Desecration of the Church of Nativity

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Re: Desecration of the Church of Nativity

Originally posted by DinoDoc

One priest complained the foreigners had desecrated the church by ......drinking alcohol.

I believe that practice is known as "communion".

Get a grip- the place has been the scene of a siege for weeks. Was anyone expecting the occupants to redecorate while they were at it? I think remarkable sensitivity was displayed by both sides under the circumstances.

Granting sanctuary is an ancient Christian tradition, and Jesus is revered by Muslims. Compare this incident to the destruction of mosques and synagogues and stop bloody moaning.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by DinoDoc


Reporters saw a cupboard filled with food — more than 20 bags of lentils and rice, cans of beans and cooking oil.

Define how much food "a cupboard" contains, and how long it will support a few dozen people. My cupboard will support three people for two weeks.

[The Mad Monk]

True enough, Bugs -- in fact, I was thinking the same thing; however, there is a big difference between the monks saying they were short on food with a stocked cupboard on hand, and making a show of "lemon tree leaf soup" with a stocked cupboard on hand.

[Rogan Josh]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
I am outraged, outraged that Palestinians would treat the birthplace of Christ like it were some kind of a stable.

[The Mad Monk]

Of course, this all started when Sharon treated the Temple Mount as if it were some kind of Jewish Holy Site.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Yes- nice one Zkribbler. That's the biggest laugh I've had all week.

[DinoDoc]

Re: Re: Desecration of the Church of Nativity

Originally posted by Bugs ****ing Bunny
Get a grip- the place has been the scene of a siege for weeks. Was anyone expecting the occupants to redecorate while they were at it? I think remarkable sensitivity was displayed by both sides under the circumstances.

Yes, the bombs were seeded in the most sensetive of areas.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by DinoDoc




I'm amazed that so many people post to a topic that they claim to care so little about one way or the other. Why is that, Z?

Because they like to see their so called wit in print. When their pet causes are shown to be less then pure, they dismiss it by spamming.

Muslims drinking booze. That sounds like people dedicated to a cause alright.

[Bereta_Eder]

actually the state of the church was excellent taking into account that 200 people lived there for so many days.

They haven't descacrated anything and the star of birth has remained intact.

[Bereta_Eder]

the fire in the franchiscan (sp?) quarters was caused by an israeli photovolida (flare?) BTW.

as Arafat said (and he was right about this): when you're contained in a place you usually don't burn it yourself.

[The Mad Monk]

That's true -- just ask the Branch Davidians.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Re: Re: Re: Desecration of the Church of Nativity

Originally posted by DinoDoc


Yes, the bombs were seeded in the most sensetive of areas.

It never ceases to amaze me how posters on this forum consistently fail to demonstrate any inclination to look behind the bare reporting and try to establish what's really going on. A small market town could be powered by the jerking knees on both sides of the argument over the ME issue.

Now watch and be dazzled, because I'm going to attempt to reconstruct the events as dispassionately as I can. To start....what has been established?

1- Fleeing Palestinian gunmen take refuge in Church of nativity.
2- Israeli troops lay siege to the Church.
3- Tense stand-off. A few of the Palestinians (and two civilians) are shot by Israeli snipers during the 39 day siege.
4- Siege ends. Israeli reports state discovery of 40 explosive devices "some of them booby-trapped". The location of the devices was provided by the Christian Priests (source- BBC). The Israeli sources are being coy over the nature of the devices, though I'd assume they're probably not discarded party poppers. The fact that a distinction is drawn between bobby-traps and other devices leads me to suspect that there were a small number of crude booby-traps, plus other items (possibly grenades) that were merely discarded.

First question- why were the bombs planted?

I don't know about anyone else, but I was convinced that the Church would be stormed by the Israelis in view of the baying about the "most wanted" list. Had I been one of the Palestinians, I'd have been convinced that I didn't have long to live. Under those circumstances, would I have made booby-traps? You bet your arse. This is not a game of nicey-touchy-huggy-huggy. It's a war zone. I'd have set booby-traps in an attempt to buy time, if nothing else. Seeing as I'd only brought in very limited supplies, the devices would probably have been small and crude (possibly cobbled together from bullets) but they'd have been enough to make the Israelis wary (and probably missing a hand or two).

Second question- how did the Priests know about them?

The first possiblity- heroic Christian Priests risk life and limb to spy on evil, baby-eating Pal scum, and heroically save gallant, lantern-jawed Israeli soldiers just in the nick of time. I call this "The Jerry Bruckheimer version" and will be appearing in cinemas soon.

The second possibilty- The bombs never existed and were an invention by the evil, Zionist oppressor scum, proved by the fact that the Israelis are refusing to elaborate. I call this "The detached from reality conspiracy theory version" and it will be appearing at DarkConspiracy.com very soon.

The third possibility.- The Palestinians are sharing the church with the Christian Priests. Blowing them up, along with one of the most sacred sites to Muslims, would be a catastrophic PR disaster for them. Even if you don't buy that angle, bear in mind that these guys already have a lot on their plates and probably have no wish to have bombs going off while they are there, risking their lives and be left washing bits of Priest's guts out of their hair. So they tell the Priests "OK- you're safe around most of the church, but don't go near those two cupboards over there or you'll be blown to buggery. If you want anything from them, ask and we'll get them for you.". At the end of the siege, the Pals get a partial PR victory, and the Priests can safely tell the soldiers where to find the bombs.
I call this version "The one I think really happened."

This is not Hollywood. There are no white hats and black hats so that Billy-Bob from Badgerpoke, Idaho knows who to cheer for without being troubled to give the matter any thought. I'm doing my best to view these events from an unbiased point of view, and I wish others would try do do likewise, rather than performing like one of Pavlov's pooches.

So, all told, the "desecration" amounts to a few broken windows, cigarette butts and a lingering smell of wee. Given the circumstances, I think that's nothing short of miraculous. Don't you?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Incidentally, please accept my apologies for re-threadjacking this back on topic. I'm afraid I'm a sucker for an easy target.

[Sarxis]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Desecration of the Church of Nativity

Originally posted by Bugs ****ing Bunny


It never ceases to amaze me how posters on this forum consistently fail to demonstrate any inclination to look behind the bare reporting and try to establish what's really going on.

Apolyton is a form of entertainment for most; not a school for academic thought.

Just like The News.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Sprayber
Muslims drinking booze. That sounds like people dedicated to a cause alright.

Wrongo. The booze was consumed by the "foreigners"; the foreign activists who jumped in, many of whom were Western Christians.