Video - Dr. Mordechai Keidar Tells the Arab World the Truth about Jerusalem on Al-Jazeera

Dr. Mordechai Keidar doesn’t need to hold back any punches when speaking with Arabic spokesman. He speaks their language and understands their culture and always goes on the offensive.

His knockout punch of pointing out that most Arabs in the Middle East would move to Israel if Israel would open it’s gates to them is a very powerful argument. Source.

Vatican and Israel criticize UNESCO: no one can deny biblical history.

Vatican and Israel criticize UNESCO: no one can deny biblical history. (AN).

The Vatican has joined the critics of the UNESCO decision to use only the name Arabic name of holy places in East Jerusalem, leaving out their Hebrew version.

The Joint Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel's Delegation for Relations with the Catholic Church and the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews issued a joint statement noting that the UNESCO decision’s denies on political and polemical grounds the relationship between Jews and Temple Mount and the biblical story.

The communique states that it is necessary now more than ever to promote peace at a time when violence is perpetrated in the name of religion. In view of today’s challenges and human tragedies, it goes on to emphasize the importance of religious leaders setting an example for tolerance and respect.

The parties also promised that they would try to persuade more effectively their respective authorities to act in the most tolerant and humane ways towards “others” and the weak.

Pope Francis’s recent remarks to representatives of various religions are particularly appropriate. "May we reject the aimless paths of disagreement and closed-mindedness. May it never happen again that the religions, because of the conduct of some of their followers, convey a distorted message, out of tune with that of mercy. Sadly, not a day passes that we do not hear of acts of violence, conflict, kidnapping, terrorist attacks, killings and destruction. It is horrible that at times, to justify such barbarism, the name of a religion or the name of God himself is invoked.

May there be clear condemnation of these iniquitous attitudes that profane the name of God and sully the religious quest of mankind. May there instead be fostered everywhere the peaceful encounter of believers and genuine religious freedom." (Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to representatives of different religions, Vatican, 3 November 2016).

After more than half a century of Jewish-Catholic reconciliation and fruitful dialogue, Christians and Jews are called to work together to help create peace for the whole human family, fulfilling the words of the psalmist: "Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss” (Psalm 85:11).

The parties also stressed the importance of educating the new generations to promote peace and mutual respect.

'Et tu, Papam' - Vatican to digitalize manuscripts relating to Persian Gulf and other Islamic regions.

'Et Tu Papam' - Vatican to digitalize manuscripts relating to Persian Gulf and other Islamic regions.(DS).

The Vatican has signed an agreement with Qatar to digitalize Vatican manuscripts relating to the Persian Gulf and other Islamic regions.

The agreement was signed Saturday following a private papal audience with Sheika Mozah bint Nasser, the president of the Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The documents are among 8,000 manuscripts in the Vatican Library that are part of a digitalization project.

The Vatican said the sheika met with Pope Francis for 30 minutes, informing him of "the grave situation of schools in the various areas of conflict."

She gave the pope a decorated Arabic manuscript of the Gospels produced in 18th Century Ottoman Turkey, while the pope gave her a medallion depicting the olive tree of peace and an Arabic edition of his encyclical on the environment. Hmmmm.....Rewriting History a favorite pastime of Islamists....'Et Tu Papam'.

Turkish government planning to wipe out Christian Armenian History with government expropriated land?

Turkish government planning to wipe out Christian Armenian History with government expropriated land? (AA).

Turkey has been making drastic decisions in different towns of the majority Kurdish southeast in the past few weeks. On March 21, Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) government hastily passed legislation referred to as “urgent expropriation of the Sur district” of Diyarbakir province. On March 26, the government's Official Gazette announced all the addresses of the properties to be expropriated.

But the Sur situation generated global reactions because of the town's history — so much so that Galip Ensarioglu, a prominent AKP parliamentarian, told the press that the US Embassy had called him asking about the reports. Ensarioglu said the reports amounted to a smear campaign spreading false information about the confiscation process. Others beg to differ.

Indeed, the story of Sur evolves around historic churches and citadels of the town, which are on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Months of fighting with the Kurdistan Workers Party have left the region in ruins, and ambiguous government statements furthered the frustration of civilians who were obliged to leave their homes. One of the concerned groups is Armenian. About 110 years ago, the region’s population distribution shows Sur was an Armenian majority town.

As aerial images of Sur expropriations started circulating on social media, Armenians all around the world became concerned, particularly about one church that was reopened only in 2011.

Soon it became clear that several inalienable religious endowment properties, or waqf, along with the largest Armenian Church, St. Giragos Armenian Apostolic Church, were included on the list.

About 82% of the district is estimated to have been expropriated by the government. Hmmmm.....Rewriting History one of the favorite pass times of Islamists. Read the full story here.

Video - Adriani Relandi's trip to 'Palestine' A.D. 1699 revisited.

ADRIAN RELAND (1676-1718), Dutch Orientalist, Linguist and Cartographer wrote an account of his visit to Palestina in 1696.

His book, Palaestina ex veteribus monumentis illustrata, was published in 1714.

Relandi identifies each of the places mentioned in the Mishnah or Talmud along with their original source. If the source was Jewish, he listed it together with the appropriate sentence in the Bible. he also arranged a population survey and census of each community.

His most prominent conclusions

1. Not one settlement in the Land of Israel has a name that is of Arabic origin. Most of the settlement names originate in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin or Roman languages. In fact, till today, except to Ramlah, not one Arabic settlement has an original Arabic name. 

2. Most of the land was empty, desolate, and the inhabitants few in number and mostly concentrate in the towns Jerusalem, Acco, Tzfat, Jaffa, Tiberius and Gaza. Most of the inhabitants were Jews and the rest Christians. There were few Muslims, mostly nomad Bedouins. 

3. The book totally contradicts any post-modern theory claiming a "Palestinian heritage," or Palestinian nation. The book strengthens the connection, relevance, pertinence, kinship of the Land of Israel to the Jews and the absolute lack of belonging to the Arabs, who robbed the Latin name Palestina and took it as their own.

Sword-waving Muslims are not militarily conquering Europe. Rather, they are being allowed to walk right in.

Sword-waving Muslims are not militarily conquering Europe. Rather, they are being allowed to walk right in. (MEF).PK Media by Raymond Ibrahim.

^{Originally published under the title "Europe's Migrant Crisis Is Simply Muslim History vs. Western Fantasy."}


The world as understood by Islamic nations varies wildly from the Western nations' understanding of the world. Whereas Muslims see the world through the lens of history, the West has jettisoned or rewritten history to suit its ideologies.

This dichotomy of Muslim and Western thinking is evident everywhere. When the Islamic State declared that it will "conquer Rome" and "break its crosses," few in the West realized that those are the verbatim words and goals of Islam's founder and his companions as recorded in Muslim sources — words and goals that prompted over a thousand years of jihad on Europe.

Most recently, the Islamic State released a map of the areas it plans on expanding into over the next five years. Not only are Mideast and Asian regions included, but the map includes European lands: Portugal, Spain, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, parts of Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, Armenia, Georgia, Crete, and Cyprus.


The reason for this is simple. According to Islamic law, once a country has been conquered (or "opened," as the euphemistic Arabic words it), it becomes Islamic in perpetuity.

Because of their historical experiences with Islam, some central and east European nations are aware of Muslim aspirations. Hungary's prime minister even cited his nation's unpleasant past under Islamic rule (in the guise of the Ottoman Empire) as a reason to disallow Muslim refugees from entering. But for more "enlightened" Western nations — that is, for idealistic nations that reject or rewrite history according to their subjective fantasies — Hungary's reasoning is unjust, inhumane, and racist.

Some of the Muslims migrating to Italy vow to do the same today, and Pope Francis acknowledges it — yet he still suggests that "you can take precautions, and put these people to work."


We've seen this sort of thinking before: the U.S. State Department cited a lack of "job opportunities" as reason for the existence of the Islamic State.

Perhaps because the UK, Scandinavia, and North America were never conquered and occupied by the sword of Islam — unlike the southeast European nations that are rejecting Muslim refugees — they feel free to rewrite history according to their subjective ideals. Specifically, they stress that historic Christianity is bad and all other religions and people are good. Indeed, books and courses on the "sins" of Christian Europe from the Crusades to colonialism abound. (Most recently, a book traced the rise of Islamic supremacism in Egypt to the disciplining of a rude Muslim girl by a Christian nun.)

This "new history" claims that Muslims are the historic victims of intolerant Western Christians.

This "new history" – which claims that Muslims are the historic "victims" of "intolerant" Western Christians — has metastasized everywhere, from high school to college and from Hollywood to the news media, institutions which are becoming increasingly harder to distinguish from one another.

When U.S. President Barack Obama condemned medieval Christians as a way to relativize Islamic State atrocities — or at best to claim that religion in general is never the driving force of violence — he was merely being representative of the mainstream way history is taught in the West.

Even good, authoritative books of history contribute to this distorted thinking. While such works may mention "Ottoman expansion" into Europe, the Islamic element is omitted. Turks are portrayed as just another competitive people, out to carve a niche for themselves in Europe with motivations no different than, say, the Austrians, their rivals. That the Ottomans were operating under the distinctly Islamic banner of jihad, just like the Islamic State is today, is never made clear.

Generations of this false history have led the West to think that being suspicious or judgmental of Muslims is unacceptable, and that Muslims need to be accommodated. Perhaps then, they'll like the West. Hmmm..........Just like in the movie 'Highlander' there can be only One [Religion] if they need to use the 'Sword' so be it. Read the full story here.

"Islam's Favorite Pass time Rewriting history" - PA: 'Jerusalem never had a Jewish Temple'.

"Islam's Favorite Pass time Rewriting history" - PMW: PA: Jerusalem never had a Jewish Temple. HT: Palwatch.

Palestinian Authority: Israel is "Judaizing" Jerusalem,

creating a false Jewish history,

and destroying Arab Muslim Palestinian history

PA Deputy Minister:

Palestinians were present in Jerusalem

"centuries before the Jewish religion"

and Israelis "are stealing history and geography"

Official PA TV:

Israeli excavations are "evil projects" to achieve an "evil goal":

"Full control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque

and building the alleged Temple in its place"

"The Judaization octopus devours the [Palestinian] historic sites"

 

[Website of Fatah's Information and Culture Commission, July 13, 2015]

Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Today, on Tisha B'Av, Jews mourn the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem (586 BCE and 70 CE). However, the Palestinian Authority denies that there ever was a Temple, consistently referring to Solomon's Temple as "the alleged Temple." Moreover, the PA also teaches its people that there was never a Jewish history in Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority claims persistently that Israel is "Judaizing" Jerusalem, as Palestinian Media Watch has documented. Israel is said to:

- falsify historical artifacts in order to prove a "false" Jewish history in Jerusalem

- destroy Palestinian and Islamic relics and signs of an Arab presence in the city

- plot to take over and destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to rebuild the "alleged Temple"

 in its stead

The cartoon above published by Fatah captures this Palestinian narrative. Israeli soldiers are shooting their rifles and rolling a Torah scroll over the word "Jerusalem" which is bloodstained. 

[July 13, 2015] Israel is said to be forcing a fake Jewish history on Jerusalem.

Five recent PA TV programs repeated these historical revisions:

1. PA Deputy Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Salwa Hadib recently declared that "the Palestinian people has been present in it [Jerusalem] for thousands of years... centuries before the Jewish religion." She also claimed that Israelis "are stealing history and geography": 

PA Deputy Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council Salwa Hadib: "Jerusalem is not only a religious city. Jerusalem is civilization. It has been a Canaanite city for thousands of years. The Palestinian people has been present in it for thousands of years, whether it was in Babylon, Assyria or Canaan, they [the Palestinians] gathered in the area before anything else, centuries before the Jewish religion... An Israeli engineer and an archeologist brought Israeli coins - shekels and agoras - and threw them on the ground before the renovation [of the Al-Karmi neighborhood in Jerusalem] in order to prove, after dozens and hundreds of years, that 'we (i.e., the Israelis) were present here.' They are stealing history and geography."

[Official PA TV, May 24, 2015]

Click to view

2. A PA TV host agreed with a researcher of political Islam who stated on PA TV that "the vision of the Zionists" is to "destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque" and "find the Temple." The researcher claimed Israel has not found "even one remnant" that proves the existence of the Temple: 

Political Islam researcher Muhammad Hijazi: "The vision of the Zionists and the extremist settlers for the holy city: They try to take over and divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque. They want to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque while talking about the Temple of Solomon. For 20 years, Israel has been digging under the foundations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. They have conducted tens of thousands of research projects in order to find the Temple of Solomon under the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but they haven't found even one remnant that verifies this. The political goal is to Judaize the entire city of Jerusalem and expel its Palestinian residents..."

PA TV host: "They hope that tomorrow morning the Al-Aqsa Mosque will be destroyed... As you said, they are trying to actually destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque..."

Member of General Secretariat of the Union of Religious Scholars in Syria, Saber Al-Fara: "Not just for 20 years. They have been trying to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque for 60 years!"

[Official PA TV, June 4, 2015]

Click to view

3. Official PA TV recently stated that Israeli excavations are "evil projects" to achieve an "evil goal": "full control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque" and "building of the alleged Temple in its place":

PA TV narrator: "The Jews conquered it [Silwan neighborhood] along with Jerusalem [in 1967]. From then on, there have been plans to Judaize and to erase Arab and Muslim antiquities through tunnel excavations and theft of antiquities, and by fabricating a fake Jewish name, such as the 'City of David.' This is Silwan... Through these evil projects, the Israeli occupation seeks to restore the alleged Kingdom of David and to build his palace there, in order to achieve its evil goal: Full control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque and building the alleged Temple in its place." 

[Official PA TV, May 9, 2015]

Click to view

4. A PA TV program entitled The Citadel of David, strong resolve and pride against the Israeli forgery, claimed that the Israeli Tower of David Museum has become "a Judaizing museum" that tells of "the alleged Temple":

 

Official PA TV narrator: "In 1980, the occupation changed it [David's Citadel] into a Judaizing museum called the 'David Citadel Museum' (i.e., Tower of David Museum), which tells the story of the alleged temple. It displays the Talmudic narrative, remains of rocks - that are claimed to be from the period of the Temple, paintings, exhibits, models, signs, and advanced audio systems - that tell an imaginary Hebrew history, especially the Talmudic details about the alleged temples, the first and second ones."

[Official PA TV, March 14, 2015]

Click to view

5. Yet another PA TV narrator reiterated the libel that Israel is erasing Palestinian landmarks, referring to "the Judaization octopus" which "is spreading [its arms] to devour what is left of the historic sites that left their mark on the city for thousands of years."

PA TV narrator: "The occupation authorities are working incessantly to change the character of occupied Jerusalem. The Judaization octopus is spreading [its arms] to devour what is left of the historic sites that left their mark on the city for thousands of years. One of those sites is the Silwan Spring (i.e., Gihon Spring), which the occupation later turned into Talmudic walking trails..."
PA TV reporter: "We are at the Silwan pool. This is a historic site with definite Arab-Palestinian-Canaanite roots and history."

[Official PA TV, March 11, 2015]

 Click to view

The denial of Jewish history in Jerusalem and rejection of the existence of the Temple by the PA and Fatah - both headed by Mahmoud Abbas - has been documented in depth by Palestinian Media Watch, as has the PA claim of Israeli falsification of artifacts and heritage theft.


The following are longer excerpts of some of the statements denying Jewish history in Jerusalem:

PA TV: Tower of David Museum is "a Judaizing museum" that tells of "the alleged Temple"

Official PA TV program From Jerusalem

Name of TV report: The Citadel of David, strong resolve and pride against the Israeli forgery

Official PA TV narrator: "[David's] Citadel fell into the hands of the occupation in 1967 and extensive excavations began, during which a part of it [the Citadel] was destroyed along with a number of ancient Islamic relics. In 1980, the occupation changed it into a Judaizing museum called the 'David Citadel Museum' (i.e., Tower of David Museum), which tells the story of the alleged temple. It displays the Talmudic narrative, remains of rocks - that are claimed to be from the period of the Temple, paintings, exhibits, models, signs, and advanced audio systems - that tell an imaginary Hebrew history, especially the Talmudic details about the alleged temples, the first and second ones."

[Official PA TV, March 14, 2015]

PA TV narrator: "The occupation authorities are working incessantly to change the character of occupied Jerusalem. The Judaization octopus is spreading [its arms] to devour what is left of the historic sites that left their mark on the city for thousands of years. One of those sites is the Silwan Spring (i.e., Gihon Spring), which the occupation later turned into Talmudic walking trails..."

PA TV reporter: "We are at the Silwan pool. This is a historic site with definite Arab-Palestinian-Canaanite roots and history."

Fakhri Abu Diab, member of the Silwan and Al-Bustan Neighborhood Defense Committee: "5,000 years ago, the Jebusite and Canaanite Arabs came and founded Jerusalem... The Jews understood the history and significance of this historic landmark, and wanted to impose a Biblical-Talmudic-Jewish story on this place, in order to falsify facts and prove that they have a past and a history in this area."

[Official PA TV, March 11, 2015]

Notes: 

The Silwan Spring (Gihon Spring) - A natural water spring, used as a primary water source of ancient Jerusalem. The spring is located in the City of David national park, in the area of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

The Silwan Pool (Shiloah\Siloam Pool) - A pool for water storage, located in the City of David national park, in the area of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. The pool seems to have been dug and first been in use during the First Temple Period (circa 1000 - 586 BCE). The pool was expanded during the Second Temple period (530 BCE - 70 CE) as part of Jerusalem's elaborate water system, but went out of use following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. A Byzantine church and an additional pool were built at the site in the 5th century CE.

The PA term "Arab-Palestinian-Canaanite" is an anachronism. Canaan is a biblical name for the land of Israel dating back to the second millennium BCE. The name "Palestine" was only used much later in the 2nd century CE, after the Romans changed the name of Judea/Israel to "Palaestina" to punish the Jewish nation for their revolt. The Arab conquest of the area only took place in the 7th century CE.

Video - Syrian Professor Abd Al-Salam Rajeh: The Holocaust Is an "Imaginary Issue"

In a May 18 interview on the Lebanese Mayadeen TV channel, Syrian Professor Abd Al-Salam Rajeh said that the Holocaust was an "imaginary issue," used by "Zionist gangs" to gain sympathy from the world. "Where did that figure come from - all the millions who were burned, according to the Holocaust narrative?" said Rajeh.

Following is an excerpt:

Abd Al-Salam Rajeh: With regard to the Holocaust, to this day, the Zionist gangs and the Zionist entity drain [Germany] and insist on apologies and sympathy from the whole world, based on an imaginary issue, as has been proven by research. One of the people who wrote about this is Roger Garaudy, who wrote The Founding Myths of the Zionist Establishment [sic], indicating that the Holocaust was a lie.

Just one small example: [The Jews] say that millions were burned in the Holocaust during the days of Hitler. Based on statistics, Garaudy said in his book that the total number of Jews in Europe at that time did not exceed 450,000. So where did that figure come from – all the millions who were burned, according to the Holocaust narrative?

The Turks entered WW1 with the intention of clearing Anatolia of Christians, they didn't react to an Armenian revolt.

The Turks entered WW1 with the intention of clearing Anatolia of Christians, they didn't react to an Armenian revolt. By Kyle W. Orton.

The controversy over the 1915-17 massacres of Armenian Christians by the Ottoman Empire is whether these acts constitute genocide. Those who say they don’t are not the equivalent of Holocaust-deniers in that while some minimize the figures of the slain, they do not deny that the massacres happened; what they deny is that the massacres reach the legal definition of genocide. Their case is based on three interlinked arguments:

Unlike the Nazi Holocaust when a defenceless population was murdered only for its identity, the Armenians were engaged in a massive armed revolt, and this is why the Ottoman government decided to deport them.

The intent of the Ottomans was not massacre but the removal of the Armenians, who had sided with one foreign invading power (Russia) and who were showing signs of collaborating with another (Britain), from the militarily sensitive areas as Turkey suffered a two-front invasion in early 1915.

While terrible massacres, plus starvation and the cold, took maybe a million lives during the deportations, when the Armenians reached their destinations in Syria and Iraq, which were also part of the Ottoman Empire, they were well-treated and allowed to rebuild their lives, which would not have been the case had the Ottomans intended their destruction.

Taner Akcam’s A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility presents evidence to undermine every one of these arguments.

The Armenian genocide is marked on April 24, the day in 1915 several Armenian notables in Istanbul were arrested. This date fits rather well with the Turkish narrative.


This timeline, however, misses several key events which show that the deportations were not a reactive policy but a key strategic intention of the Ottomans in entering the Great War—and Istanbul did deliberately enter the war, despite much myth-making to this day that Turkey was forced into it. 

The CUP sought the restoration of Ottoman glory, a key component of which was the removal of the Christians from Anatolia, and thought this could be had by war.

The cancellation of the Treaty of Yenikoy, signed on February 8, 1914, under Russian pressure, which called for administrative reforms, namely autonomy, for the Ottoman Christians, and called for an international intervention if the reforms were not implemented, was one of the first acts after the Ottoman declaration of war. With the Armenian reform agreement dead, the legal basis for international interference in the Ottoman realm went with it.

Later Istanbul would also cancel the 1878 Berlin Treaty—the other instrument that dealt with the Armenian Question—and also withdrew from the 1856 Paris Treaty, which ended the Crimean War and inducted the Ottoman Empire into the “family of Europe,” the realm where international law applied, and the London Declaration of 1871. The cancellation of these three treaties freed the Ottomans from all international legal restraints on their behaviour and all legal right for other States to intervene in their internal affairs.

The massacres had stopped by the summer of 1917, though the destruction of Armenian property had not.

There is a significant argument over how many Armenians there were in pre-war Turkey—the Armenian Church says 2.1 million; the Turks say 1.3 million. What is known for sure is that 600,000 Armenians were alive after 1918—thus 600,000 to 1.5 million Armenians were killed, with 150,000-to-200,000 of them having survived the deportations. The number of Armenian women and children taken into servitude or converted within Muslim families is impossible to estimate. Hmmmm.....What is clear is 1. It was carefully & Methodically  planned; 2. It were crimes against Humanity, perpetrated by the Ottomans. Read the full story here.

Obama's 'peace partners'....a.k.a. 'Angels of peace' adopt ‘One State Solution’ as Official Policy.

Obama's 'peace partners'....a.k.a. 'Angels of peace' adopt ‘One State Solution’ as Official Policy.(PW).

For PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, the idea of a “greater Palestine” – that would stretch from “the river to the sea” – is now an official policy.

On the occasion of Nakba day - the day Palestinians commemorate "the catastrophe" of the establishment of the State of Israel - Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement reiterated its message that there is no room for Israel in the region.

The movement posted the following text on its Facebook page, showing that the two-state solution is not something Fatah wants realized:

"The marking of the anniversary day of the Nakba in Tubas. From its [Mediterranean] Sea to its [Jordan] River... it is ours. #returning_returning" [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," May 13, 2015]

Another Fatah post presented the same message visually with an image showing a map of "Palestine" that included the PA areas as well as all of Israel with a Palestinian flag flying from it and photos of the Dome of the Rock (image above). The accompanying text presented Jerusalem and the Galilee in Northern Israel as part of "Palestine":

"Good morning, O Palestine,

Good morning to the land of olives and peace, good morning to Jerusalem, good morning O Gaza, good morning O [West] Bank, good morning to the Galilee." [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," May 14, 2015]

Fatah is not the only Palestinian institution presenting all of Israel as part of "Palestine." Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA National Security Forces regularly presents towns, villages and places all over Israel as "Palestine" or "occupied Palestine," as does the PA Presidential Guards.

Mariam Baouardy Saint to be, was nearly murdered by Muslim, only lived three years in Palestine.

Sister Mariam Baouardy Saint to be,  was nearly murdered for refusing a marriage proposal, only lived three years in Palestine. (WIKI).


Mariam Baouardy, O.C.D. (5 January 1846 – 26 August 1878), was a Discalced Carmelite nun of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Born to Greek Catholic parents from Syria and Lebanon,[1] she was a mystic, who experienced the stigmata, and has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.

She was born on 5 January 1846 (the eve of Epiphany) in the village of I'billin, the region of Southern Syria in the Ottoman Empire, now in Israel, to Giries (George) Baouardy and his wife, Mariam Chahine, both of Damascene ancestry.

Baouardy's parents both died from an illness in 1848, only a few days apart. The siblings were then each taken in by relatives on different sides of her family living in different villages, she being taken in by her father's brother who lived in the same village. The brother and sister would never see one another again. She was raised in a loving home in comfortable circumstances. As a child she had a marked spirit of religious fervor, choosing, for example, to fast at the age of five.

When Baouardy was eight, her uncle and his wife moved to Alexandria, Egypt, to improve their situation. Five years later, in 1858 when she was aged 13, in keeping with tradition, she was engaged by her uncle to his wife's brother, who lived in Cairo. The night before the wedding, she had a religious experience in which she felt called not to marry and to offer her life to God. Upon being told this the following morning, her uncle flew into a rage and beat her severely. Despite this, and the subsequent ill treatment she began to experience from her uncle, she stayed firm in her decision.

Nonetheless, Baouardy felt depressed and alone. She wrote her brother, then living in Nazareth, asking him to visit her. The young male servant she asked to deliver the letter drew out of her the cause for her sadness. Upon learning of this, he attempted to woo her for himself, inviting her to convert to Islam. She rejected his proposal, which caused the young man to fly into a rage, in which he drew a knife and cut her throat. He then dumped her body in a nearby alley.

Baouardy then experienced what she was convinced was a miracle. As she related later, a "nun dressed in blue" picked up her body and stitched her wounds, caring for her in some grotto which she could never identify. Her voice was effected for the rest of her life as a result of the cut, which a French doctor later measured as being 10 cm. (nearly 4 inches) wide. After being cared for by this mysterious figure for a month, she recovered enough to leave and find work as a domestic servant in the home of an Arab Christian family in the city. She would give most of the little money she earned to the poor on the streets.

After a year, Baourardy decided to try to meet her brother and traveled by caravan to Jerusalem. There she felt inspired to make a vow of perpetual virginity at the Holy Sepulchre. She then took a boat in Jaffa with the intention of heading to Acre. Due to poor weather, however, the boat had to stop at Beirut. Taking this as a sign from God, she disembarked and found work as a maid. After working there she suddenly became blind, a condition that lasted for 40 days, just as suddenly recovering her vision. Not long after that, she had a serious fall which seemed to leave her for dead. Her employer cared for her for a month until she revived, completely healed.

In May 1863 a generous patron made it possible for Baouardy to move to Marseille, France, where she became the cook for an Arab family. While there, she felt called to enter a religious order. Rejected by the first groups to which she sought admission, in May 1865 she was accepted as a postulant by the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, who had communities in the Holy Land and already had several Palestinian candidates. It was at this point that she received the stigmata of Christ.

During the last month of this period of candidacy, the Mistress of novices, who had drawn Baouardy's life story from her, was replaced by Mother Veronica of the Passion. After two years as a postulant, Baouardy was up for a vote by the community regarding her admission to the congregation. To her shock and dismay, she was rejected by the Sisters who were charged with making the decision.

At that point, Mother Veronica had just received permission to transfer to the Discalced Carmelite monastery at Pau to prepare for her forming a new congregation of Religious Sisters serving in India, the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel. She invited Baouardy to go with her, writing to the prioress of that community and recommending that they accept the young Arab woman. The prioress accepted Mother Veronica's advice and, in June 1867, both women went together to Puy, where they received the Carmelite religious habit and Baourdy was given the religious name of Mary of Jesus Crucified.

In 1870, Mariam went with the first group of Carmelite Apostolic Sisters to Mangalore, India. She served there for two years before returning to Pau. It was there she made her profession of solemn vows as a member of the Order. After returning to Pau for three years before returning to help found the first in Palestine. In September 1875 she helped to found a new monastery in Bethlehem, the first of the Order in that region, where she lived until her death. During her whole life, she experienced periods or religious ecstasy frequently throughout the day.

In April 1878 Mariam played an important role in the identification of the Biblical Emmaus thanks to a private revelation. She died on 26 August 1878 in Bethlehem, from a cancer which had developed in her bones as a result of the fall she had while working in the monastery, which led to gangrene that spread to her lungs.Hmmm......So The 'Palestinian' Saint lived THREE years in Palestine.

'Islamist' Turkey - Unique Byzantium 12Th century Hagia Sophia church in Enez to be 'renovated' in to mosque.

As Pres Obama would say 'You (Turks) did not build that!'

'Islamist' Turkey - 12Th century Hagia Sophia church in Enez to be 'renovated' in to mosque. (HD).

A ruined Hagia Sophia dating back to the 12th century in the western border province of Edirne will be renovated as a mosque, despite former statements made about the possibility of restoring it as a museum.

Following the conversion of two Hagia Sophia into museums, which were initially built as churches and then turned into mosques and, subsequently, museums, the third Hagia Sophia in Edirne’s Enez district will be reconverted into a mosque, according to Foundations General Director Adnan Ertem, despite previous debates on turning it into a museum after reconstruction.

Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, Ertem said the Edirne Culture Assets Protection Regional Board approved the reconstruction project of the structure, which he called a “mosque” during the interview.

Ertem said the project would start as soon as possible, adding that the Hagia Sophia has been taken into the Foundations General Directorate’s investment program.

Explaining why it should be re-opened as a mosque, Erdem said the building was a “sanctuary that was consecrated as a mosque.”

“It is a foundation that can be put into service in line with its foundational charter. Thus its function will be preserved,” said Ertem.


Enez’s Hagia Sophia is located inside the ancient city of Ainos and although there are no records, it is thought to date back to the 12th century. It is located along the border with Greece and stationed on top of a hill seen from all around.

The district governor of Enez, Fatih Baysal, said in 2012 the usage of the structure as a mosque or not was a matter to be decided after the renovation.

“But even if it is used as a museum or a mosque, this place really needs to be [opened],” said Baysal.

Enez Mayor Abdullah Bostancı said the structure would have similar properties to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

The main Hagia Sophia, which has been a museum since 1935, was built in the fourth century and converted into a mosque, when Mehmet the Conqueror took Istanbul in 1453.

Hagia Sophia of Enez

In Enez, on the Gulf of Saros near the Greek border, there are the ruins of the sea facing, sixth century Hagia Sophia church, which was used as a mosque until the mid-1960s. Although the exact construction date of the Hagia Sophia of Enez, also known as Fatih Mosque, is unknown, it is considered to be representative of mid-Byzantine architecture styles.

The church, which was converted into a mosque after the 1456 capture of Enez by Sultan Mehmet II is located at the highest point of the Enez castle. The Hagia Sophia of Enez also offers a great view of Enez Lakes, Maritsa River and Marmara Sea. Hmmmm....The 'Islamist' leadership of Turkey thinks we are idiots, it's pretty obvious the real 'target' is the Istanbul Haga Sophia.

More on this unique Byzantium 12Th century church can be read here. (See Below).

Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi Joins US MB Supporting 'Islamist' Turkey On 100 Y. Armenian Genocide.

Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi Joins US MB Supporting 'Islamist' Turkey On 100th Anniversary Of Armenian Genocide. (GMBR).

Turkish media is reporting that Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi has joined the US Muslim Brotherhood in declaring his support for Turkey on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Turks during World War I. According a Daily Sabah report:

April 28, 2015 Prominent Muslim scholar Youssef al-Qaradawi has declared support for Turkey against “vicious claims” related to the events of 1915. 

“There is an increasingly vicious campaign by some countries to pressure Turkey to take responsibility for the alleged Armenian genocide in 1915,” al-Qaradawi, the Qatar-based chief of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, said in a statement on Monday. 

“Attempts to distort history by exaggerating the number of Armenians killed in the 1915 incidents while downplaying the Ottoman fatalities will not bring Turkey’s supporters to succumb to these campaigns,” he said. 

“History has not forgotten the victims of the Crusades, in which European armies committed the most brutal killings in Jerusalem and the Levant.” Read the rest here.

Hmmm......Qaradawi has a 'history' of covering up the Armenian Genocide and Turkey's role in it. Read the full story here.

Armenian Church launching lawsuit in Turkey to reclaim stolen church/lands.

Armenian Church launching lawsuit in Turkey to reclaim stolen church/lands. (Anca).

WHAT: Press conference announcing lawsuit filed in the Turkish Constitutional Court on April 28th calling for the return of a historical Christian Armenian church and monastery.

WHERE/WHEN:

Wednesday, April 29, 2015, 1:00 pm - Press Conference National Press Club, Lisagor Room 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20045

WHO:

-- Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Eastern United States

-- Payam Akhavan, former UN prosecutor at The Hague and lead international counsel in this case

-- Cem Sofuogleu, Turkish human rights lawyer and local counsel in this case

-- Teny Pirri-Simonian, Senior Advisor to the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia

-- Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America

On Tuesday April 28th, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia filed a lawsuit in the Turkish Constitutional Court to regain ownership of the historic headquarters of the Church, which includes the Catholicosate, the monastery and cathedral of St. Sophia, a major Armenian Christian holy site located in the Sis (currently Kozan), in south-central Turkey.

This site was confiscated by the Turkish Government following the Genocide of 1915 in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported by the Ottoman Empire.

This lawsuit reflects the determination of Armenians worldwide, on the Centenary of the Genocide, to reclaim their sacred religious property and Christian heritage in lands where they lived peacefully for centuries.

The Catholicosate which is the administrative center of the church, was moved from Armenia to Cilicia in the 10th century, and after changing a few locations it was finally established in Sis in the year 1295, where it remained until 1921. Under the Ottoman Empire, the Catholicosate of Cilicia was recognized as an independent church. During the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, the Armenian population of Sis was massacred and deported, and its Christian holy sites were pillaged and confiscated. More here.

In 301 A.D., Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion. Armenians have had a long historical presence in what is present-day Turkey.

According to Payam Akhavan, a former UN prosecutor and lead international counsel in this legal action, the return of the historical Seat of the Catholicosate of Cilicia “is a litmus test for the Turkish Government’s respect for the human rights of its Christian minorities, their freedom of worship in a culture of tolerance and dignity.

This is a unique opportunity to do justice, to help heal the wounds of the past, to move towards Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, a better future for both nations.”

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian noted that "The restoration of the Catholicosate would represent an act of justice, a first step toward the legal return of the Armenian Church and its faithful to their lawful place in their rightful homeland, and a meaningful milestone in the Armenian nation's journey toward a just resolution of the Armenian Genocide."

Russia's Armenian Genocide statement might endanger Turkish Stream.

Russia's Armenian Genocide statement might endanger Turkish Stream. (Taz).

Despite the fact that the Turkish authorities urged for justice regarding the 1915 events, such countries as Russia and France blindly chose to hold Armenia’s side.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, commenting on the visit of President Vladimir Putin to Yerevan, said that “each country makes decisions on its own, and Russia, in turn, made this decision a long time ago.” This justification could have calmed Ankara down, if not for Putin's words that the 1915 events are the so-called Armenian genocide. Ankara expressed serious resentment.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, commenting on the visit of heads of Russia and France to Yerevan in order to participate in activities in connection with the “centennial” of the so-called Armenian genocide, said that this decision casts doubts on the neutrality of the OSCE Minsk Group.

It is impossible not to agree with it, despite the fact that the Russian side said that Putin's visit to Yerevan would not affect relations with Ankara.

"It is quite natural that the president was with other counterparts in Yerevan,” spokesman for the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said. “It is very important to thoroughly examine President Putin’s speech. It is also very important not to forget that at the same time, Turkey is our strategic partner. We have diversified relations. We believe that the prospects for the development of our relations are wide."

This will not affect the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, however one must not forget that there is also the Turkish Stream project which Russia greatly needs.
Turkey has already made a statement that it will reconsider cooperation with a number of countries after April 24 that have lost neutrality on the issue related to the events of 1915.
Of course, along with Europe, Russia is also on the "black list" of Ankara. It is not ruled out that after President Putin’s visit to Yerevan and his statements about the events of 1915, Ankara will reconsider the issue of the Turkish Stream construction.

The issue of implementation of Turkish Stream project causes controversy in Turkey. The main reason is Russia’s demand from Turkey to make additional concessions. Media hasn’t specified what kind of concession it is, but this led to refusal of Turkey’s BOTAS company from signing an agreement on discount for Russian gas delivered to Turkey.

Although the sides were expected to sign the discount agreement in March 2015, Turkey hasn’t signed it so far. Another disputed issue is that Russia has completely isolated Turkey’s BOTAS company from the construction of the Turkish Stream, which doesn’t meet Ankara’s interests.

All these facts suggest that the visit of Russian president to Armenia and his remarks about the “Armenian genocide” first of all put Russia’s energy interests under threat. Turkish authorities will unlikely miss the chance to use this for their purposes.

What the Vatican archives reveal about the Armenian Genocide.

What the Vatican archives reveal about the Armenian Genocide. (VaticanRadio).[GoogleTranslate].

This is probably one of the darkest pages of the twentieth century that the Armenians call Medz Yeghern "Grand Mal", namely the massacres were victims almost a million and a half of their under the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917.

And that's branded with the Armenians commemorate the centenary of Friday these tragic events, which constitute for them a "genocide." A term that Turkey rejects categorically denying any intention of systematic extermination of the Armenians, preferring instead to speak of "civil war".

At the Vatican, a Mass presided by Pope Francis, was celebrated on April 12 in memory of the victims of this "crazy and terrible extermination" ... The Holy See and Pope Benedict XV, at the time, were among alone have taken the measure of current events, and engaged fully on the diplomatic and humanitarian level, in favor of the Armenians, regardless of their religious sensibilities. This is revealed precious Vatican archives, studied and published recently by Father George Ruyssen, Belgian Jesuit , professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.

http://media02.radiovaticana.va/audio/audio2/mp3/00474749.mp3 (French).

Voice recording of Father George Ruyssen.


Record and upload voice >>

What Demonstrate these archives? In What are they exceptional? It is that they clearly show that the Vatican is driven by interests that are not economic and geopolitical interests that were indeed the interests of other powers which also relate the events of the genocide but from another point of view while the Vatican, the Church is essentially driven by an interest, I would say, spiritual and also humanitarian and therefore not by economic, geopolitical or military interests, if you want.

These archives therefore attest that the Holy See was informed about current events at the time and even better, he tried to intervene in favor of the Armenians. In what way?

What happened April 24, 1915? It is a raid, deportation of 300 to 400 Armenians from the capital, so of Constantinople and Istanbul were arrested and deported to the interior of the Ottoman Empire.

Now at that time, the same day, the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Angelo Maria Dolci was informed of these events since two days later, on April 24 (it's a letter of April 27 if I am not mistaken) it sends a report to the Vatican in relating this event, this raid of 300-400 deported Armenians within the Ottoman Empire. Then, gradually, the apostolic delegate comes to collect other information.

It will be informed by the Armenian bishops themselves but also by the Franciscan missionaries, Dominicans and Jesuits who were also present in the Ottoman Empire.

He'll be informed, it will collect reports of these people who are eye witnesses to what is happening today. For example, in Mardin, there occurred this or Trebizond, yesterday there was a deportation. So these people, these monks will write him reports he will know the Vatican. What the Vatican did? Well, the Pope has written twice to the Ottoman Sultan, Mohammed V, who was Sultan at that time to stop the killings, saying, " Well, I am aware of what is happening in the empire and I beg you to stop these killings . " So the first letter of Pope Benedict XV was dated September 10, 1915.

So if I may, I can give a piece of this letter I have here before me

" Majesty, while sorrow for the horrors of the great struggle in which, with the great nations of Europe, is hired the powerful empire of your majesty (the Ottoman Empire) we tear the soul very painful groans echo of an entire people, which in the broad areas of the Ottoman, is subjected to unspeakable suffering arrivals up us. The Armenian nation has seen many of his son sent to their deaths, others many imprisoned or exiled including several clerics and even some bishops. And now it is referred that entire populations of villages and towns are forced to abandon their homes to move in the middle of the Great Plains and suffering in distant places or concentration in addition to moral suffering, they to endure the privations of abject poverty and even tortures of hunger. We believe, Sire, that such excesses take place against the will of the government of your majesty . " There was another letter since the killings will continue.

Following the Pope's letter, the massacres slowdown a little. Things will calm down a little but not much order to stop the killings. The massacres will continue and this is what will result in a second letter of Pope Benedict XV in the same sultan, the sultan Mohammed V, which is dated 12 March 1918.

And there is a letter that, in my opinion, unknown (I do not know her at all), it's a letter that the Pope sent three days before the end of the First World War, that is to say on 8 November 1918, three days before the armistice of 11 November. He sent a letter to President Wilson, the US president when the Pope advocates the independence of Armenia.

The Pope, in a note dated 1 August 1917, refers to this note in his letter. It was a note in favor of peace. Benedict XV intervenes several times during the first World War in favor of peace.

The note of 1 August 1917 mentions various points: the exchange of prisoners of war, etc. But one of the points is the independence of Armenia, is the creation of an independent Armenia. That will be the note of peace from 1 August 1917 will directly inspire the 14 points of President Wilson. He will present after the 1st World War, when the peace conference, the 14 points that are inspired by the note of peace of Pope Benedict XV.

The Holy See has of course worked, you've discussed at length, on the diplomatic front. Is that one can say that he intervened at other levels as well?

On a humanitarian level. The effort of the Holy See is not just a political but also diplomatic effort at the humanitarian level.

Remember that during the First World War, UNICEF, the High Commissioner for Refugees, the international organizations did not exist at the time. During the First World War, what was? The Red Cross and then, the Catholic Church, also Protestants.

The Catholic Church and the Pope is invested in humanitarian terms by sending money to refugees, survivors, orphans. And unfortunately it is a little known point.

By initiative of the apostolic delegate, Archbishop Angelo Maria Dolci (his nickname is the angel of the Armenians), the Pope founded a "Benedict XV" orphanage for Armenian orphans in Constantinople.

And then came those orphans in Italy. And where did they come to Italy? They were housed in the papal palace in Castel Gandolfo. These orphans stayed there about a year. They were hosted by the Pope himself before being transferred to Turin.

A hundred years later, so today, the time is just as tragic. Persecution against Christians are increasingly violent and in several countries: Nigeria, Kenya, Syria, Iraq, etc. The Pope, before these tragedies denounced the indifference of some and even their silence complicit in the atrocities we suffer today.

In your opinion, in what spirit should be approached this centenary in light of what is happening today and what lesson can we and should we draw?

Unfortunately, things are repeated. What we read in the reports sent by the Apostolic Delegate in the reports there a hundred years, one could read today by putting in place of Armenian place names from Nigeria, Kenya, the Syria, Iraq.

Today we can read exactly the same things that happened a hundred years ago. And still, indifference is the same as a hundred years ago. The lesson drawn in, it is this indifference that the Pope, rightly hammered: indifference, apathy powers.

Turkish Nat Def minister: France, UK and Russia ‘responsible for all evil in world’

Turkish Nat Def minister: France, UK and Russia ‘responsible for all evil in world’. (Bugun).

Turkey’s Minister of National Defense İsmet Yılmaz says that it was France, Britain and Russia who armed and provoked the Armenians during World War I and that “these three countries have committed every form of evil against all other nations.”

Criticizing the European Parliament and several countries’ acceptance of the term “genocide” for the mass killings of Armenians in 1915, Defense Minister Yılmaz said, “Since we’re the rightful owners of this state, we never brought up the cruelty, injustice, deportations and massacres that were inflicted on us. And so, as we refrained from voicing our own pain, others started putting their pain before ours.”

Defense Minister Yılmaz said on Saturday that while Turkish men were off fighting in the fronts of World War I, the Great Powers wanted to build an Armenian state on Turkish soil and so armed Armenian rebels, and that their deportation to Syria was a precaution to protect the people of Anatolia.

“If there is anyone responsible [for the events of 1915] it is those who armed the Armenian terrorists: France, Britain and Russia,” he said, “It is these three countries that have committed every form of evil against all other nations.”

He added that those three countries exposed the “Crusader mindset that rested in the back of their minds” and called on the Turkish nations to unite in solidarity and undermine their "plans and calculations." Hmmmm......And the Future heir of the British throne, head of the English Church go's to the event listening how Jesus is just a mere Prophet, Guess the future of the English Church is pretty bleak..... I wonder what Churchill would have said and Done.

Members of Congress Disappointed With Obama's Reluctance to Call 1915 Events Genocide

Members of Congress Disappointed With Obama's cowardliness Reluctance to Call 1915 Events Genocide. (AINA).

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers on Wednesday evening honored lives lost during the Armenian genocide 100 years ago -- and pressed the global community to recognize what happened, urging President Barack Obama to lead on the issue.


"We must speak the truth and not dishonor those who died," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. "We will continue to insist on the truth until it is widely accepted and apologized for."

White House officials this week said Obama would not refer to the 1915 events as genocide, despite the fact that he did call it that when he was a senator.

"Genocide is genocide. That is plain and simple and cannot be called anything else. Just last week Pope Francis, in a historic acknowledgement, tells us that he knows it. He called the events from 100 years ago the first genocide of the century. And he is right," said Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

Armenians accuse Turkey, heirs of the Ottoman Empire, of massacring 1.5 million Armenians in 1915. Other groups, like the Greeks and Assyrians, also say their ancestors died during the genocide.
Turks claim that events in the early 20th century claimed the lives of both Armenians and Turks during the First World War.

In 2008, Barack Obama, then a senator and presidential candidate, said: "The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable."

Lawmakers expressed their frustration with the president's decision.

"They try, but they'll not put us down. I promise you that," said Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida. "Facts are stubborn things."Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California agreed.
"What kind of world power can be cowed into denying [the genocide]?" he said. "Genocide denial is the final act of a genocide. First a people is destroyed, and then the perpetrators try to destroy the memory of the destruction. But genocide denial is also the first step in the next genocide."

A statue in memory of the genocide will be unveiled on Friday in Las Vegas's Sunset Park, according to Nevada Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat.

"I was very disappointed that our own president didn't live up to his promise," she said. Titus referred to the Turkish state as the "enemy."

"We need the facts to be known, that 1.5 million Armenians died, not by accident, but by design," said Rep. Judy Chu, Democrat of California. "We threaten our future on denial, explaining the genocide away, attributing it just to the cost of war makes it easier the next time a people is singled-out or targeted for extinction."

Chu mentioned the unveiling of an Armenian genocide statue last week in Pasadena. The structure, fashioned like a tripod, resembles the structure used by Ottomans to hang Armenians, according to Chu. In a year's time, 1.5 million drops of water, or teardrops, are expected to fall from the top of the structure.

Attendee Simon Shahinian, an intern in Maryland Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen's office, said that Turkey would most likely not recognize the genocide anytime soon.

"[Recognition is] something I really want to see happen," Shahinian said. "And it's frustrating that the U.S. hasn't recognized it."

More than 20 countries and 40 U.S. states recognize the Armenian genocide. Hmmmm........Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. - Abraham Lincoln