Likud Party leader and well-known soothsayer Binyamin Netanyahu has predicted that if Israel doesn’t have total control over Jerusalem then al-Qaeda will blow up the Holy Sepulchre, sparking “an escalation of religious conflict” we can’t even envision.
It seems to me that either the once and future Israeli Prime Minister or al-Qaeda is dramatically over-estimating the importance of the Holy Sepulchre to modern Christianity, its claims to being “Christianity’s holiest site” notwithstanding.
1,000 years ago (actually it’ll be 1,000 years ago to the day on October 18) the Fatimid caliph destroyed the previous Sepulchre, and that did indeed spark a series of Crusades (ok… so it look 70 years for the Crusades to get going, but news traveled more slowly in those days). Yet it seems to me that Christianity has matured somewhat since the depths of the dark ages, and as eager as some in the west remain for any excuse to start a major war, I’d like to think the bulk of Christendom really isn’t so hung up on some 11th century building in Jerusalem.
If it would bring peace to the mideast I would happily sacrifice it. Heck, I’d blow it up myself.
I don’t think the fact that Bibi is delusional would stop Israeli intelligence from blowing it up in a false flag operation – to blame on al Qaeda and revive the well-tattered “we’re all Israelis now” meme. Let’s face it: For Likud, a Christian shrine is a very soft, very expendible target. As per Gaza, the Isrealis have never let disastrous miscalculation stop them…
that “we’re all israelis now” stuff worked pretty good after the durban conference in september of 2001, didnt it?
here’s what wikipedia says about 9/11 and the durban human rights conference…
bibi thought 9/11 was such a good deal, so blowing up jesus’ grave might be even better (in view of the stench rising from israel after gaza), once the media worked it over for a couple months.
more discussion here
Jeanne Dixon has been reincarnated!
Hey Bibi, can ya hook me up with some winning lottery numbers? And should I ask out that blond chick at work?
Actually news in those days traveled across continents in a matter of months, not decades.
The Crusades were not a result of a mentally unbalanced leader’s destruction of a holy site, but an outgrowth and expansion of a wealthier and more confident Western Europe that had set aside its internal quarrels (for the most part[1]) and decided to focus it energy and violence outwards.
[1] The Truce of God
At the moment I think we should be skeptical of Netanyahu’s grim prophecies. For one thing, a plot on the part of terrorists to blow up a major holy site would be top secret. How could Netanyahu, a sworn enemy of Islamic terrorists, be privy to this information? If it’s true, why would he so brazenly reveal this to the press, thereby causing alarm and provocation?
Also, just because he predicted an attack on the WTC five years before it happened (it wasn’t an accurate prediction either), doesn’t mean that he’d be right a second time.
If he does in fact have incontrovertible proof that such a plot exists, he should at least be professional and not carelessly blab about it.
I wish someone would shoot this ignorant son of a bitch. He never stops with the b.s.
Hmm. I wonder why Binyamin Nut’n’Yahoo — or any high-level Israeli terrorist, for that matter — would make such a “prediction.”
And wouldn’t that be just the biggest coincidence if LooneyBin Yahoo (thanks Dan Alba) resurrected Irgun just long enough for one last demolition job? Blame to be put on Hamas, of course.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni :
“Her father, Eitan Livni, proudly served as chief operations officer of the Irgun, a right wing Zionist gang that in the post 1945 period sent letter bombs to the British occupying authorities and in 1946 blew up the King David hotel in Jerusalem. Some Jews died in that terrorist act along with others who had no relationship to the issue of an Israeli state. Some British intelligence officials also got blown away.
Livni’s ops dressed up as Arabs. Who would suspect benign Arabs? “People who looked like they might be violent Zionists would have attracted suspicion,†wrote Juan Cole. “Later generations of rightwing Zionists have attempted to convince the rest of the world that the Arab kaffiyah is an icon of terrorism; but their parents were perfectly willing to display it as a sign of innocence (and perhaps with the intention that the Arabs should take the fall).†(http://www.juancole.com/2007/09/tzipi-livni-aboutface-now-against.html)
In 2006, Likudnik and former Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi†Netanyahu commemorated that bombing, also honored by surviving Irgun members. In 1948, Irgun members also participated in what Arabs call a massacre of Palestinian civilians at Deir Yassin. Israeli historians differ as to whether the more than 100 dead, including many old people, were shot or died as a result of the battle. Tzipi has not repudiated her father’s actions…”
http://www.counterpunch.org/landau01302009.html
Like the lavon affair,the attack on the liberty!
The Lavon affair:
“Operation Suzannah and the Lavon Affair turned out to be disastrous for Israel in several ways:
Israel lost significant standing and credibility in its relations with the United Kingdom and the United States that would take years to repair.
The tactics of the operation led to deep-seated suspicion of Israeli intelligence methods, such as agents provocateurs and false flag operations.
The political aftermath caused considerable political turmoil in Israel that affected the influence of its government.
In March 2005, Israel publicly honored the surviving operatives, and President Moshe Katsav presented each with a certificate of appreciation for their efforts on behalf of the state, ending decades of official denial by Israel.[2]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavon_Affair
remember that SAMS report on the mossad?
this appeared in the washington times the day before 9/11.
Predictions from the Amazing Karnak. Why doesn’t he just say Israel will “false flag” it and save some hot air.
I am a Christian and a Sepulchre cannot be holy. Nothing is holy except for God. Bibi is an ignorant idiot on top of being a war criminal.
“Yet it seems to me that Christianity has matured somewhat since the depths of the dark ages…”
When will you?
Otherwise a fine post on an interesting bit of news.
“it seems to me that Christianity has matured somewhat since the depths of the dark ages”
Are you really being serious?
American fundamentalist Protestants would not care much, and they are the ones eager for war in the Middle East. They would prefer a destruction of the Dome of the Rock and of al-Aksa, of course, because it fits in with their future history about a 3rd Jewish Temple, etc.
Catholics and Orthodox Christians would be upset by a destruction of the Sepulchre, but they are not anywhere as belligerent, these days, at US protestants.
Lester Ness
Kunming
China
The Christians who support Israel the strongest are US fundamentalist protestants. They are the Christian Zionists. They hope that a series of Middle East wars will usher in the Rapture, the Second Coming of Jesus. But they would not care about the Sepulchre. They would want to blow up the Dome of the Rock, al-Aksa, because that would fit into their future history about a 3rd Jewish Temple on the site, etc.
Catholics, Orthodox, Armenians dominate the Sepulchre, and would be upset were it destroyed, but they are not Christian Zionists.
Note that the Sepulchre has suffered fires and vandalism a number of times over the centuries, and keeps being re-built. What one sees now dates mostly to the 20th century.
Lester Ness
Kunming
China
Why should Israel even consider dividing Jerusalem? Jerusalem was built by King David over 3,000 years ago, it was built by Jews and has been the most sacred place for Jews for over 3,000 years. I’ll make a deal, I’ll give the Arab Muslims half of Jerusalem if they give the Jews half of Mecca and Medina!
if bibi thought 9/11 was “very good”, maybe he could come up with some scheme to nuke jerusalem… that would be wonderful, wouldnt it?
…it would give you guys a new persecution myth, seeing as how the holocaust is wearing so thin around the edges.
then you could parlay your new persection myth into a project to grab all the oil in the middle east…
just for good measure, you could extend the project to include non-oily but significant places like mecca and medina.
and dont forget that according to perle’s subaltern, “egypt is the prize“.
you gots your work cut out for you, dont you?
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