Tags
Massacre of Palestinian Children (Gaza), The Birth of Jesus of Nazareth, The Massacre of the Innocents by King Herod (Matthew Chapter Two)
Photo Credit: Wikiart
The continued bombing and starvation of the Innocents, in the land where Jesus the Messiah was born, echo across time and space from that very first Christmas in Bethlehem.
Joseph flees with Mary and Infant into Egypt. The massacre of the Innocents by King Herod.
A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.
Matthew 2: Verse 18, New American Standard Bible (NASB), Updated Edition 2020, by The Lockman Foundation.
Three Worlds One Vision 
Words fail me Rosaliene. I just cannot believe what is happening over there. But it is.
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Words fail me, too, Denzil. As a mother, my heart is heavy with grief ❤
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Oh, my, Rosaliene, what an apt post – and not just there
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Thanks very much, Derrick. Very true. Perhaps we should see them as making visible the plight and suffering of children in war-torn regions worldwide.
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Yes
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No matter which side you find yourself on, it is hard to condone the deaths of innocent bystanders, while warring factions try to eradicate each other. It just breaks the heart. All the best Rosaliene. Allan
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Allan, if only this were the case for those leaders supporting what the UN has declared a genocide. It’s a broken heart that awakened me one night in tears that prompted me to write this post.
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A very timely — and timeless — post, Rosaliene. Yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And, too often, the once-oppressed become the oppressors.
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Sadly true, Dave. Getting meals to these children is a deadly operation as the charity organization World Central Kitchen (of which I’m a monthly donor) has learned. On November 29th, they lost three more workers in an IDF airstrike. Seven other WCK members were targeted earlier in April.
https://wck.org/news/gaza-air-strike-november
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😦
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It’s time to stop the broken record. Thanks for sharing this old poetry, Rosaliene!
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You’re welcome, Mara! Women and children are mere collateral damage in the deadly power games that men play 😦
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What is happening over there is horrible. A spot-on post!
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Thanks very much, Ada.
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Humans never will be at peace with one another. Our nature precludes that.
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Neil, I don’t believe it’s our human nature to seek only violence and separateness. Throughout the ages, this has been the overriding narrative and operating strategy of the minority, dominant male class. As did other prophets and sages before him, Jesus of Nazareth introduced a different narrative of forgiveness, neighborly love, and peace among us. From the moment of his birth, the dominant ruling class were out to eliminate him. They eventually succeeded.
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Hi. I didn’t mean to imply that everyone is violent. That’s hardly the case, clearly. There always have been many peaceful people. But violence has been prevalent throughout human history. In all of human history, I doubt if there has been a single day without one tribe/nation/faction being physically violent with another tribe/nation/faction.
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Neil, this raises the question: Is violence innate or learned behavior? I believe that it’s learned behavior.
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The tragedy of war continues in the Holy Land.
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And I don’t see the war ending anytime soon, Rebecca.
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I’m sad to agree.
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One of those posts that are hard to “like” but important to read. Thank you for sharing, Rosaliene.
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You’re welcome, Michele ❤
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Oh, this is a gut-punch. Thank you for this powerful and eloquent post calling out the ongoing depravity.
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You’re welcome, Tracy. Those involved would prefer that we look away.
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Hence the ban on TikTok which is allowing people to see and learn about Israel’s depravity.
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Tracy, as someone who doesn’t use TikTok, I wasn’t aware of this downside to its ban.
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I’m not on TikTok either. 🙂 But young people are and they’re educating themselves about Palestine and apartheid Israel which makes the genociders very angry. I can’t find it now, but remember seeing a video clip of an Israeli official lamenting the fact they’re losing the information war on TikTok. This ban is directly the result of the power structure wanting to stifle information and activism. The powers-that-be are playing the fear game, but this ban is purely censorship.
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May Truth triumph!
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It is tragic, no doubt. It raises questions about human nature that have never been answered — not in Africa, not in China, not in the Indian subcontinent, not in the historical treatment of the American Indians, not in genocide of Armenians and the Jews.
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Dr. Stein, as I see it, the perpetrators of war and genocide among our species would like us to believe that violence is part of being human.
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You might want to read Erich Fromm’s “The Heart of Man.” In the chapter on narcissism, he raises enough points to make one wonder.
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Thanks for the referral, Dr. Stein.
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The killing of innocent people echoes to the present time, and it hasn’t gotten any easier to bear or to bear witness to.
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It sure hasn’t been easy, Tamara 😦
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Very true.
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I love reading your blog. Viviette
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Thanks very much, Viviette. I’ve made a note about your new email address.
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Christmas symbolizes a fresh start. Let’s all hope for it.
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Thanks for raising that point, Katharine. The commercialization of Christmas has overshadowed its true symbolism.
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Indeed it has. Rebirth is what we need.
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So, so sad. As a mom, I can’t even imagine.
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Ilsa, as mothers, we share in their grief.
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Yes.
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It is deeply saddening that armed conflicts all over the world continue to terrorize, maim, and kill innocent people.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Steve, and for caring ❤
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:o(
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Thanks for caring, Pam ❤
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As you know, Rose, it’s a knee-jerk reaction for some of us, like breathing. 🌹
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So true, Pam ❤
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This is so sad and heartbreaking Rosaliene. 😥💔😞 It’s hard to watch the news report about these horrors and see the images these day! 😭
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It is truly heartbreaking, Kym 😦 It’s the images of the children that haunt my dreams.
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Oh girl, I know exactly what you mean. Those images are hard to ignore and forget for sure! 😥
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This reminds me of the Pharaoh slaughtering innocent babies in every Hebrew household and, years later, all the first borns of Pharaoh’s nation perished. So even now, God who knows what lies ahead and has His ways that we don’t understand, is watching!
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Zet Ar, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Though we may not live to see the outcome, we should not forget that all of our actions have consequences, whether for good or evil.
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Thank you for making this connection so clear, so real. The human species is sadly stuck in a mire of violence and greed. Our evolution is way overdue, and I don’t understand why some humans are so slow, so blind. God help us wake up and move forward, help humans to cherish all children and all life.
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You’re welcome, JoAnna. While the male dominator narrative, built on violence and war, continues to determine humankind’s way of being and doing, our evolution as a species will be stifled.
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I was hoping for growing balance with women gaining power – feminine power, not being like men, but there’s a big fly in the ointment for now, so….
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JoAnna, I live in hope that one day male and female will work together as equal partners to heal our world.
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What a wonderful world that would be.
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It’s so heartbreaking, all the wars around the world. It’s the innocent that end up hurt or dying.
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It is, indeed, Pooja. Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts.
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You’re very welcome.
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This truly breaks me!
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Me, too, Belladona 😦 Thanks for dropping by.
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My daughter and I were in Israel and Bethlehem in 2019. The tension was evident. No one liked anyone other than their own little group. I’m happy to have been able to go then, because who knows if and when the Middle East will be truly at peace.
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Mary, thanks for sharing your own experience. I would not feel safe visiting the country at this time.
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