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