and as a result the Intifata is not on trial.=20
Last night the Jewish Settlement Netzarim near Gaza came under attack
by mortar shells for the fifth time. Palestinians firing heavy weapons,
they are no allowed to have, into a Jewish Settlement. I don=92t know
what constitutes war, but I think that should do it. But there has
been no response to this aggression. Our new Defense Minister Binyamin
Ben-Eliezer was shot at twice today in attempt to kill him. If I am
wrong please someone tell me, but when one power tries to kill a high
ranking official in another Government, isn=92t it at least time to get
mad, and go after your enemy? But Israel has done nothing.=20
Before we blamed everything on Ehud Barak, because he restrained the
IDF and would not allow them to do what they are trained to do. But
now these things have happen on Sharon=92s shift. Now they are saying
that Arafat is trying to raise the level of violence before the Arab
summit, in order to get the 800 million he was promised in the last
one. What are we to do, just let him kill a few of us daily, just to
be sure he doesn=92t get some money?=20
Today we drove around the out skirts of Gillo (southern neighborhood
of Jerusalem) the barricades is built and sands bags in windows. No
kids on the streets, and people living in fear. From what, a hand full
of Terrorist who are holding a whole modern nation hostage because
they have a better Media PR program?=20
Prime Minister Sharon has already changed his talk, and now his walk
is following. Israel is in very serous trouble.=20
Pray for our son Joel in the IDF, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and
pray for this Ministry. Shalom,=20
Jerry Golden
P.O. Box 591
Bet Shemesh 99100 Israel
http://jerrygolden.bizland.com
2. NEW ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER SEES INTIFADA UP CLOSE
(Extract from ICEJ Report 9/3/01)
There has been no let-up in the intifada, as a Palestinian sniper shot
at Israel's newly-installed Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
while he was observing Palestinian areas from the rooftop of an
Israeli military command center in the Gaza Strip on Friday.
ARMY RADIO said the sniper fired two shots as Ben-Eliezer was coming
down from the roof. Security men and soldiers shielded the minister
with their bodies, since he was not wearing a bulletproof vest.
Ben-Eliezer was accompanied on the briefing tour by IDF Chief of Staff
Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz and other senior commanders.
Ben-Eliezer, a former general, took office on Wednesday along with
the rest of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's broad coalition government.
In another targeting of a leading Israeli figure several months ago,
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau was nearly shot during a
Palestinian ambush on his bus as it left a Jewish community in Samaria.
Israeli military figures are reportedly set to warn Sharon that the
Palestinians plan to escalate the intifada in the weeks ahead of the
scheduled Arab League summit in late March in hopes it will spur
stronger pan-Arab actions against Israel.
Friday's HA'ARETZ claims IDF sources have indicated the army's
General Staff will tell Sharon and Ben-Eliezer next week that the
government should show restraint in the next few weeks, even in the
face of continued Palestinian terror, so as not to play into the hands
of PLO chief Yasser Arafat.
According to the left-leaning Hebrew daily, IDF sources believe Arafat
hopes an increase in attacks will provoke Sharon into harsh
retaliatory moves, thereby refocusing attention on Sharon's negative
image in the Arab world just as the summit convenes in Amman.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Stafford's Mail <staffordsimmonds@ntlworld.com>
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To: bprlist bprlist <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [bprlist] Easter / Lent Articles
From: Shophar_Sho_Good
Date: 9 Mar 2001 13:50:24 EST
Four sections laying out some viewpoints on Lent and
Easter...Shophar_Sho_Good
*********************************************************
Easter
http://www.6001.com/satanic.htm
The English word Easter is derived from the names "Eostre" - "Eastre" -
"Astarte" or Ashtaroth. Astarte was introduced into the British Isles by th=
e
Druids and is just another name for Beltis or Ishtar of the Chaldeans and
Babylonians.=20
The book of Judges records that "the children of Israel did evil ...in the
sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, ...and forsook the
LORD, and served not Him."
Easter is just another name for Ashteroth "The Queen of Heaven." Easter was
not considered a "Christian" festival until the fourth century. Early
Christians celebrated Passover on the 14th day of the first month and a
study of the dates on which Easter is celebrated will reveal that the
celebration of Easter is not observed in accordance with the prescribed tim=
e
for the observance of Passover.
After much debate, the Nicaean council of 325 A.D. decreed that "Easter"
should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox. Why was
so much debate necessary if "Easter" was a tradition passed down from the
Apostles? The answer is that it was not an Apostolic institution, but, an
invention of man! They had to make up some rules.
History records that spring festivals in honor of the pagan fertility
goddesses and the events associated with them were celebrated at the same
time as "Easter". In the year 399 A.D. the Theodosian Code attempted to
remove the pagan connotation from those events and banned their observance.
The pagan festival of Easter originated as the worship of the sun goddess,
the Babylonian Queen of Heaven who was later worshipped under many names
including Ishtar, Cybele, Idaea Mater (the Great Mother), or Astarte for
whom the celebration of Easter is named. Easter is not another name for the
Feast of Passover and is not celebrated at the Biblically prescribed time
for Passover. This pagan festival was supposedly "Christianized" several
hundred years after Christ.
(This segment is excerpted from the book, "Too Long in the Sun")
*****************************************************
The Traditions of Easter
http://wilstar.com/holidays/easter.htm
As with almost all holidays that have their roots in Christianity, Easter
has been secularized and commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter
and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication.=20
Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter ha=
s
had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival=
.
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious
festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre=
.
When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of th=
e
north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to
Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner.=20
It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to
celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with
celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly
decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations
by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a
Christian manner.=20
As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of
year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made
sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian
celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was
eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.=20
The Date of Easter=20
Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the
week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of
Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which
states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs afte=
r
the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox, or first day of spring.
Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March
22 and April 25. Its date is tied to the lunar cycle.=20
The Lenten Season=20
Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on
Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is a celebration,
sometimes called "Carnival," practiced around the world, on the Tuesday
prior to Ash Wednesday. It was designed as a way to "get it all out" before
the sacrifices of Lent began. New Orleans is the focal point of Mardi Gras
celebrations in the U.S. Read about the religious meanings of the Lenten
Season.=20
The Cross=20
The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as opposed to the Resurrection.
However, at the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, Constantine decreed that th=
e
Cross was the official symbol of Christianity. The Cross is not only a
symbol of Easter, but it is more widely used, especially by the Catholic
Church, as a year-round symbol of their faith.=20
The Easter Bunny=20
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the
pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the
Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.=20
The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was
widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In
fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that
time.=20
The Easter Egg=20
As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates th=
e
Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a
custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by
Christians.=20
From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures.
Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored
brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.=20
Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along
with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or
chocolate candy.
************************************************
Lent
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09152a.htm
Origin of the word=20
The Teutonic word Lent, which we employ to denote the forty days' fast
preceding Easter, originally meant no more than the spring season. Still it
has been used from the Anglo-Saxon period to translate the more significant
Latin term quadragesima (Fr. car=EAme, It. quaresima, Span. cuaresma), mean=
ing
the "forty days", or more literally the "fortieth day". This in turn
imitated the Greek name for Lent, tessarakoste (fortieth), a word formed on
the analogy of Pentecost (pentekoste), which last was in use for the Jewish
festival before New-Testament times. This etymology, as we shall see, is of
some little importance in explaining the early developments of the Easter
fast.=20
Origin of the custom=20
Some of the Fathers as early as the fifth century supported the view that
this forty days' fast was of Apostolic institution. For example, St. Leo (d=
.
461) exhorts his hearers to abstain that they may "fulfill with their fasts
the Apostolic institution of the forty days" - ut apostolica institutio
quadraginta dierum jejuniis impleatur (P.L., LIV, 633), and the historian
Socrates (d. 433) and St. Jerome (d. 420) use similar language (P.G., LXVII=
,
633; P.L., XXII, 475).=20
But the best modern scholars are almost unanimous in rejecting this view,
for in the existing remains of the first three centuries we find both
considerable diversity of practice regarding the fast before Easter and als=
o
a gradual process of development in the matter of its duration. The passage
of primary importance is one quoted by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., V, xxiv) from
a letter of St. Irenaeus to Pope Victor in connection with the Easter
controversy. There Irenaeus says that there is not only a controversy about
the time of keeping Easter but also regarding the preliminary fast. "For",
he continues, "some think they ought to fast for one day, others for two
days, and others even for several, while others reckon forty hours both of
day and night to their fast". He also urges that this variety of usage is o=
f
ancient date, which implies that there could have been no Apostolic
tradition on the subject. Rufinus, who translated Eusebius into Latin
towards the close of the fourth century, seems so to have punctuated this
passage as to make Irenaeus say that some people fasted for forty days.
Formerly some difference of opinion existed as to the proper reading, but
modern criticism (e.g., in the edition of Schwartz commissioned by the
Berlin Academy) pronounces strongly in favor of the text translated above.
We may then fairly conclude that Irenaeus about the year 190 knew nothing o=
f
any Easter fast of forty days.=20
The same inference must be drawn form the language of Tertullian only a few
years later. When writing as a Montanist, he contrasts the very slender ter=
m
of fasting observed by the Catholics (i.e., "the days on which the
bridegroom was taken away", probably meaning the Friday and Saturday of Hol=
y
Week) with the longer but still restricted period of a fortnight which was
kept by the Montanists. No doubt he was referring to fasting of a very
strict kind (xerophagi=E6 - dry fasts), but there is no indication in his
works, though he wrote an entire treatise "De Jejunio", and often touches
upon the subject elsewhere, that he was acquainted with any period of forty
days consecrated to more or less continuous fasting (see Tertullian, "De
Jejun.", ii and xiv; cf. "de Orat.", xviii; etc.).=20
And there is the same silence observable in all the pre-Nicene Fathers,
though many had occasion to mention such an Apostolic institution if it had
existed. We may note for example that there is no mention of Lent in St.
Dionysius of Alexandria (ed. Feltoe, 94 sqq.) or in the "Didascalia", which
Funk attributes to about the year 250; yet both speak diffusely of the
paschal fast.=20
Further, there seems much to suggest that the Church in the Apostolic Age
designed to commemorate the Resurrection of Christ, not by an annual, but b=
y
a weekly celebration (see "the Month", April 1910, 337 sqq.). If this be so=
,
the Sunday liturgy constituted the weekly memorial of the Resurrection, and
the Friday fast that of the Death of Christ. Such a theory offers a natural
explanation of the wide divergence which we find existing in the latter par=
t
of the second century regarding both the proper time for keeping Easter, an=
d
also the manner of the paschal fast. Christians were at one regarding the
weekly observance of the Sunday and the Friday, which was primitive, but th=
e
annual Easter festival was something superimposed by a process of natural
development, and it was largely influenced by the conditions locally
existing in the different Churches of the East and West. Moreover, with the
Easter festival there seems also to have established itself a preliminary
fast, not as yet anywhere exceeding a week in duration, but very severe in
character, which commemorated the Passion, or more generally, "the days on
which the bridegroom was taken away".=20
Be this as it may, we find in the early years of the fourth century the
first mention of the term tessarakoste. It occurs in the fifth canon of the
Council of Nicea (A.D. 325), where there is only question of the proper tim=
e
for celebrating a synod, and it is conceivable that it may refer not to a
period but to a definite festival, e.g., the Feast of the Ascension, or the
Purification, which =C6theria calls quadragesim=E6 de Epiphania. But we hav=
e to
remember that the older word, pentekoste (Pentecost) from meaning the
fiftieth day, had come to denote the whole of the period (which we should
call Paschal Time) between Easter Sunday and Whit-Sunday (cf. Tertullian,
"De Idololatria", xiv, - "pentecosten implere non poterunt"). In any case i=
t
is certain from the "Festal Letters" of St. Athanasius that in 331 the sain=
t
enjoined upon his flock a period of forty days of fasting preliminary to,
but not inclusive of, the stricter fast of Holy Week, and secondly that in
339 the same Father, after having traveled to Rome and over the greater par=
t
of Europe, wrote in the strongest terms to urge this observance upon the
people of Alexandria as one that was universally practiced, "to the end tha=
t
while all the world is fasting, we who are in Egypt should not become a
laughing-stock as the only people who do not fast but take our pleasure in
those days". Although Funk formerly maintained that a Lent of forty days wa=
s
not known in the West before the time of St. Ambrose, this is evidence whic=
h
cannot be set aside.=20
Duration of the Fast=20
In determining this period of forty days the example of Moses, Elias, and
Christ must have exercised a predominant influence, but it is also possible
that the fact was borne in mind that Christ lay forty hours in the tomb. On
the other hand just as Pentecost (the fifty days) was a period during which
Christians were joyous and prayed standing, though they were not always
engaged in such prayer, so the Quadragesima (the forty days) was originally
a period marked by fasting, but not necessarily a period in which the
faithful fasted every day. Still, this principle was differently understood
in different localities, and great divergences of practice were the result.
In Rome, in the fifth century, Lent lasted six weeks, but according to the
historian Socrates there were only three weeks of actual fasting, exclusive
even then of the Saturday and Sunday and if Duchesne's view may be trusted,
these weeks were not continuous, but were the first, the fourth, and sixth
of the series, being connected with the ordinations (Christian Worship,
243). Possibly, however, these three weeks had to do with the "scrutinies"
preparatory to Baptism (q.v.), for by some authorities (e.g., A.J. Maclean
in his "Recent Discoveries") the duty of fasting along with the candidate
for baptism is put forward as the chief influence at work in the developmen=
t
of the forty days. But throughout the Orient generally, with some few
exceptions, the same arrangement prevailed as St. Athanasius's "Festal
Letters" show us to have obtained in Alexandria, namely, the six weeks of
Lent were only preparatory to a fast of exceptional severity maintained
during Holy Week. This is enjoined by the "Apostolic Constitutions" (V,
xiii), and presupposed by St. Chrysostom (Hom. xxx in Gen., I). But the
number forty, having once established itself, produced other modifications.
It seemed to many necessary that there should not only be fasting during th=
e
forty days but forty actual fasting days. Thus we find =C6theria in her
"Peregrinatio" speaking of a Lent of eight weeks in all observed at
Jerusalem, which, remembering that both the Saturday and Sunday of ordinary
weeks were exempt, gives five times eight, i.e., forty days for fasting. On
the other hand, in many localities people were content to observe no more
than a six weeks' period, sometimes, as at Milan, fasting only five days in
the week after the oriental fashion (Ambrose, "De Elia et Jejunio", 10). In
the time of Gregory the Great (590-604) there were apparently at Rome six
weeks of six days each, making thirty-six fast days in all, which St.
Gregory, who is followed therein by many medieval writers, describes as the
spiritual tithing of the year, thirty-six days being approximately the tent=
h
part of three hundred and sixty-five. At a later date the wish to realize
the exact number of forty days led to the practice of beginning Lent upon
our present Ash Wednesday, but the Church of Milan, even to this day adhere=
s
to the more primitive arrangement, which still betrays itself in the Roman
Missal when the priest in the Secret of the Mass on the first Sunday of Len=
t
speaks of "sacrificium quadragesimalis initii", the sacrifice of the openin=
g
of Lent.=20
Nature of the fast=20
Neither was there originally less divergence regarding the nature of the
fast. For example, the historian Socrates (Hist. Eccl., V, 22) tells of the
practice of the fifth century: "Some abstain from every sort of creature
that has life, while others of all the living creatures eat of fish only.
Others eat birds as well as fish, because, according to the Mosaic account
of the Creation, they too sprang from the water; others abstain from fruit
covered by a hard shell and from eggs. Some eat dry bread only, others not
even that; others again when they have fasted to the ninth hour (three
o'clock) partake of various kinds of food". Amid this diversity some
inclined to the extreme limits of rigor. Epiphanius, Palladius, and the
author of the "Life of St. Melania the Younger" seem to contemplate a state
of things in which ordinary Christians were expected to pass twenty-four
hours or more without food of any kind, especially during Holy Week, while
the more austere actually subsisted during part or the whole of Lent upon
one or two meals a week (see Rampolla, "Vita di. S. Melania Giuniore",
appendix xxv, p. 478). But the ordinary rule on fasting days was to take bu=
t
one meal a day and that only in the evening, while meat and, in the early
centuries, wine were entirely forbidden. During Holy Week, or at least on
Good Friday, it was common to enjoin the xerophagi=E6, i.e., a diet of dry
food, bread, salt, and vegetables. There does not seem at the beginning to
have been any prohibition of lacticinia, as the passage just quoted from
Socrates would show. Moreover, at a somewhat later date, Bede tells us of
Bishop Cedda, that during Lent he took only one meal a day consisting of "a
little bread, a hen's egg, and a little milk mixed with water" (Hist. Eccl.=
,
III, xxiii), while Theodulphus of Orleans in the eighth century regarded
abstinence from eggs, cheese, and fish as a mark of exceptional virtue. Non=
e
the less St. Gregory writing to St. Augustine of England laid down the rule=
,
"We abstain from flesh meat, and from all things that come from flesh, as
milk, cheese, and eggs." This decision was afterwards enshrined in the
"Corpus Juris", and must be regarded as the common law of the Church. Still
exceptions were admitted, and dispensations to eat "lacticinia" were often
granted upon condition of making a contribution to some pious work. These
dispensations were known in Germany as Butterbriefe, and several churches
are said to have been partly built by the proceeds of such exceptions. One
of the steeples of Rouen cathedral was for this reason formerly known as th=
e
Butter Tower. This general prohibition of eggs and milk during Lent is
perpetuated in the popular custom of blessing or making gifts of eggs at
Easter, and in the English usage of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.=20
Relaxations of the Lenten Fast=20
From what has been said it will be clear that in the early Middle Ages Lent
throughout the greater part of the Western Church consisted of forty
weekdays, which were all fast days, and six Sundays. From the beginning to
the end of that time all flesh meat, and also, for the most part,
"lacticinia", were forbidden even on Sundays, while on all the fasting days
only one meal was taken, which single meal was not permitted before evening=
.
At a very early period, however (we find the first mention of it in
Socrates), the practice began to be tolerated of breaking the fast at the
hour of none, i.e., three o'clock. We learn in particular that Charlemagne,
about the year 800, took his lenten repast at 2 p.m. This gradual
anticipation of the hour of dinner was facilitated by the fact that the
canonical hours of none, vespers, etc., represented rather periods than
fixed points of time. The ninth hour, or none, was no doubt strictly three
o'clock in the afternoon, but the Office of none might be recited as soon a=
s
sext, which, of course, corresponded to the sixth hour, or midday, was
finished. Hence none in course of time came to be regarded as beginning at
midday, and this point of view is perpetuated in our word noon which means
midday and not three o'clock in the afternoon. Now the hour for breaking th=
e
fast during Lent was after Vespers (the evening service), but by a gradual
process the recitation of Vespers was more and more anticipated, until the
principle was at last officially recognized, as it is at present, that
Vespers in lent may be said at midday. In this way, although the author of
the "Micrologus" in the eleventh century still declared that those who took
food before evening did not observe the lenten fast according to the canons
(P.L., CLI, 1013), still, even at the close of the thirteenth century,
certain theologians, for example the Franciscan Richard Middleton, who base=
d
his decision in part upon contemporary usage, pronounced that a man who too=
k
his dinner at midday did not break the lenten fast. Still more material was
the relaxation afforded by the introduction of "collation". This seems to
have begun in the ninth century, when the Council of Aix la Chapelle
sanctioned the concession, even in monastic houses, of a draught of water o=
r
other beverage in the evening to quench the thirst of those who were
exhausted by the manual labor of the day. From this small beginning a much
larger indulgence was gradually evolved. The principle of parvitas materiae=
,
i.e., that a small quantity of nourishment which was not taken directly as =
a
meal did not break the fast, was adopted by St. Thomas Aquinas and other
theologians, and in the course of centuries a recognized quantity of solid
food, which according to received authorities must not exceed eight ounces,
has come to be permitted after the midday repast. As this evening drink,
when first tolerated in the ninth-century monasteries, was taken at the hou=
r
at which the "Collationes" (Conferences) of Abbot Cassian were being read
aloud to the brethren, this slight indulgence came to be known as a
"collation", and the name has continued since. Other mitigations of an even
more substantial character have been introduced into lenten observance in
the course of the last few centuries. To begin with, the custom has been
tolerated of taking a cup of liquid (e.g., tea or coffee, or even chocolate=
)
with a fragment of bread or toast in the early morning. But, what more
particularly regards Lent, successive indults have been granted by the Holy
See allowing meat at the principal meal, first on Sundays, and then on two,
three, four, and five weekdays, throughout nearly the whole of Lent. Quite
recently, Maundy Thursday, upon which meat was hitherto always forbidden,
has come to share in the same indulgence. In the United States, the Holy Se=
e
grants faculties whereby working men and their families may use flesh meat
once a day throughout the year, except Fridays, Ash Wednesday, Holy
Saturday, and the vigil of Christmas. The only compensation imposed for all
these mitigations is the prohibition during Lent against partaking of both
fish and flesh at the same repast. (See Abstinence; Fast; Impediments;
Canonical (III); Laetare Sunday; Septuagesima; Sexagesima; Quinquagesima;
Quadragesima; Vestments).=20
HERBERT THURSTON=20
Transcribed by Anthony A. Killeen=20
A.M.D.G.=20
************************************************
The Two Babylons=20
Alexander Hislop=20
http://biblebelievers.com/babylon/sect32.htm=20
Chapter III=20
Section II=20
Easter
Then look at Easter. What means the term Easter itself? It is not a
Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter i=
s
nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven=
,
whose name, as pronounced by the people Nineveh, was evidently identical
with that now in common use in this country. That name, aas found by Layard
on the Assyrian monuments, is Ishtar. The worship of Bel and Astarte was
very early introduced into Britain, along with the Druids, "the priests of
the groves." Some have imagined that the Druidical worship was first
introduced by the Phoenicians, who, centuries before the Christian era,
traded to the tin-mines of Cornwall. But the unequivocal traces of that
worship are found in regions of the British islands where the Phoenicians
never penetrated, and it has everywhere left indelible marks of the strong
hold which it must have had on the early British mind. From Bel, the 1st of
May is still called Beltane in the Almanac; and we have customs still
lingering at this day among us, which prove how exactly the worship of Bel
or Moloch (for both titles belonged to the same god) had been observed even
in the northern parts of this island. "The late Lady Baird, of Fern Tower,
in Perthshire," says a writer in "Notes and Queries," thoroughly versed in
British antiquities, "told me, that every year, at Beltane (or the 1st of
May), a number of men and women assemble at an ancient Druidical circle of
stones on her property near Crieff. They light a fire in the centre, each
person puts a bit of oat-cake in a shepherd's bonnet; they all sit down, an=
d
draw blindfold a piece from the bonnet. One piece has been previously
blackened, and whoever gets that piece has to jump through the fire in the
centre of the circle, and pay a forfeit. This is, in fact, a part of the
ancient worship of Baal, and the person on whom the lot fell was previously
burnt as a sacrifice. Now, the passing through the fire represents that, an=
d
the payment of the forfeit redeems the victim." If Baal was thus worshipped
in Britain, it will not be difficult to believe that his consort Astarte wa=
s
also adored by our ancestors, and that from Astarte, whose name in Nineveh
was Ishtar, the religious solemnities of April, as now practised, are calle=
d
by the name of Easter--that month, among our Pagan ancestors, having been
called Easter-monath. The festival, of which we read in Church history,
under the name of Easter, in the third or fourth centuries, was quite a
different festival from that now observed in the Romish Church, and at that
time was not known by any such name as Easter. It was called Pasch, or the
Passover, and though not of Apostolic institution, * was very early observe=
d
by many professing Christians, in commemoration of the death and
resurrection of Christ.=20
* Socrates, the ancient ecclesiastical historian, after a lengthened accoun=
t
of the different ways in which Easter was observed in different countries i=
n
his time--i.e., the fifth century--sums up in these words: "Thus much
already laid down may seem a sufficient treatise to prove that the
celebration of the feast of Easter began everywhere more of custom than by
any commandment either of Christ or any Apostle." (Hist. Ecclesiast.) Every
one knows that the name "Easter," used in our translation of Acts 12:4,
refers not to any Christian festival, but to the Jewish Passover. This is
one of the few places in our version where the translators show an undue
bias.=20
That festival agreed originally with the time of the Jewish Passover, when
Christ was crucified, a period which, in the days of Tertullian, at the end
of the second century, was believed to have been the 23rd of March. That
festival was not idolatrous, and it was preceded by no Lent. "It ought to b=
e
known," said Cassianus, the monk of Marseilles, writing in the fifth
century, and contrasting the primitive Church with the Church in his day,
"that the observance of the forty days had no existence, so long as the
perfection of that primitive Church remained inviolate." Whence, then, came
this observance? The forty days' abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed
from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of forty days,
"in the spring of the year," is still observed by the Yezidis or Pagan
Devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who have inherited it from their early
masters, the Babylonians. Such a Lent of forty days was held in spring by
the Pagan Mexicans, for thus we read in Humboldt, where he gives account of
Mexican observances: "Three days after the vernal equinox...began a solemn
fast of forty days in honour of the sun." Such a Lent of forty days was
observed in Egypt, as may be seen on consulting Wilkinson's Egyptians. This
Egyptian Lent of forty days, we are informed by Landseer, in his Sabean
Researches, was held expressly in commemoration of Adonis or Osiris, the
great mediatorial god. At the same time, the rape of Proserpine seems to
have been commemorated, and in a similar manner; for Julius Firmicus inform=
s
us that, for "forty nights" the "wailing for Proserpine" continued; and fro=
m
Arnobius we learn that the fast which the Pagans observed, called "Castus"
or the "sacred" fast, was, by the Christians in his time, believed to have
been primarily in imitation of the long fast of Ceres, when for many days
she determinedly refused to eat on account of her "excess of sorrow," that
is, on account of the loss of her daughter Proserpine, when carried away by
Pluto, the god of hell. As the stories of Bacchus, or Adonis and Proserpine=
,
though originally distinct, were made to join on and fit in to one another,
so that Bacchus was called Liber, and his wife Ariadne, Libera (which was
one of the names of Proserpine), it is highly probable that the forty days'
fast of Lent was made in later times to have reference to both. Among the
Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the
great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of
Tammuz, which was celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing, and which,
in many countries, was considerably later than the Christian festival, bein=
g
observed in Palestine and Assyria in June, therefore called the "month of
Tammuz"; in Egypt, about the middle of May, and in Britain, some time in
April. To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its
usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals
amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skilful adjustment of the calendar,
it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and
Christianity--now far sunk in idolatry--in this as in so many other things,
to shake hands. The instrument in accomplishing this amalgamation was the
abbot Dionysius the Little, to whom also we owe it, as modern chronologers
have demonstrated, that the date of the Christian era, or of the birth of
Christ Himself, was moved FOUR YEARS from the true time. Whether this was
done through ignorance or design may be matter of question; but there seems
to be no doubt of the fact, that the birth of the Lord Jesus was made full
four years later than the truth. This change of the calendar in regard to
Easter was attended with momentous consequences. It brought into the Church
the grossest corruption and the rankest superstition in connection with the
abstinence of Lent. Let any one only read the atrocities that were
commemorated during the "sacred fast" or Pagan Lent, as described by
Arnobius and Clemens Alexandrinus, and surely he must blush for the
Christianity of those who, with the full knowledge of all these
abominations, "went down to Egypt for help" to stir up the languid devotion
of the degenerate Church, and who could find no more excellent way to
"revive" it, than by borrowing from so polluted a source; the absurdities
and abominations connected with which the early Christian writers had held
up to scorn. That Christians should ever think of introducing the Pagan
abstinence of Lent was a sign of evil; it showed how low they had sunk, and
it was also a cause of evil; it inevitably led to deeper degradation.
Originally, even in Rome, Lent, with the preceding revelries of the
Carnival, was entirely unknown; and even when fasting before the Christian
Pasch was held to be necessary, it was by slow steps that, in this respect,
it came to conform with the ritual of Paganism. What may have been the
period of fasting in the Roman Church before sitting of the Nicene Council
does not very clearly appear, but for a considerable period after that
Council, we have distinct evidence that it did not exceed three weeks. *=20
* GIESELER, speaking of the Eastern Church in the second century, in regard
to Paschal observances, says: "In it [the Paschal festival in commemoration
of the death of Christ] they [the Eastern Christians] eat unleavened bread,
probably like the Jews, eight days throughout...There is no trace of a
yearly festival of a resurrection among them, for this was kept every
Sunday" (Catholic Church). In regard to the Western Church, at a somewhat
later period--the age of Constantine--fifteen days seems to have been
observed to religious exercises in connection with the Christian Paschal
feast, as appears from the following extracts from Bingham, kindly furnishe=
d
to me by a friend, although the period of fasting is not stated. Bingham
(Origin) says: "The solemnities of Pasch [are] the week before and the week
after Easter Sunday--one week of the Cross, the other of the resurrection.
The ancients speak of the Passion and Resurrection Pasch as a fifteen days'
solemnity. Fifteen days was enforced by law by the Empire, and commanded to
the universal Church...Scaliger mentions a law of Constantine, ordering two
weeks for Easter, and a vacation of all legal processes."=20
The words of Socrates, writing on this very subject, about AD 450, are
these: "Those who inhabit the princely city of Rome fast together before
Easter three weeks, excepting the Saturday and Lord's-day." But at last,
when the worship of Astarte was rising into the ascendant, steps were taken
to get the whole Chaldean Lent of six weeks, or forty days, made imperative
on all within the Roman empire of the West. The way was prepared for this b=
y
a Council held at Aurelia in the time of Hormisdas, Bishop of Rome, about
the year 519, which decreed that Lent should be solemnly kept before Easter=
.
It was with the view, no doubt, of carrying out this decree that the
calendar was, a few days after, readjusted by Dionysius. This decree could
not be carried out all at once. About the end of the sixth century, the
first decisive attempt was made to enforce the observance of the new
calendar. It was in Britain that the first attempt was made in this way; an=
d
here the attempt met with vigorous resistance. The difference, in point of
time, betwixt the Christian Pasch, as observed in Britain by the native
Christians, and the Pagan Easter enforced by Rome, at the time of its
enforcement, was a whole month; * and it was only by violence and bloodshed=
,
at last, that the Festival of the Anglo-Saxon or Chaldean goddess came to
supersede that which had been held in honour of Christ.=20
* CUMMIANUS, quoted by Archbishop USSHER, Sylloge Those who have been
brought up in the observance of Christmas and Easter, and who yet abhor fro=
m
their hearts all Papal and Pagan idolatry alike, may perhaps feel as if
there were something "untoward" in the revelations given above in regard to
the origin of these festivals. But a moment's reflection will suffice
entirely to banish such a feeling. They will see, that if the account I hav=
e
given be true, it is of no use to ignore it. A few of the facts stated in
these pages are already known to Infidel and Socinian writers of no mean
mark, both in this country and on the Continent, and these are using them i=
n
such a way as to undermine the faith of the young and uninformed in regard
to the very vitals of the Christian faith. Surely, then, it must be of the
last consequence, that the truth should be set forth in its own native
light, even though it may somewhat run counter to preconceived opinions,
especially when that truth, justly considered, tends so much at once to
strengthen the rising youth against the seductions of Popery, and to confir=
m
them in the faith once delivered to the Saints. If a heathen could say,
"Socrates I love, and Plato I love, but I love truth more," surely a truly
Christian mind will not display less magnanimity. Is there not much, even i=
n
the aspect of the times, that ought to prompt the earnest inquiry, if the
occasion has not arisen, when efforts, and strenuous efforts, should be mad=
e
to purge out of the National Establishment in the south those observances,
and everything else that has flowed in upon it from Babylon's golden cup?
There are men of noble minds in the Church of Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley,
who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, who have felt the power of His
blood, and known the comfort of His Spirit. Let them, in their closets, and
on their knees, ask the question, at their God and at their own consciences=
,
if they ought not to bestir themselves in right earnest, and labour with al=
l
their might till such a consummation be effected. Then, indeed, would
England's Church be the grand bulwark of the Reformation--then would her
sons speak with her enemies in the gate--then would she appear in the face
of all Christendom, "clear as the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an
army with banners." If, however, nothing effectual shall be done to stay th=
e
plague that is spreading in her, the result must be disastrous, not only to
herself, but to the whole empire.=20
Such is the history of Easter. The popular observances that still attend th=
e
period of its celebration amply confirm the testimony of history as to its
Babylonian character. The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs
of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do
now. The "buns," known too by that identical name, were used in the worship
of the queen of heaven, the goddess Easter, as early as the days of Cecrops=
,
the founder of Athens--that is, 1500 years before the Christian era. "One
species of sacred bread," says Bryant, "which used to be offered to the
gods, was of great antiquity, and called Boun." Diogenes Laertius, speaking
of this offering being made by Empedocles, describes the chief ingredients
of which it was composed, saying, "He offered one of the sacred cakes calle=
d
Boun, which was made of fine flour and honey." The prophet Jeremiah takes
notice of this kind of offering when he says, "The children gather wood, th=
e
fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to
the queen of heaven." *=20
* Jeremiah 7:18. It is from the very word here used by the prophet that the
word "bun" seems to be derived. The Hebrew word, with the points, was
pronounced Khavan, which in Greek became sometimes Kapan-os (PHOTIUS,
Lexicon Syttoge); and, at other times, Khabon (NEANDER, in KITTO'S Biblical
Cyclopoedia). The first shows how Khvan, pronounced as one syllable, would
pass into the Latin panis, "bread," and the second how, in like manner,
Khvon would become Bon or Bun. It is not to be overlooked that our common
English word Loa has passed through a similar process of formation. In
Anglo-Saxon it was Hlaf.=20
The hot cross buns are not now offered, but eaten, on the festival of
Astarte; but this leaves no doubt as to whence they have been derived. The
origin of the Pasch eggs is just as clear. The ancient Druids bore an egg,
as the sacred emblem of their order. In the Dionysiaca, or mysteries of
Bacchus, as celebrated in Athens, one part of the nocturnal ceremony
consisted in the consecration of an egg. The Hindoo fables celebrate their
mundane egg as of a golden colour. The people of Japan make their sacred eg=
g
to have been brazen. In China, at this hour, dyed or painted eggs are used
on sacred festivals, even as in this country. In ancient times eggs were
used in the religious rites of the Egyptians and the Greeks, and were hung
up for mystic purposes in their temples. From Egypt these sacred eggs can b=
e
distinctly traced to the banks of the Euphrates. The classic poets are full
of the fable of the mystic egg of the Babylonians; and thus its tale is tol=
d
by Hyginus, the Egyptian, the learned keeper of the Palatine library at
Rome, in the time of Augustus, who was skilled in all the wisdom of his
native country: "An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven
into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves
having settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus, who afterwards was
called the Syrian Goddess"--that is, Astarte. Hence the egg became one of
the symbols of Astarte or Easter; and accordingly, in Cyprus, one of the
chosen seats of the worship of Venus, or Astarte, the egg of wondrous size
was represented on a grand scale.=20
The occult meaning of this mystic egg of Astarte, in one of its aspects (fo=
r
it had a twofold significance), had reference to the ark during the time of
the flood, in which the whole human race were shut up, as the chick is
enclosed in the egg before it is hatched. If any be inclined to ask, how
could it ever enter the minds of men to employ such an extraordinary symbol
for such a purpose, the answer is, first, The sacred egg of Paganism, as
already indicated, is well known as the "mundane egg," that is, the egg in
which the world was shut up. Now the world has two distinct meanings--it
means either the material earth, or the inhabitants of the earth. The latte=
r
meaning of the term is seen in Genesis 11:1, "The whole earth was of one
language and of one speech," where the meaning is that the whole people of
the world were so. If then the world is seen shut up in an egg, and floatin=
g
on the waters, it may not be difficult to believe, however the idea of the
egg may have come, that the egg thus floating on the wide universal sea
might be Noah's family that contained the whole world in its bosom. Then th=
e
application of the word egg to the ark comes thus: The Hebrew name for an
egg is Baitz, or in the feminine (for there are both genders), Baitza. This=
,
in Chaldee and Phoenician, becomes Baith or Baitha, which in these language=
s
is also the usual way in which the name of a house is pronounced. *=20
* The common word "Beth," "house," in the Bible without the points, is
"Baith," as may be seen in the name of Bethel, as given in Genesis 35:1, of
the Greek Septuagint, where it is "Baith-el."=20
The egg floating on the waters that contained the world, was the house
floating on the waters of the deluge, with the elements of the new world in
its bosom. The coming of the egg from heaven evidently refers to the
preparation of the ark by express appointment of God; and the same thing
seems clearly implied in the Egyptian story of the mundane egg which was
said to have come out of the mouth of the great god. The doves resting on
the egg need no explanation. This, then, was the meaning of the mystic egg
in one aspect. As, however, everything that was good or beneficial to
mankind was represented in the Chaldean mysteries, as in some way connected
with the Babylonian goddess, so the greatest blessing to the human race,
which the ark contained in its bosom, was held to be Astarte, who was the
great civiliser and benefactor of the world. Though the deified queen, whom
Astarte represented, had no actual existence till some centuries after the
flood, yet through the doctrine of metempsychosis, which was firmly
established in Babylon, it was easy for her worshippers to be made to
believe that, in a previous incarnation, she had lived in the Antediluvian
world, and passed in safety through the waters of the flood. Now the Romish
Church adopted this mystic egg of Astarte, and consecrated it as a symbol o=
f
Christ's resurrection. A form of prayer was even appointed to be used in
connection with it, Pope Paul V teaching his superstitious votaries thus to
pray at Easter: "Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs,
that it may become a wholesome sustenance unto thy servants, eating it in
remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c" (Scottish Guardian, April, 1844).
Besides the mystic egg, there was also another emblem of Easter, the goddes=
s
queen of Babylon, and that was the Rimmon or "pomegranate." With the Rimmon
or "pomegranate" in her hand, she is frequently represented in ancient
medals, and the house of Rimmon, in which the King of Damascus, the Master
of Naaman, the Syrian, worshipped, was in all likelihood a temple of
Astarte, where that goddess with the Rimmon was publicly adored. The
pomegranate is a fruit that is full of seeds; and on that account it has
been supposed that it was employed as an emblem of that vessel in which the
germs of the new creation were preserved, wherewith the world was to be sow=
n
anew with man and with beast, when the desolation of the deluge had passed
away. But upon more searching inquiry, it turns out that the Rimmon or
"pomegranate" had reference to an entirely different thing. Astarte, or
Cybele, was called also Idaia Mater, and the sacred mount in Phrygia, most
famed for the celebration of her mysteries, was named Mount Ida--that is, i=
n
Chaldee, the sacred language of these mysteries, the Mount of Knowledge.
"Idaia Mater," then, signifies "the Mother of Knowledge"--in other words,
our Mother Eve, who first coveted the "knowledge of good and evil," and
actually purchased it at so dire a price to herself and to all her children=
.
Astarte, as can be abundantly shown, was worshipped not only as an
incarnation of the Spirit of God, but also of the mother of mankind. (see
note below) When, therefore, the mother of the gods, and the mother of
knowledge, was represented with the fruit of the pomegranate in her extende=
d
hand, inviting those who ascended the sacred mount to initiation in her
mysteries, can there be a doubt what that fruit was intended to signify?
Evidently, it must accord with her assumed character; it must be the fruit
of the "Tree of Knowledge"--the fruit of that very=20
"Tree, whose mortal taste.=20
Brought death into the world, and all our woe."=20
The knowledge to which the votaries of the Idaean goddess were admitted, wa=
s
precisely of the same kind as that which Eve derived from the eating of the
forbidden fruit, the practical knowledge of all that was morally evil and
base. Yet to Astarte, in this character, men were taught to look at their
grand benefactress, as gaining for them knowledge, and blessings connected
with that knowledge, which otherwise they might in vain have sought from
Him, who is the Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good and
perfect gift. Popery inspires the same feeling in regard to the Romish quee=
n
of heaven, and leads its devotees to view the sin of Eve in much the same
light as that in which Paganism regarded it. In the Canon of the Mass, the
most solemn service in the Romish Missal, the following expression occurs,
where the sin of our first parent is apostrophised: "Oh blessed fault, whic=
h
didst procure such a Redeemer!" The idea contained in these words is purely
Pagan. They just amount to this: "Thanks be to Eve, to whose sin we are
indebted for the glorious Saviour." It is true the idea contained in them i=
s
found in the same words in the writings of Augustine; but it is an idea
utterly opposed to the spirit of the Gospel, which only makes sin the more
exceeding sinful, from the consideration that it needed such a ransom to
deliver from its awful curse. Augustine had imbibed many Pagan sentiments,
and never got entirely delivered from them.=20
As Rome cherishes the same feelings as Paganism did, so it has adopted also
the very same symbols, so far as it has the opportunity. In this country,
and most of the countries of Europe, no pomegranates grow; and yet, even
here, the superstition of the Rimmon must, as far as possible, be kept up.
Instead of the pomegranate, therefore, the orange is employed; and so the
Papists of Scotland join oranges with their eggs at Easter; and so also,
when Bishop Gillis of Edinburgh went through the vain-glorious ceremony of
washing the feet of twelve ragged Irishmen a few years ago at Easter, he
concluded by presenting each of them with two eggs and an orange.=20
Now, this use of the orange as the representative of the fruit of Eden's
"dread probationary tree," be it observed, is no modern invention; it goes
back to the distant times of classic antiquity. The gardens of the
Hesperides in the West, are admitted by all who have studied the subject,
just to have been the counterpart of the paradise of Eden in the East. The
description of the sacred gardens, as situated in the Isles of the Atlantic=
,
over against the coast of Africa, shows that their legendary site exactly
agrees with the Cape Verd or Canary Isles, or some of that group; and, of
course, that the "golden fruit" on the sacred tree, so jealously guarded,
was none other than the orange. Now, let the reader mark well: According to
the classic Pagan story, there was no serpent in that garden of delight in
the "islands of the blest," to TEMPT mankind to violate their duty to their
great benefactor, by eating of the sacred tree which he had reserved as the
test of their allegiance. No; on the contrary, it was the Serpent, the
symbol of the Devil, the Principle of evil, the Enemy of man, that
prohibited them from eating the precious fruit--that strictly watched
it--that would not allow it to be touched. Hercules, one form of the Pagan
Messiah--not the primitive, but the Grecian Hercules--pitying man's unhappy
state, slew or subdued the serpent, the envious being that grudged mankind
the use of that which was so necessary to make them at once perfectly happy
and wise, and bestowed upon them what otherwise would have been hopelessly
beyond their reach. Here, then, God and the devil are exactly made to chang=
e
places. Jehovah, who prohibited man from eating of the tree of knowledge, i=
s
symbolised by the serpent, and held up as an ungenerous and malignant being=
,
while he who emancipated man from Jehovah's yoke, and gave him of the fruit
of the forbidden tree--in other words, Satan under the name of Hercules--is
celebrated as the good and gracious Deliverer of the human race. What a
mystery of iniquity is here! Now all this is wrapped up in the sacred orang=
e
of Easter.=20
____________________________________________________________________
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========
To: <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [bprlist] Easter / Lent Articles--Another explanation
From: "Susan
Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2001 09:57:50 -0900
Dear Shophar,
Information like this post on the traditions of Easter causes me to shake my
spiritual fist at Our Father and say, "Holy God who created heaven and
earth, how can you let your Holy festivals be associated with such pagan
concepts and perversions? Have you no power to veto the evil in this
world?" Since I was still breathing and not struck dead with such a comment
to the Creator, I listened and saw another explanation. There is a spiritual
reality that is the Resurrection story. The elements are of God's heart and
authorship. The pagan traditions cannot created anything original, but can
only pervert this reality.
Years ago I participated in an all night outdoor drama of the life of Christ
in Oklahoma. The same cast and props were used for the Christmas story in
the evening and finally the Resurrection at dawn on Easter Sunday. The
story of Christmas is the one of birth of God's Son. This story has a
virgin conception and birth. The cast includes angels, shepherds, a Mary, a
Joseph, a wooden manger made of wood nailed together, a starry night, wicked
rulers, a donkey, a cave. With very little change we had all the elements
needed to play the Resurrection story. At the Resurrection, we have another
Joseph with a virgin tomb. We have another Mary as the first to see the new
life. We have a Shepherd's lamb and angels, a wicked government, a donkey
ride, stars out in the day with an eclipse of the sun, a rising star (Christ
Himself), a trip, a wooden cross like the crossed wood of the manger, a
garment, a mother, the shedding of innocent blood by an evil ruler, a gift
of spices, a time of labor or a great earthquake, and a glorious appearance
of Our Savior from a dark place of gestation.
Therefore at the Resurrection, we have another type of conception.
Fertility not as the perverted pagan sees, but a pure and holy reality of
truth. The earth is as a female element and from space it even appears as
the ovum-a spherical egg. God created the egg earth with a cycle and a
time preappointed to be ready for the Seed. This was at the time of the
entombment of the Body of Christ, who is the Word of God and the incarnation
of the Testimony of Our God and Our Father. The earth received
fertilization and perhaps at a gestational time of 40 hours*, gave 'birth'
to the Resurrected Christ.
Was not the 'Word' of Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John implanted in the earth
(a type of egg), did it rest there 40 hours* before rising to life outside
and was there but one season for all this to occur? Perhaps Easter is a
type of estrus of the whole earth. Christ as that Seed the only one worthy
and chosen, who willingly gave up his covering in heaven for one on earth.
How similar the Easter story becomes to the Christmas story. Both Mary are
accused of immorality and labeled defiled. The presence of Jesus' body was
potentially a matter of public disgrace to both Joseph's. Joseph of
Arimathaia realized that his tomb in which none had been placed would be
defiled in the world's view if a man that had been executed was placed
there. The spirit in the world cannot stand the Word in the flesh (earth).
So we need to rejoice at Easter, the estrus of the earth! Our Creator has
caused the pagan to recognized and celebrate this truth even in their
perversions with fertility symbols of eggs and rabbits; even as He has
caused them the adorn the world at Christmas with lights and songs of joy
even in their unbelief. If the world doesn't rejoice at the appearance of
the Savior even the stones (people dead as a rock to God's Word) will cry
out in praise. Our God is not powerless to restrain evil in the world or in
His church. We just have not seen the reality clouded by all the
perversions. Susan Kanen
*Human gestation is 40X7 or 280 days. For more information on the number 40
connection to gestation see: "Number Patterns in Scripture" at
http://philologos.org/bpr/files/Misc_Studies/ms028.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: Shophar_Sho_Good
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 9:50 AM
To: bprlist bprlist
Subject: [bprlist] Easter / Lent Articles
Four sections laying out some viewpoints on Lent and
Easter...Shophar_Sho_Good
*********************************************************
Easter
http://www.6001.com/satanic.htm
The English word Easter is derived from the names "Eostre" - "Eastre" -
"Astarte" or Ashtaroth. Astarte was introduced into the British Isles by the
Druids and is just another name for Beltis or Ishtar of the Chaldeans and
Babylonians.
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========
To: messynews@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Arafat's 'SOS'
From: Stafford's Mail <simmonds@freeuk.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 18:01:12 GMT
Shalom dear friends
War preparations are notched up - the signs are clearer than ever. The
following from DebkaFile sets the scene. Draw close to Him in prayer.
Blessings Stafford
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D
Arafat Directs Coded SOS to Saddam=20
March 9: Behind the polite diplomatic messages traded this week by
Israel=92s new prime minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat, voicing hopes for the resumption of peace talks, war
preparations were brewing. Israel=92s deputy chief of staff told a TV
audience Thursday night that the Palestinian man in the street has
been driven off the street by Fatah, Tanzim, Force 17 presidential
guard and =93preventive security=94 gunmen, all of them involved in daily
terrorist attacks.=20
A senior Israeli military source revealed that Arafat felt safe enough
in Ramallah last week, under the tight protective measures enforced in
honor of the visit of US secretary of state Colin Powell, to call a
secret conclave of his security service chiefs. In a 20-minute
peroration, he urged them to go full steam ahead with their combat and
terror operations. Thursday night, March 8, Arafat responded to the
latest Israel military actions against Palestinian territory by
calling on Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein to come to the Palestinians=92 aid.
Israel, he said, was preventing the delivery of Iraqi financial and
medicines to the needy in the West Bank and they were still held up in
Jordan. It was time, he said, to dispatch the 6.5 million combat
volunteers waiting in Iraq to join the Palestinian Jihad against
Israel.=20
Israel=92s defense policy-makers, puzzled by the Palestinian leader=92s
unresponsiveness to this week=92s Israel military measures (See separate
item below), wonder what is coming next.=20
DEBKAfile =92s intelligence sources report that the phrase =936.5 million
combat volunteers=94 is in fact a coded SOS message, agreed between
Saddam and Arafat=92s foreign minister Farouk Kadumi in Baghdad last
year, for use by Arafat in a situation of dire distress =96 an Arabic
=93Mayday=94. The Iraqi ruler promised at the time that he would respond
to this call. The form and timing of this response will clearly depend
on what suits Saddam. For Arafat the time is propitious for any action
that will result in a large number of casualties on the Israeli and
Palestinian sides alike, in advance of the Arab Summit in Amman on
March 27. For him, therefore, there is therefore no time like the
present for Iraqi military intervention in the conflict.=20
With this consideration in mind, the Israeli army is on its toes ready
for any Iraqi military move. The Intifada leadership moreover declared
Friday a Day of Rage against Ariel Sharon. Fresh intelligence sent
Israeli security forces on the highest alert in the central Israel
towns of Tel Aviv and its satellites and heavy army reinforcements
speeding to Tel Aviv, Holon, Bat Yam, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Kiryat Uno
and Petach Tikva.
Thursday, when the national unity government was but two days old,
foreign minister Shimon Peres was already pushing his avowedly dovish
line; he deliberately leaked to the press the advice he gave Sharon in
the facing of the escalating confrontation with the Palestinians. What
he said was: You don=92t put a fire out with fire.=20
_____________________________________=20
Arafat's Puzzling Non-resistance to IDF Operations=20
March 8: DEBKAfile
US president George W. Bush's congratulations and invitation to Ariel
Sharon to visit the White House on March 20 was almost certainly the
first call he received after being sworn as prime minister. The order
of business at that meeting will almost certainly be colored by events
unfolding since Sunday, March 4, until then.
Domestic media have made little of this week's select IDF advances into
Palestinian Areas - in military parlance "preparing springboards in case
of a wholesale escalation" or "improving tank positions". What is
happening is that the West Bank and Gaza Strip are being carved up into
encircled Palestinian pockets.=20
The two objectives of this tactic are, one, to curtail Palestinian
military movements between points and stifle arms smuggling from outside
sources, like the secret arms flow from Egyptian Sinai into the Gaza
Strip; two, to fence off West Bank Palestinians from each other and from
Israeli Arabs across the Green Line. This was done on Wednesday, March
7, when 65,000 villagers and Bir Zeit were cut off from Ramallah.=20
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces ran a barrier from Rafah in the East
to the Mediterranean coast in the west, while the southern districts of
Rafah and Khan Yunis were sectioned off from the Egyptian frontier.
In the interim, Palestinian gunfire against the Katif settlement bloc in
the Gaza Strip has died down for the first time in five months of almost
incessant shooting - though not of its own accord; armored Israeli
bulldozers knocked down Palestinian firing positions and replaced them
with tanks. The shooting level is also radically reduced in the West
Bank since Jericho, Jenin, Tulkarm, Bir Zeit and a number of villages
around Ramallah were encircled and separated from each other. This
process will continue, with the IDF throwing barriers around Palestinian
towns and large groups of villages, entering A Areas for this purpose.=20
Sharon and his team may have no more than 12 days to complete the
operation, before he faces the US President in the Oval Office.
Since Israeli forces finished digging a deep trench round Jericho over
last weekend, Israel has been braced for a Palestinian response. To
prepare against a major terrorist strike, security forces in Israeli
cities and along the borders have been heavily beefed up. Some of
Israel's new decision makers in defense suggest that Arafat, whose forte
is diplomacy, may be holding off until closer to the Arab summit in
Amman on March 27, when a crushing response will have maximum impact on
the Arab world. Until then he hopes Israel will relax its guard. A
second opinion is that the blow will come from Saddam and a third that
Arafat's hands are too full with internal disputes in his security
administration to stand up to Israeli military initiatives.
The White House invitation noted the long and continuous strategic
relations between the two countries. This is not just a phrase.=20
DEBKAfile's American sources say it is the direct outcome of Secretary
of state Colin Powell's failure in his Middle East swing last month to
muster a coalition of Arab rulers prepared to back Bush administration
policy versus Saddam Hussein, or to fathom Syrian president Beshar
Assad's intentions. (See separate item on this page). The general view
in Washington is that Assad intends taking the lead of the radical bloc
of Arab nations at the forthcoming Arab summit in Amman. The timing of
the Bush invitation to Sharon, one week before that summit, signals that
the US president expects little aside from extremist anti-US and
anti-Israel resolutions and is preparing his options for that
contingency. For that reason, how Sharon comports himself in the next
12 days and any other occurrence, such as terrorist strikes or outside
Arab intervention in the Palestinian-Israel conflict, are of the
greatest significance.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Stafford's Mail <staffordsimmonds@ntlworld.com>
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========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [bprlist] Arafat's 'SOS'
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2001 18:24:57 -0500
Please be advised that for the last couple of weeks I have been reading=20
conflicting reports regarding whether DEBKAfile is to be considered a relia=
ble=20
source. They have been making statements that cannot/have not been=20
confirmed by other sources.--Moza
> Arafat Directs Coded SOS to Saddam=20
>=20
> March 9: Behind the polite diplomatic messages traded this week by
> Israel=92s new prime minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser
> Arafat, voicing hopes for the resumption of peace talks, war
> preparations were brewing. Israel=92s deputy chief of staff told a TV
> audience Thursday night that the Palestinian man in the street has
> been driven off the street by Fatah, Tanzim, Force 17 presidential
> guard and =93preventive security=94 gunmen, all of them involved in daily
> terrorist attacks.=20
>=20
> A senior Israeli military source revealed that Arafat felt safe enough
> in Ramallah last week, under the tight protective measures enforced in
> honor of the visit of US secretary of state Colin Powell, to call a
> secret conclave of his security service chiefs. In a 20-minute
> peroration, he urged them to go full steam ahead with their combat and
> terror operations. Thursday night, March 8, Arafat responded to the
> latest Israel military actions against Palestinian territory by
> calling on Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein to come to the Palestinians=92 aid.
> Israel, he said, was preventing the delivery of Iraqi financial and
> medicines to the needy in the West Bank and they were still held up in
> Jordan. It was time, he said, to dispatch the 6.5 million combat
> volunteers waiting in Iraq to join the Palestinian Jihad against
> Israel.=20
>=20
> Israel=92s defense policy-makers, puzzled by the Palestinian leader=92s
> unresponsiveness to this week=92s Israel military measures (See separate
> item below), wonder what is coming next.=20
>=20
> DEBKAfile =92s intelligence sources report that the phrase =936.5 million
> combat volunteers=94 is in fact a coded SOS message, agreed between
> Saddam and Arafat=92s foreign minister Farouk Kadumi in Baghdad last
> year, for use by Arafat in a situation of dire distress =96 an Arabic
> =93Mayday=94. The Iraqi ruler promised at the time that he would respond
> to this call. The form and timing of this response will clearly depend
> on what suits Saddam. For Arafat the time is propitious for any action
> that will result in a large number of casualties on the Israeli and
> Palestinian sides alike, in advance of the Arab Summit in Amman on
> March 27. For him, therefore, there is therefore no time like the
> present for Iraqi military intervention in the conflict.=20
>=20
> With this consideration in mind, the Israeli army is on its toes ready
> for any Iraqi military move. The Intifada leadership moreover declared
> Friday a Day of Rage against Ariel Sharon. Fresh intelligence sent
> Israeli security forces on the highest alert in the central Israel
> towns of Tel Aviv and its satellites and heavy army reinforcements
> speeding to Tel Aviv, Holon, Bat Yam, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Kiryat Uno
> and Petach Tikva.
>=20
> Thursday, when the national unity government was but two days old,
> foreign minister Shimon Peres was already pushing his avowedly dovish
> line; he deliberately leaked to the press the advice he gave Sharon in
> the facing of the escalating confrontation with the Palestinians. What
> he said was: You don=92t put a fire out with fire.=20
> _____________________________________=20
> Arafat's Puzzling Non-resistance to IDF Operations=20
> March 8: DEBKAfile
>=20
> US president George W. Bush's congratulations and invitation to Ariel
> Sharon to visit the White House on March 20 was almost certainly the
> first call he received after being sworn as prime minister. The order
> of business at that meeting will almost certainly be colored by events
> unfolding since Sunday, March 4, until then.
>=20
> Domestic media have made little of this week's select IDF advances into
> Palestinian Areas - in military parlance "preparing springboards in case
> of a wholesale escalation" or "improving tank positions". What is
> happening is that the West Bank and Gaza Strip are being carved up into
> encircled Palestinian pockets.=20
>=20
> The two objectives of this tactic are, one, to curtail Palestinian
> military movements between points and stifle arms smuggling from outside
> sources, like the secret arms flow from Egyptian Sinai into the Gaza
> Strip; two, to fence off West Bank Palestinians from each other and from
> Israeli Arabs across the Green Line. This was done on Wednesday, March
> 7, when 65,000 villagers and Bir Zeit were cut off from Ramallah.=20
> In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces ran a barrier from Rafah in the East
> to the Mediterranean coast in the west, while the southern districts of
> Rafah and Khan Yunis were sectioned off from the Egyptian frontier.
>=20
> In the interim, Palestinian gunfire against the Katif settlement bloc in
> the Gaza Strip has died down for the first time in five months of almost
> incessant shooting - though not of its own accord; armored Israeli
> bulldozers knocked down Palestinian firing positions and replaced them
> with tanks. The shooting level is also radically reduced in the West
> Bank since Jericho, Jenin, Tulkarm, Bir Zeit and a number of villages
> around Ramallah were encircled and separated from each other. This
> process will continue, with the IDF throwing barriers around Palestinian
> towns and large groups of villages, entering A Areas for this purpose.=20
> Sharon and his team may have no more than 12 days to complete the
> operation, before he faces the US President in the Oval Office.
>=20
> Since Israeli forces finished digging a deep trench round Jericho over
> last weekend, Israel has been braced for a Palestinian response. To
> prepare against a major terrorist strike, security forces in Israeli
> cities and along the borders have been heavily beefed up. Some of
> Israel's new decision makers in defense suggest that Arafat, whose forte
> is diplomacy, may be holding off until closer to the Arab summit in
> Amman on March 27, when a crushing response will have maximum impact on
> the Arab world. Until then he hopes Israel will relax its guard. A
> second opinion is that the blow will come from Saddam and a third that
> Arafat's hands are too full with internal disputes in his security
> administration to stand up to Israeli military initiatives.
>=20
> The White House invitation noted the long and continuous strategic
> relations between the two countries. This is not just a phrase.=20
> DEBKAfile's American sources say it is the direct outcome of Secretary
> of state Colin Powell's failure in his Middle East swing last month to
> muster a coalition of Arab rulers prepared to back Bush administration
> policy versus Saddam Hussein, or to fathom Syrian president Beshar
> Assad's intentions. (See separate item on this page). The general view
> in Washington is that Assad intends taking the lead of the radical bloc
> of Arab nations at the forthcoming Arab summit in Amman. The timing of
> the Bush invitation to Sharon, one week before that summit, signals that
> the US president expects little aside from extremist anti-US and
> anti-Israel resolutions and is preparing his options for that
> contingency. For that reason, how Sharon comports himself in the next
> 12 days and any other occurrence, such as terrorist strikes or outside
> Arab intervention in the Palestinian-Israel conflict, are of the
> greatest significance.
>=20
>=20
> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
> Stafford's Mail <staffordsimmonds@ntlworld.com>
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> ************************
>=20
> SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
>=20
> To SUBSCRIBE to BPR, send a blank message to:
> bprlist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
>=20
> To UNSUBSCRIBE from BPR, send a blank message to:
> bprlist-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>=20
> Bible Prophecy Research
> URL: http://philologos.org/bpr
>=20=20
>=20
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/=
=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
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Make good on the promise you made at graduation to keep
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=20
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Please be advised that this domain (Philologos.org) does not endorse 100 per cent any link contained herein. This forum is for the dissemination of pertinent information on an end-times biblical theme which includes many disturbing, unethical, immoral, etc. topics and should be viewed with a mature, discerning eye.