St John the Almoner, Patriarch then of the great see of Alexandria, in Egypt, 22 January

(Journey in a Broken World)

Article by Marc Aupiais

St John the Almoner, Patriarch then of the great see of Alexandria, in Egypt, 22 January

Becoming bishop, when over fifty years of age, St John immediately separated himself from his predecessor by his actions. He saw himself answerable firstly and with special interest to his masters. When asked whom they were- he referred to the poor. He always had an ear to give justice, and spent Wednesdays and Fridays, traditional days of penance, serving the needs of justice in the community, and always sought, via modesty, but also quite directly to bring his Christian subjects to peace with their fellow Christian and fellow man, and to administer justice.

He is credited with ensuring food and resources got to those in need, even outside his see of authority. He had a special dislike of rash judgment and talebearing- that is, of gossip by which we mean, when we refer to talebearing as a sin. For the bible is very clear that we must reveal the deeds of darkness, in the service of truth. Though it is also clear that doing so without just cause, is sinful even with our own inequities against God and man.

Like a true Bishop, he realized, that all he had done, and his life of self mortification and service, was not adequate for the thanks of his subjects. After all, as a Bishop, he was to even spill his very blood for the sake of the faith of his people, and for their well-being, should he be required. He had yet even to fulfill this task, though none had so persecuted the faith that he should be required to witness to it, so as to risk his very skin for the faith.

That he saw the poor as his great masters, and god as greater is certain, as he snubbed the emperor, whom the governor had taken him to meet, on hearing of his impending death from heaven. He seems to have died of natural causes soon afterwards, in obedience to God.

His warning against gossiping is of great note, his reason, many saints refused to justify their name, even when greatly punished, against many a false accusation.

Israel keeps her word: unilateral ceasefire, which Hamas has vowed to ignore

(Social Justice South Africa; Scripturelink Voters Guide; c.f. (thanks to a dear friend) CBSNEWS (Secular; Independent; American) 17 / Jan / 2009; c.f. BBC World News (Reliable; Secular; British; Government) 18 / Jan 2009; Archive 15 / Jan / 2009)

Article by Marc Aupiais

Israel said it was all about missiles, and considering the more cautious governance, of the ruling political forces, this seemed believable, and appears to be the case. Israel, has declared it would, and seems to have: unilaterally withdrawn offenses on the Gaza Strip, it plans to retain troops for ten more days, however, it will not launch fresh offenses, even as it has vowed that troops will defend themselves if and when Hamas believes it can attack. Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement), which the BBC suspects, could be funded by Iran, along with fellow terrorists: Hezbolla in their suspected funders: has itself, as Hamas, vowed to continue fighting, even as Israel has stopped offenses, resulting in a quite night, after about three weeks of fighting.

Israeli troops, remain, so that they and Egypt, can arrange security, to prevent Hamas from smuggling in weapons, to restart offenses. After the Unilateral Ceasefire, Hamas, which still has the destruction of Israel, which they do not recognize as a state: as their goal: still wanted bloodshed. At least one missile was launched against Israel after the truce went into effect, according to CBS, quoting a source called "Bergers".

1200 Palestinians have died in this conflict, as well as at least ten Israelis. What a child and woman is in this conflict is hard to determine. Being under the age of 18 makes one a child: but in Islamist conflicts, women have been suicide bombers, and perhaps could be militants, and children have become militants.

Facilities, and resources of many humanitarian, or relief groups, have been casualty to air-strikes in this conflict, and the UN is worried about the state of hospitals. Israel was accused of disproportionate force in protecting her borders, but countered that their civilians were being hit.

A probable reason for Israeli speed, and proportions; is that the Bush administration is set to leave soon: even with a proportionate response, it is much less likely, that Israel would get away with defending their borders under the Democrat Obama, who in this issue, said, via advisors: he would not cause two authorities, but who has spoken up on almost everything else. It seemed an odd statement to make. Barak Hussein Obama: voted to euthanise abortion survivors, and wants to get rid of parental consent for abortion. He has not, during the fighting: commented on the deathly situation in the Gaza Strip.

This entire conflict, could probably, have been done, and likely would have been done in a smaller, more civilized manner: if Israel knew it could rely on international support, as it protected its borders. Humanitarian casualties, and the entire situation, would probably have been low key in such a situation, whereby those currently in power in Israel, had previously been extremely soft, even to the point of endangering their political future: on the Gaza Strip situation. They only launched offenses: after a period of daily attacks on civilians.

This is not to justify the offensive; it is however to state what appears to be fact: Israel thought this proportion of force was utterly necessary. Considering stances of those in power in Israel, previous stances before this conflict: should they have believed there was an easier, less collateral spewed manner to protect Israel, they likely would have taken it. Before the counterstrike was launched, Israel, had already given up hope of international solutions. Also, efforts by the international community, as we, and any astute analyst would have predicted, and as we did predict: were not the ones to end this conflict: as we predicted, it was ended purely at the whims of Israel, as would be obvious.

As long as the world shows such blatant bias in judging conflicts, rather than realizing the root cause of these, and realizing who started what: civilian casualties will remain high in situations such as this one. If no-one else will look after Israel, Israel will: the problem is, the manner in which they now can: in that a smaller attack would have had as much backlash, and no attack, would mean allowing terrorism against their innocent civilians.

Blame for collateral damage: must be placed equally on Israel, and on Hamas: and on every biased voice which misrepresented this conflict. Refusal to reason by Hamas, and outright provocation, cannot be ignored. The Hague should be consulted on this issue. From all appearances, it appears as though the Israeli hand seemed almost forced: forced by fear of reprisals when Bush left, and by political pressure, by their own women and children, and rabbits, and dogs, and boys and men: and even an infant: by those facing daily terror attacks: in a war between hateful extremists, and civilians: in which a military chose to intervene.

Before the world says "Never Again", and then forgets they have: one must look at the core of the issue: the reason this tragedy has occurred: lies squarely on the arms of the international community: on the international hatred and bias: so evident (Archive 15 / Jan / 2009) in France recently: which had, when this situation was minor: completely ignored the plight of Israel: so that Israel did, as they always had: and put on a display, which cost, in this case, in a way: 1200 or more or less lives.