So what do Old Men think about in the Spring? Yes, that, too, but also solving the great mysteries of life.
In fact, there I was, contemplating my navel, and telling The Missus the game plan about searching for the Bermuda Triangle and also the Dragon's Triangle.
Perhaps, it was one of those recent TV shows that tried to explain these mysterious triangles that stretch around the globe that had peaked my interest. But I started to remember that my interest in the triangles had begun shortly after reading and re-reading Charles Berlitz's best-selling book on the subject in 1974. It certainly was standard reading for every fertile brain during that period.
For the younger generation, this highly-popular writer was the grandson of the founder of the famous Berlitz language schools, but in his spare time he delved into some of the great mysteries such as the Bermuda Triangle (aka Devil's Triangle), Atlantis, UFOs and ancient astronauts.
However, Berlitz wasn't the only one to "explore" the area, which covers some 500,000 square miles and is located off the southeastern coast of the U.S. in the Atlantic Ocean and stretches from Bermuda to Miami to San Juan, Puerto Rico. And it is noted for the disappearances of at least 100 planes and more than 1,000 lives.
While Berlitz made the Bermuda Triangle notorious, it first came to the forefront in a February 1964 article in Argosy. In it, the magazine writer, Vincent H. Gaddis, began with these words:
"What is there about this particular slice of the world that has destroyed hundreds of ships and planes without a trace?"
Then Gaddis proceeded to tell about the tanker Marine Sulphur Queen, with her crew of 39, which was headed from Beaumont, Texas to its planned destination of Norfolk, Virginia. No trace of it was found except a life jacket and several bits of debris.
Then there was the case, as Gaddis wrote, of two KC-135 four-engine strato-tanker jets, which took off in clear weather from Homestead AFB, south of Miami, on August 28, 1963, with a crew of 11. Those planes vanished.
Gaddis even described about an internationally famous jockey named Al Snyder, and two of his friends sailing from Miami on March 5, 1948, to go fishing. They were never found.
Of course, the Bermuda Triangle isn't the only area known for such mysterious disappearances since there are about a dozen so-called "vile vortex areas," including something called the Devil's Sea, aka the Dragon's Triangle, or Formosa Triangle. It is located off the coast of Japan in a region of the Pacific around Miyake Island, about 110 miles south of Tokyo.
On a howstuffworks.com website, it reads: "Like the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil's Sea doesn't appear on any official maps, but the name is used by Japanese fishermen."
And so what is the explanation or explanations for such mysterious phenomena?
Some believe the disappearances could be attributed to inexperience of the navigators, either in the air or on the water, and also the areas off Florida and off Japan are known for violent and unexpected storms and weather changes. These vicious storms could include "waterspouts," or a tornado at sea, which could destroy a passing plane or ship. These freak waves have been known to reach 100 feet in height, according to the "Howstuffworks" site.
There are other theories such as concentrated methane gas hydrates, which is believed to be a potential energy source and then's the human element -- pirates, aka drug runners, who have been known to hijack cargo ships, etc.
And then there are far-fetched theories, ranging from aliens in flying saucers to Edgar Cayce's writings concerning the yet "undiscovered" city of Atlantis on something known as the "Bimini Road."
The "theories" also include "electronic fog," which causes compass malfunctions and blue holes and the list goes on and on.
***
BASIC CAYCE DIET: While "the sleeping prophet," Edgar Cayce might be best noted for his Atlantis "visions," he also offered meal planning for "healing and health maintenance." In it, here's a simple outline for a typical day's menu: BREAKFAST -- Either citrus fruit, or cooked or dry cereal ... LUNCH -- Raw vegetable salad with dressing or fruit salad ... DINNER -- Steam vegetables served with fish, poultry or lamb. As far as food preparation -- Steam vegetables in their own juices; never fry foods; use fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruits whenever possible; avoid aluminum cookware ... It sounds like a plan to me.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
It was supposed to be a secret
It was almost as if Garry Moore was standing in the wings and saying: "Whisper your secret to me, and we'll show it to the folks at home." After he said that the TV camera usually panned to the puzzled faces of the panel consisting of Bill Cullen, Henry Morgan, Betsy Palmer and Bess Myerson.
"I've Got A Secret" was one of the most popular shows from an earlier era, however, it was the first thing I thought about when writing today's column about so-called "secrets."
Just in the past few days, the Net has been ripe with a supposed "secret" and that's the Americans will launch a "sneak (aka secret) attack," called Operation Bite, against Iran on Good Friday, April 6th. And now it's no longer a "secret."
Of course, when Webster G. Tarpley, the well-known conspiracy advocate, echoed Russian journalist Andrei Uglanov's writings to the world about the "secret" attack, I had doubts and I was about to toss such information into File 13 when Jim Krane's Associated Press report caught my attention:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The U.S. Navy on Tuesday began its largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by a pair of aircraft carriers and backed by warplanes flying simulated attack maneuvers off the coast of Iran. The maneuvers bring together two strike groups of U.S. warships and more than 100 U.S. warplanes to conduct simulated air warfare in the crowded Gulf shipping lanes.
Of course, the U.S. Navy brass denied the maneuvres were in response to the capture of 15 British sailors, who were seized by Iranian forces in recent days.
However, Tarpley's rewrite on Sunday of Uglanov's piece in the Moscow weekly, Argumenty Nedeli, starts to gain some credibility when combined with Krane's report.
The essence of the initial Moscow report was "the long awaited U.S. military attack on Iran is now on track for the first week of April, specifically for 4 a.m. on April 6, the Good Friday opening of Easter weekend." It's supposed to last for 12 hours, according to Uglanov, from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time and has been code named Operation Bite.
According to Uglanov, about 20 targets -- uranium enrichment facilities, research centres and laboratories -- have been targeted, however, the Bushehr nuclear plant reactor would be spared because Russian engineers are working there.
In addition, according to the Russian journalist, the U.S. attack would be aimed at wiping out the headquarters of the Iranian armed forces; sinking the fleet of Iranian warships in the Gulf as well as "degrading" the Iranian air defense system.
The attack, supposedly, would be carried out from the aircraft carriers (re: Dubai report); from the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and the missile-laden B-52 bombers from the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
While much of Uglanov's report might be pure speculation, it has been reprinted by Russia's well-known news agency, RIA-Novosti, who asked retired Colonel General Leonid Ivashov to confirm its "essential features."
"I have no doubt that there will be an operation, or more precisely a violent action against Iran," Ivashov was quoted as saying.
If such an air attack by the U.S. against Iran does take place on April 6 or on any other date in the near future, it could have grave consequences considering the close military ties between Russia and Iran.
One of those "military" ties could involve a supersonic Russian-built missile, known in the West as the "Sizzler," which may have found a "home" in Iran and could be aimed at the pair of U.S. aircraft carriers now in the Persian Gulf.
In a March 23 article on the Bloomberg.com website, reporter Tony Capaccio stated that the U.S. Navy, "after nearly six years of warnings from Pentagon testers, still lacks a plan," for defending the carriers against such a missile.
Later in Capaccio's article, Capaccio quoted U.S. chief of naval operations, Admiral Michael Mullin, as saying, "(The Sizzler) is very fast and it has maneuvring characteristics that are of concern ..."
Apparently, this Russian-built missile has been "shopped around" at international arms show.
***
WHAT'S NEXT? While Tehran has been fairly silent except to say the British Marines are being treated fairly, there's 'a secret' surrounding their seizure. According to Western intelligence sources and Brian Ross' ABC Investigative Unit it was for "retaliation" after the Americans grabbed five Quds (Jerusalem) Force officers from the Iranian consulate in Irbil, Iraq on Jan. 11 ... Quds force, according to sources, answers to the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.and not Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"I've Got A Secret" was one of the most popular shows from an earlier era, however, it was the first thing I thought about when writing today's column about so-called "secrets."
Just in the past few days, the Net has been ripe with a supposed "secret" and that's the Americans will launch a "sneak (aka secret) attack," called Operation Bite, against Iran on Good Friday, April 6th. And now it's no longer a "secret."
Of course, when Webster G. Tarpley, the well-known conspiracy advocate, echoed Russian journalist Andrei Uglanov's writings to the world about the "secret" attack, I had doubts and I was about to toss such information into File 13 when Jim Krane's Associated Press report caught my attention:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The U.S. Navy on Tuesday began its largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by a pair of aircraft carriers and backed by warplanes flying simulated attack maneuvers off the coast of Iran. The maneuvers bring together two strike groups of U.S. warships and more than 100 U.S. warplanes to conduct simulated air warfare in the crowded Gulf shipping lanes.
Of course, the U.S. Navy brass denied the maneuvres were in response to the capture of 15 British sailors, who were seized by Iranian forces in recent days.
However, Tarpley's rewrite on Sunday of Uglanov's piece in the Moscow weekly, Argumenty Nedeli, starts to gain some credibility when combined with Krane's report.
The essence of the initial Moscow report was "the long awaited U.S. military attack on Iran is now on track for the first week of April, specifically for 4 a.m. on April 6, the Good Friday opening of Easter weekend." It's supposed to last for 12 hours, according to Uglanov, from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time and has been code named Operation Bite.
According to Uglanov, about 20 targets -- uranium enrichment facilities, research centres and laboratories -- have been targeted, however, the Bushehr nuclear plant reactor would be spared because Russian engineers are working there.
In addition, according to the Russian journalist, the U.S. attack would be aimed at wiping out the headquarters of the Iranian armed forces; sinking the fleet of Iranian warships in the Gulf as well as "degrading" the Iranian air defense system.
The attack, supposedly, would be carried out from the aircraft carriers (re: Dubai report); from the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and the missile-laden B-52 bombers from the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
While much of Uglanov's report might be pure speculation, it has been reprinted by Russia's well-known news agency, RIA-Novosti, who asked retired Colonel General Leonid Ivashov to confirm its "essential features."
"I have no doubt that there will be an operation, or more precisely a violent action against Iran," Ivashov was quoted as saying.
If such an air attack by the U.S. against Iran does take place on April 6 or on any other date in the near future, it could have grave consequences considering the close military ties between Russia and Iran.
One of those "military" ties could involve a supersonic Russian-built missile, known in the West as the "Sizzler," which may have found a "home" in Iran and could be aimed at the pair of U.S. aircraft carriers now in the Persian Gulf.
In a March 23 article on the Bloomberg.com website, reporter Tony Capaccio stated that the U.S. Navy, "after nearly six years of warnings from Pentagon testers, still lacks a plan," for defending the carriers against such a missile.
Later in Capaccio's article, Capaccio quoted U.S. chief of naval operations, Admiral Michael Mullin, as saying, "(The Sizzler) is very fast and it has maneuvring characteristics that are of concern ..."
Apparently, this Russian-built missile has been "shopped around" at international arms show.
***
WHAT'S NEXT? While Tehran has been fairly silent except to say the British Marines are being treated fairly, there's 'a secret' surrounding their seizure. According to Western intelligence sources and Brian Ross' ABC Investigative Unit it was for "retaliation" after the Americans grabbed five Quds (Jerusalem) Force officers from the Iranian consulate in Irbil, Iraq on Jan. 11 ... Quds force, according to sources, answers to the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.and not Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Remembering a tower of strength
Bill Stevenson was the strongest man I have ever met. And it's fortunate for the world that accompanying that brute strength was a smile as wide as the Grand Canyon.
He was one of those characters from the "unforgettable" category that so seldom crosses one's path.
Every once in a while over the past 25 years or so, I have looked at a photograph of Stevenson as he manhandled heavy iron in his "newly-opened" Edmonton fitness center.
And at that time he was also giving sage advice to another "incredible bulk," who was planning to work out before re-entering the carnival wrestling ring as a villain in a flick called "Running Brave."
But besides Stevenson's photo there was also a column, which I wrote for the Edmonton Sun, and it started this way:
"The Marquis de Sade would feel right at home. Long John Silver would look longingly at the racks. Captain Bluebeard would admire the bars, for there are more in this place than on New Orleans' Bourbon Street or Sing Sing.
No, we're not talking about the latest in torture rooms, but Little Bill Stevenson's house of repute, also known as the Edmonton fitness centre.
You know Stevenson? He's the guy with the time zones. The one who's laughter has been known to shatter champagne glasses ala Ella Fitzgerald. He's also been known to shatter a few beer glasses as well.
Bill Stevenson is a free spirit. He's one who knows how to work hard. This Eskimo -- football variety -- also is one who doesn't take himself too seriously. In his company, the Mona Lisa might crack a smile (to use a line from the super writer Jim Murray).
Stevenson and his friends have their grand opening today and if you notice him huffing and puffing it's because he's still moving in the furniture and machines into the centre, which undoubtedly will be in a class by itself.
This is the elite of sweat centres, one which comes equipped with hydragym cylinders, Nautilus equipment, a racquetball court, swimming pool, whirlpools and saunas and the major selling feature is that it is co-educational."
Later in the column from Friday, Jan. 16, 1981 I wrote:
"Little Bill, whose main responsibilities will be promotion and "seeing people keep coming back," has already interested fellow Eskimos such as Angelo Santucci, Tom Towns, David Boone and Dan Kepley ... Stevenson, who has given up his horse-breeding interests, is so enthused about his fitness project that he intends to move his family of a wife and two small children into the city from their present abode nine miles west of this hamlet (Edmonton).
A few days ago, CBC sportscaster John Wells indicated Stevenson was 45 pounds overweight. However, Little Bill took affront to this and I hope for Wells' sake that he doesn't run into Stevenson for he looked mean as he bashed a piece of his new machinery.
"I'm going to be in the best shape I've ever been in," grimaced Stevenson, contemplating the 1981 CFL season. I believe him."
After a stellar career at Drake University, Stevenson was drafted by the NFL Miami Dolphins, but chose to join the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. Then he came home -- to Edmonton -- and became a mainstay with the Eskimos for 14 seasons from 1975 to 1988.
He first proved to be a tower of strength on the vaunted Alberta Crude defensive line with Dave Fennell, Ron Estay and the late David Boone, and then he shifted to protecting his old quarterback Tom Wilkinson on the offensive line. During his tenure in the CFL, he and the Eskimos claimed seven Grey Cups.
He, seemingly, would be around forever with his love for life and his smile as wide as the Grand Canyon.
However, earlier this week, Bill Stevenson, after apparently going outside for a smoke, fell down some stairs at his mother's home and was taken to Edmonton's Misericordia Hospital where he died at the young age of 56.
He was one of those characters from the "unforgettable" category that so seldom crosses one's path.
Every once in a while over the past 25 years or so, I have looked at a photograph of Stevenson as he manhandled heavy iron in his "newly-opened" Edmonton fitness center.
And at that time he was also giving sage advice to another "incredible bulk," who was planning to work out before re-entering the carnival wrestling ring as a villain in a flick called "Running Brave."
But besides Stevenson's photo there was also a column, which I wrote for the Edmonton Sun, and it started this way:
"The Marquis de Sade would feel right at home. Long John Silver would look longingly at the racks. Captain Bluebeard would admire the bars, for there are more in this place than on New Orleans' Bourbon Street or Sing Sing.
No, we're not talking about the latest in torture rooms, but Little Bill Stevenson's house of repute, also known as the Edmonton fitness centre.
You know Stevenson? He's the guy with the time zones. The one who's laughter has been known to shatter champagne glasses ala Ella Fitzgerald. He's also been known to shatter a few beer glasses as well.
Bill Stevenson is a free spirit. He's one who knows how to work hard. This Eskimo -- football variety -- also is one who doesn't take himself too seriously. In his company, the Mona Lisa might crack a smile (to use a line from the super writer Jim Murray).
Stevenson and his friends have their grand opening today and if you notice him huffing and puffing it's because he's still moving in the furniture and machines into the centre, which undoubtedly will be in a class by itself.
This is the elite of sweat centres, one which comes equipped with hydragym cylinders, Nautilus equipment, a racquetball court, swimming pool, whirlpools and saunas and the major selling feature is that it is co-educational."
Later in the column from Friday, Jan. 16, 1981 I wrote:
"Little Bill, whose main responsibilities will be promotion and "seeing people keep coming back," has already interested fellow Eskimos such as Angelo Santucci, Tom Towns, David Boone and Dan Kepley ... Stevenson, who has given up his horse-breeding interests, is so enthused about his fitness project that he intends to move his family of a wife and two small children into the city from their present abode nine miles west of this hamlet (Edmonton).
A few days ago, CBC sportscaster John Wells indicated Stevenson was 45 pounds overweight. However, Little Bill took affront to this and I hope for Wells' sake that he doesn't run into Stevenson for he looked mean as he bashed a piece of his new machinery.
"I'm going to be in the best shape I've ever been in," grimaced Stevenson, contemplating the 1981 CFL season. I believe him."
After a stellar career at Drake University, Stevenson was drafted by the NFL Miami Dolphins, but chose to join the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. Then he came home -- to Edmonton -- and became a mainstay with the Eskimos for 14 seasons from 1975 to 1988.
He first proved to be a tower of strength on the vaunted Alberta Crude defensive line with Dave Fennell, Ron Estay and the late David Boone, and then he shifted to protecting his old quarterback Tom Wilkinson on the offensive line. During his tenure in the CFL, he and the Eskimos claimed seven Grey Cups.
He, seemingly, would be around forever with his love for life and his smile as wide as the Grand Canyon.
However, earlier this week, Bill Stevenson, after apparently going outside for a smoke, fell down some stairs at his mother's home and was taken to Edmonton's Misericordia Hospital where he died at the young age of 56.
The Ark, the Prince and obsession
It's an obsession. Something flaring and at other times lying dormant within one's soul.
Since 1990, the obsession has been to search for the original Ark of the Covenant, which has taken me from the depths of the African nation of Ethiopia to being a resident in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Abu Tor, where according to the Bible, King David, brought the Ark.
However, although I've done a 10-part series called The Glory of the King and probed the minds of such scholars as Graham Hancock (The Sign and The Seal), it wasn't until Monday of this week , the obsession grew into a flame again.
It came in the form of an e-mail from an Ethiopian in Virginia, who said that Prince Stephanos (Stephen Mengesha), the once "pet" great-grandson of the late Emperor Haile Selassie I, was trying to track me down. The writer claimed the Ethiopian prince was on a temporary visit to Canada.
Then after reading and re-reading the e-mail, I decided to look through my past files concerning Mengesha, for he was the one, who first made me aware of Ethiopia's claim it possessed history's most important historical, powerful and religious artifact in the small northern town of Aksum.
In the third of a five-part series entitled The Searchers for World Net Daily, this is a condensed version of what I wrote:
***
"If it's found, and if it's such a sacred item for the Jewish faith, what's to stop Israel from waging war to get it back? It's not a matter of diplomatic negotiations or going to the United Nations. This is something the world Jewry around the globe believes it's necessary to build the Third Temple and if that's how important it is, the chances of Israel going to war to get it (are greatly increased)." -- Prince Stephanos (Stephen Mengesha), April 6, 1990.
He was unpretentious.
A smiling, affable man, who introduced himself as Stephen Mengesha, was a Toronto car salesman.
"Steve's my name."
In early 1990, while doing research for a series of newspaper articles on the Ethiopian famines, he became a friend, and would relate that the Ark of the Covenant was the Horn of Africa nation's greatest treasure.
It was a blockbuster.
Of course, I'd earlier read in Grant Jeffrey's paperback, "Armageddon - Appointment With Destiny," of his conversations with Prince Stephanos, the favorite great-grandson of the late Emperor Haile Selassie, who was murdered by dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam and his thugs in 1975.
He also related to this investigative reporter of how the original Ark, constructed by Moses' chief carpenter, traveled from Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem to Ethiopia with one of Solomon's offspring, Menelik I. It has been in Ethiopia ever since, according to the Ethiopian royal chronicles, and its holy book, the Kebra Negast.
On Saturday, April 28, 1990, the Prince spoke about the searches for the Ark, which have ranged from Mussolini to the Israelis:
CORBETT: What's the importance of the Ark?
PRINCE: The building of the Third Temple is the cornerstone of the Jewish faith and the coming of all Jews to Israel. Finding the Ark of the Covenant is paramount for this to happen and the coming of their Messiah. So even though it's unspoken, they're on the look out for it, and many times they have explored the possibility of the Ethiopian claim. It has been pursued by various people throughout history prior to the Italian occupation (through the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church), and after the restoration of the Emperor to the throne (in 1941). Even today, they're still looking for it.
CORBETT: Is it possible there's an Ark on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem?
PRINCE: The lack of an Ark being mentioned in the book, "In The Shadow of the Temple," isn't evidence the Israelis don't care about it. After all it's the cornerstone. If you're going to build a temple, you have to have something to put in it and no where in the Jewish traditions does it say that God is going to bring it down from heaven. There's nothing of that nature being mentioned in prophecy. The building of the Third Temple I just mentioned requires the Ark inside it or else it would be a meaningless building.
CORBETT: I've read, probably in one of Grant Jeffrey's books, that during the excavations underneath the Temple Mount that they've spotted something that looks like the Ark. Is this a duplicate.
PRINCE: There is a duplicate Ark. The rabbinical council knows about it.
CORBETT: There are lots of duplicates around. Isn't that true?
PRINCE: Yes. Finding the original Ark of the Covenant is an interest by the Catholic Church and the Pope during the 1936-1940 Ethiopian occupation by Italy and Mussolini and there's good indication that the Catholic Church was looking for it.
CORBETT: Was that one of Mussolini's aims?
PRINCE: Not Mussolini's, but he was persuaded by the Pope and, of course, the Pope has been criticized for blessing Mussolini's mission to Ethiopia because of that.
CORBETT: Describe the church where it's supposedly buried?
PRINCE: I have been to the church, but I haven't been to the basement, in fact if there's a basement, which contains the Ark, that would be a secret.
In 1993, Prince Stephanos returned to Aksum and was able to photograph the stairwell leading to the Ark.
Even though others have claimed to have seen the Ark, such conjecture is certainly untrue.
Since 1990, the obsession has been to search for the original Ark of the Covenant, which has taken me from the depths of the African nation of Ethiopia to being a resident in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Abu Tor, where according to the Bible, King David, brought the Ark.
However, although I've done a 10-part series called The Glory of the King and probed the minds of such scholars as Graham Hancock (The Sign and The Seal), it wasn't until Monday of this week , the obsession grew into a flame again.
It came in the form of an e-mail from an Ethiopian in Virginia, who said that Prince Stephanos (Stephen Mengesha), the once "pet" great-grandson of the late Emperor Haile Selassie I, was trying to track me down. The writer claimed the Ethiopian prince was on a temporary visit to Canada.
Then after reading and re-reading the e-mail, I decided to look through my past files concerning Mengesha, for he was the one, who first made me aware of Ethiopia's claim it possessed history's most important historical, powerful and religious artifact in the small northern town of Aksum.
In the third of a five-part series entitled The Searchers for World Net Daily, this is a condensed version of what I wrote:
***
"If it's found, and if it's such a sacred item for the Jewish faith, what's to stop Israel from waging war to get it back? It's not a matter of diplomatic negotiations or going to the United Nations. This is something the world Jewry around the globe believes it's necessary to build the Third Temple and if that's how important it is, the chances of Israel going to war to get it (are greatly increased)." -- Prince Stephanos (Stephen Mengesha), April 6, 1990.
He was unpretentious.
A smiling, affable man, who introduced himself as Stephen Mengesha, was a Toronto car salesman.
"Steve's my name."
In early 1990, while doing research for a series of newspaper articles on the Ethiopian famines, he became a friend, and would relate that the Ark of the Covenant was the Horn of Africa nation's greatest treasure.
It was a blockbuster.
Of course, I'd earlier read in Grant Jeffrey's paperback, "Armageddon - Appointment With Destiny," of his conversations with Prince Stephanos, the favorite great-grandson of the late Emperor Haile Selassie, who was murdered by dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam and his thugs in 1975.
He also related to this investigative reporter of how the original Ark, constructed by Moses' chief carpenter, traveled from Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem to Ethiopia with one of Solomon's offspring, Menelik I. It has been in Ethiopia ever since, according to the Ethiopian royal chronicles, and its holy book, the Kebra Negast.
On Saturday, April 28, 1990, the Prince spoke about the searches for the Ark, which have ranged from Mussolini to the Israelis:
CORBETT: What's the importance of the Ark?
PRINCE: The building of the Third Temple is the cornerstone of the Jewish faith and the coming of all Jews to Israel. Finding the Ark of the Covenant is paramount for this to happen and the coming of their Messiah. So even though it's unspoken, they're on the look out for it, and many times they have explored the possibility of the Ethiopian claim. It has been pursued by various people throughout history prior to the Italian occupation (through the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church), and after the restoration of the Emperor to the throne (in 1941). Even today, they're still looking for it.
CORBETT: Is it possible there's an Ark on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem?
PRINCE: The lack of an Ark being mentioned in the book, "In The Shadow of the Temple," isn't evidence the Israelis don't care about it. After all it's the cornerstone. If you're going to build a temple, you have to have something to put in it and no where in the Jewish traditions does it say that God is going to bring it down from heaven. There's nothing of that nature being mentioned in prophecy. The building of the Third Temple I just mentioned requires the Ark inside it or else it would be a meaningless building.
CORBETT: I've read, probably in one of Grant Jeffrey's books, that during the excavations underneath the Temple Mount that they've spotted something that looks like the Ark. Is this a duplicate.
PRINCE: There is a duplicate Ark. The rabbinical council knows about it.
CORBETT: There are lots of duplicates around. Isn't that true?
PRINCE: Yes. Finding the original Ark of the Covenant is an interest by the Catholic Church and the Pope during the 1936-1940 Ethiopian occupation by Italy and Mussolini and there's good indication that the Catholic Church was looking for it.
CORBETT: Was that one of Mussolini's aims?
PRINCE: Not Mussolini's, but he was persuaded by the Pope and, of course, the Pope has been criticized for blessing Mussolini's mission to Ethiopia because of that.
CORBETT: Describe the church where it's supposedly buried?
PRINCE: I have been to the church, but I haven't been to the basement, in fact if there's a basement, which contains the Ark, that would be a secret.
In 1993, Prince Stephanos returned to Aksum and was able to photograph the stairwell leading to the Ark.
Even though others have claimed to have seen the Ark, such conjecture is certainly untrue.
Resurrecting a most worthy project
Ted Byfield, the Canadian publishing icon, was once described by one of his admirers, Steve Hopkins, as imaginative, compassionate, generous and charming as well as "stubborn."
However, "determined" and "crusader for what's right" could certainly be added.
Two years ago, Byfield's most ambitious project, the much-anticipated $5 million, 12-volume Christian History Project, collapsed and there were those who were ready to give it a proper burial.
However, Byfield wasn't about to give in to circumstances.
In a May 30, 2005 column, I quoted the project's then president and CEO Bob Doull as saying he suspected a technician (with possible Muslim ties) of tampering with the expensive computer system on Dec. 28, 2004. Based in Edmonton, the 'puter "housed" the volumes, artwork and all the customer records. Edmonton police, apparently, looked into the incident.
To make matters worse, on Feb. 13, 2005, CHP was struck a second time; this time it was less devastating as the criminal(s) attempted to "take down the telephone system."
Doull said he had "set up a couch outside the server room" to watch for the culprit(s), however, the two incidents had sent the project into a tailspin even though added security systems were in place. "It paralyzed our customer service," stated Doull, admitting about $700,000 would be needed to restore a workable system. He then added he intended to return to being a community newspaper publisher.
All hope seemed lost, for a letter on March 1, 2006 from spokesman, Brian Lehr, read, in part: "We wish to inform you that the Christian History Project Limited Partnership has been forced to cease operations and is being dissolved. The Partnership developed an outstanding product, but unfortunately it is unsuccessful as a commercial enterprise. It is with deep regret that we must advise all creditors of our inability to pay the amounts owing to them ..."
The death knell may have sounded, but they had forgotten about a "determined" and "stubborn" Byfield.
Just the other day, a 10-page bulletin reached my desk from SEARCH (The Society to Explore and Record Christian History). In it Byfield claimed the new society was committed to producing the last six of the 12 books of the series called 'The Christians: Their First Two Thousand Years, and it would cost $3 million, including $1 million up front to begin production.
He then added, "As yet we have no money, but we deeply believe that if the work is good, then God will make it happen."
Byfield said the project had been discontinued because "its sales method -- telemarketing -- proved so costly."
He then outlined six things in the society's favour including people, who created the first six books want to finish the job, as well as the society has some 55,000 copies of the first six volumes stored gratis in Edmonton.
While more than 10,000 people bought the first six books, Byfield said he was enouraged that since the society was established, more than 1,800 had written, e-mailed or phoned to say they intend to buy the last six volumes.
Byfield, who was general editor for the first six volumes, will continue in that role while Hopkins will serve as associate editor and Dean Pickup as art director. In addition, a qualified staff of writers and artists are willing, actually, anxious to join the renewed project, which is in the midst of trying to gain up-front financial stability.
The first six volumes included: The Veil Is Torn (AD 30 to 70) -- Pentecost to the Destruction of Jerusalem; A Pinch of Incense (AD 70 to 250) -- From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Decian Persecution; By This Sign (AD 250 to 350) -- From the Decian Persecution to the Constantine era; Darkness Descends (AD 350 to 565) -- The Fall of the Western Roman Empire; The Sword of Islam (AD 565 to 740) -- The Muslim Onslaught all but Destroys Christendom; and The Quest for the City (AD 740 to 1100) -- Pursuing the next world, they founded this one.
The final six volumes will include such titles as The Glorious Disaster; The Birth of Modernity; The Century of Giants; The Christian Democracies; Unto the Ends of the Earth and The Fifth Resurrection -- From the Fall of Christian Europe to the Rise of the Christian South and the time period stretches from 1100 AD to 2001 AD.
For more information concerning this epic, and highly recommended project, contact Byfield at tedbyfield@thechristians.ca or www.thechristians.ca website.
However, "determined" and "crusader for what's right" could certainly be added.
Two years ago, Byfield's most ambitious project, the much-anticipated $5 million, 12-volume Christian History Project, collapsed and there were those who were ready to give it a proper burial.
However, Byfield wasn't about to give in to circumstances.
In a May 30, 2005 column, I quoted the project's then president and CEO Bob Doull as saying he suspected a technician (with possible Muslim ties) of tampering with the expensive computer system on Dec. 28, 2004. Based in Edmonton, the 'puter "housed" the volumes, artwork and all the customer records. Edmonton police, apparently, looked into the incident.
To make matters worse, on Feb. 13, 2005, CHP was struck a second time; this time it was less devastating as the criminal(s) attempted to "take down the telephone system."
Doull said he had "set up a couch outside the server room" to watch for the culprit(s), however, the two incidents had sent the project into a tailspin even though added security systems were in place. "It paralyzed our customer service," stated Doull, admitting about $700,000 would be needed to restore a workable system. He then added he intended to return to being a community newspaper publisher.
All hope seemed lost, for a letter on March 1, 2006 from spokesman, Brian Lehr, read, in part: "We wish to inform you that the Christian History Project Limited Partnership has been forced to cease operations and is being dissolved. The Partnership developed an outstanding product, but unfortunately it is unsuccessful as a commercial enterprise. It is with deep regret that we must advise all creditors of our inability to pay the amounts owing to them ..."
The death knell may have sounded, but they had forgotten about a "determined" and "stubborn" Byfield.
Just the other day, a 10-page bulletin reached my desk from SEARCH (The Society to Explore and Record Christian History). In it Byfield claimed the new society was committed to producing the last six of the 12 books of the series called 'The Christians: Their First Two Thousand Years, and it would cost $3 million, including $1 million up front to begin production.
He then added, "As yet we have no money, but we deeply believe that if the work is good, then God will make it happen."
Byfield said the project had been discontinued because "its sales method -- telemarketing -- proved so costly."
He then outlined six things in the society's favour including people, who created the first six books want to finish the job, as well as the society has some 55,000 copies of the first six volumes stored gratis in Edmonton.
While more than 10,000 people bought the first six books, Byfield said he was enouraged that since the society was established, more than 1,800 had written, e-mailed or phoned to say they intend to buy the last six volumes.
Byfield, who was general editor for the first six volumes, will continue in that role while Hopkins will serve as associate editor and Dean Pickup as art director. In addition, a qualified staff of writers and artists are willing, actually, anxious to join the renewed project, which is in the midst of trying to gain up-front financial stability.
The first six volumes included: The Veil Is Torn (AD 30 to 70) -- Pentecost to the Destruction of Jerusalem; A Pinch of Incense (AD 70 to 250) -- From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Decian Persecution; By This Sign (AD 250 to 350) -- From the Decian Persecution to the Constantine era; Darkness Descends (AD 350 to 565) -- The Fall of the Western Roman Empire; The Sword of Islam (AD 565 to 740) -- The Muslim Onslaught all but Destroys Christendom; and The Quest for the City (AD 740 to 1100) -- Pursuing the next world, they founded this one.
The final six volumes will include such titles as The Glorious Disaster; The Birth of Modernity; The Century of Giants; The Christian Democracies; Unto the Ends of the Earth and The Fifth Resurrection -- From the Fall of Christian Europe to the Rise of the Christian South and the time period stretches from 1100 AD to 2001 AD.
For more information concerning this epic, and highly recommended project, contact Byfield at tedbyfield@thechristians.ca or www.thechristians.ca website.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Ethiopian Jews' long journey 'home'
NEWS ITEM (March 14, 2007): More than two decades after they were brought to Israel, State finally completes construction of monument commemorating 4,000 Ethiopian Jews, who perished on journey to the Holy Land.
It was a short story out of Jerusalem on Wednesday, which caught my eye and by the time I had finished the eight paragraphs, tears had welled up for I had been a minor part in reporting on the exodus in which so many died.
The mass departure of Ethiopian Jews from their country as part of the "Moshe Operation" began in 1983, when thousands started moving clandestinely towards the Sudanese border, according to Ynet News. During their journey and stay in temporary camps in Sudan they endured murders, rapes, diseases, robberies and hunger.
On Jan. 21, 1999, I wrote the following report for World Net Daily with the headline: The Black Jews and the Ark:
JERUSALEM: When 17,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted from the slums of Addis Ababa to the pristine air of Tel Aviv during Operation Solomon in May 1991, it evoked strange stories, particularly that the Falashas had escaped with the Ark of the Covenant from St. Mary of Zion church in Aksum.
However, as much as the Ethiopian Jews would have savored taking the coveted religious object back to Jerusalem, the powerful Ethiopian Orthodox Church, not the ostracized Falashas, were in control of security of the "terrible, golden container," which had been taken out of Solomon's Temple.
From the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark: Indy's professorial skills will begin to shine here:
INDY: The Ark of the Covenant, the chest the Hebrews used to carry around the Ten Commandments in.
EATON: What do you mean "The Ten Commandments"? You mean the Ten Commandments?
INDY: Yes, the actual Ten Commandments. The original stone tablets that Moses brought down out of Mount Horeb and smashed, if you believe in that sort of thing. (The men were impressed but impassive).
INDY: Either you guys go to Sunday School?
MUSGROVE: Well, I, I?
INDY: Now, look, the Hebrews took the broken pieces and put them in the Ark. When they settled in Canaan, they put the Ark in a place called the Temple of Solomon.
BRODY: In Jerusalem.
INDY: Where it stayed for many years. Until, all of a sudden, whoosh, it's gone.
EATON: Where?
INDY: Well, nobody knows where or when.
In the late Louis Rapoport's extraordinary book, "The Lost Jews," he detailed the connection between Beta Israel and the Ark:
RAPOPORT: "The Ark is the 'pivot round which the Abyssinian Church revolves,' according to Lake Tana explorer R.E. Chessman. There is a replica of the Ark, called the tabot, in every Ethiopian church, which represents the original Ark of shittim wood that contained the stone tablets Moses brought from Mount Sinai. Every year the Christian priests take out the replica during the Feast of Timkat, or Baptism. (In 1999, Timkat was celebrated in Aksum on Tuesday, Jan. 19). As the Ark passes, the people prostrate themselves before it. Ethiopian priests, who believe they are the Levites' successors -- the Falasha priests claim to be the Levites' descendants -- still dance as David did before the tabot. For the legend of the Ark is the cornerstone for the priests' claim that Ethiopians were the elect of God -- in place of the Jews, who had rejected the "messiah" -- and, therefore, the Ark was in their custody.
"How do the Beta Israel refer to the Ark? The Ark's power to defeat Israel's enemies is commemorated in one Falasha prayer: And it came to pass when the Ark set forward that Moses said, 'Rise up, Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered.' And in the Apocalypse of Baruch, which is included in the Falasha liturgy, it is related that 'God raised up Nebuchadnezzar,' who captured 'Zion' -- the Ark, whose wood was like a white pearl radiating multi-colored images, according to the vision of the 14th century Falasha ascetic, Gorgorios.
"One Beta Israel story, recorded in the 19th century by a Protestant missionary, says the Christians did place the Ark in Aksum, but "only when a Falasha approaches it does the wall before it open up, whereupon he prostrates himself in front of the Holy Ark.
"The Falashas' belief in the Ark's powers led them to march unarmed to Aksum in 1862, where they prayed the walls of the cathedral holding the Ark would tumble down and they would then take it back to Israel, where it belonged. They were laughed at and beaten, and many died on the road."
During the Corbett-Harron expedition in November 1990, although the roads were demolished leading from the capital of Addis Ababa to the north and the search for the Ark had been canceled, the trail was still warm, knowing that the Black Jews were still in the country.
Most sources told us that thousands were still abandoned in the Lake Tana-Gondar areas, barely surviving while Ethiopia was being laid waste by armies from the north, central and the south.
On the last day in the war zone, Harron and I were almost ready to give up our search for these forgotten peoples.
Then a miracle happened on Nov. 15, 1990, when we celebrated Sigd, the Ethiopian Jews' day of prayer to return to their homeland, Israel, and the freeing of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. It's a celebration unlike any other in Ethiopian or Jewish history.
CORBETT'S DIARY: Thursday, Nov. 15, 1990, ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: "As we drove through the weaving traffic, we reached the Asmera road, which seemed to be blocked off and Sherry Yano (with CPAR -- Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief) was told by one of the few traffic cops I'd seen in Addis, that the road was off-limits because of a celebration at the Israeli embassy.
"So parking the land cruiser, we started walking along the road, filled with people going to and fro with many children in their Sunday best, along with women with great umbrellas and long, white dresses, and finely-robed men.
"Everyone had a wide smile on their faces and there was an unexplainable glow.
"Even the youngsters were different.
"I kept my vidcam recording this scene, and while the kids were curious, they allowed the three of us to be part of their celebration walk.
"On the side of the hill, guarded by what I knew to be an Israeli agent, the white-robed throng poured through the gates from the embassy, well hidden in the trees.
"Their lilting voices lifted into heaven.
"I felt a part of these radiant people.
"As we walked along, we inquired about where the leaders' compound was, and first a smiling man and then a young boy pointed the way.
"Just then a small car pulled up and two of Sherry Yano's friends yelled greetings.
"They, too, had a radiant look.
"One young woman, Jody, in a white wrap-a-round, and she, too, was bubbling about the celebration on the Israeli embassy grounds and how she had joined in dancing with thousands of Falashas.
"The small car now held all five of us as we turned down a narrow dirt road and stopped in front of a locked compound.
"Stepping through a narrow gate opening, I saw at least 100 men, women and children in their finest clothing, sitting alongside a neat bungalow, feasting on injerra and other typical Ethiopian food; chatting away, but I didn't feel out of place.
"Lyle and I were introduced to Andy (I was to learn later his last name was Goldman), a tall, twentysomething man from just outside Washington, D.C., who was with the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry with their headquarters in New York City.
"Andy said he preferred to be anonymous because this was such a sensitive issue, so I called him Andy No-Name because he didn't mention his surname in any conversation. And I didn't ask.
"Others were just as hesitant, even to the edge of paranoia.
"Walking up the steps to the living quarters of the neat bungalow, a woman, in a brightly colored dress, was sopping injerra in a bean mixture -- wot -- and was offering me a bite.
"In crowded rooms there were the celebrants. Andy No-Name led us to one particular room, slowly opening the door and there were a dozen Falasha priests.
"There were 14 altogether in the small room. One was a woman and one a teenage boy, who was, undoubtedly, a server of the special boiled meat from the rites of the animal slaughter earlier in the day.
"No one said a word as I moved my vidcam around the room, but there was no noticeable annoyance at an intruder in their inner circle.
"After leaving this sacred area, I passed through a roomful of women, all sitting on the floor drinking tea, and as I moved through I kicked a tray full of cups and quickly apologized for my big feet.
"They laughed and nodded at me.
"In the rear of the bungalow were more housing quarters with a dozen families in one spacious room. There appeared to be a sense of unity and purpose even in such cramped quarters.
"Then Andy No-Name asked me to sit down on a pile of leaves and we would talk, without the vidcam rolling.
"He explained the hardships of the Ethiopian Jews from the war-torn areas of Gondar and Lake Tana, but there were survivors and they all wanted to go to Israel and they had, in small numbers.
"Then it was a good thing I was sitting down, for when I asked how many Falasha Jews were in this one place in Addis, he replied: "About 22,000. There are between one and two thousand still remaining in Gondar." Did he say 22,000? I had heard him correctly and no doubt within a couple of months' time, all the Falasha Jews -- Beta Israel -- in Ethiopia would be all in one place, ready to go home to Israel."
The 1990-1991 drama of the civil war was forever overshadowed on Friday-Saturday, May 24 and 25, when Israel airlifted thousands of Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa in a lightning operation before the rebels closed in on the capital.
The 21-hour airlift of about 17,000 Falashas was launched in secrecy with military censors barring all news reports from Israel until after the last plane took off from Addis.
Military sources said the 'Lost Jews' were flown out in 30 unmarked civilian and air force planes, under the code name, Operation Solomon. The first great airlift in 1983-1984 had been dubbed Operation Moses.
However, the greatest regret was they had left behind the Ark of the Covenant, still "resting" in a church in the northern town of Aksum.
It was a short story out of Jerusalem on Wednesday, which caught my eye and by the time I had finished the eight paragraphs, tears had welled up for I had been a minor part in reporting on the exodus in which so many died.
The mass departure of Ethiopian Jews from their country as part of the "Moshe Operation" began in 1983, when thousands started moving clandestinely towards the Sudanese border, according to Ynet News. During their journey and stay in temporary camps in Sudan they endured murders, rapes, diseases, robberies and hunger.
On Jan. 21, 1999, I wrote the following report for World Net Daily with the headline: The Black Jews and the Ark:
JERUSALEM: When 17,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted from the slums of Addis Ababa to the pristine air of Tel Aviv during Operation Solomon in May 1991, it evoked strange stories, particularly that the Falashas had escaped with the Ark of the Covenant from St. Mary of Zion church in Aksum.
However, as much as the Ethiopian Jews would have savored taking the coveted religious object back to Jerusalem, the powerful Ethiopian Orthodox Church, not the ostracized Falashas, were in control of security of the "terrible, golden container," which had been taken out of Solomon's Temple.
From the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark: Indy's professorial skills will begin to shine here:
INDY: The Ark of the Covenant, the chest the Hebrews used to carry around the Ten Commandments in.
EATON: What do you mean "The Ten Commandments"? You mean the Ten Commandments?
INDY: Yes, the actual Ten Commandments. The original stone tablets that Moses brought down out of Mount Horeb and smashed, if you believe in that sort of thing. (The men were impressed but impassive).
INDY: Either you guys go to Sunday School?
MUSGROVE: Well, I, I?
INDY: Now, look, the Hebrews took the broken pieces and put them in the Ark. When they settled in Canaan, they put the Ark in a place called the Temple of Solomon.
BRODY: In Jerusalem.
INDY: Where it stayed for many years. Until, all of a sudden, whoosh, it's gone.
EATON: Where?
INDY: Well, nobody knows where or when.
In the late Louis Rapoport's extraordinary book, "The Lost Jews," he detailed the connection between Beta Israel and the Ark:
RAPOPORT: "The Ark is the 'pivot round which the Abyssinian Church revolves,' according to Lake Tana explorer R.E. Chessman. There is a replica of the Ark, called the tabot, in every Ethiopian church, which represents the original Ark of shittim wood that contained the stone tablets Moses brought from Mount Sinai. Every year the Christian priests take out the replica during the Feast of Timkat, or Baptism. (In 1999, Timkat was celebrated in Aksum on Tuesday, Jan. 19). As the Ark passes, the people prostrate themselves before it. Ethiopian priests, who believe they are the Levites' successors -- the Falasha priests claim to be the Levites' descendants -- still dance as David did before the tabot. For the legend of the Ark is the cornerstone for the priests' claim that Ethiopians were the elect of God -- in place of the Jews, who had rejected the "messiah" -- and, therefore, the Ark was in their custody.
"How do the Beta Israel refer to the Ark? The Ark's power to defeat Israel's enemies is commemorated in one Falasha prayer: And it came to pass when the Ark set forward that Moses said, 'Rise up, Lord, and let Thy enemies be scattered.' And in the Apocalypse of Baruch, which is included in the Falasha liturgy, it is related that 'God raised up Nebuchadnezzar,' who captured 'Zion' -- the Ark, whose wood was like a white pearl radiating multi-colored images, according to the vision of the 14th century Falasha ascetic, Gorgorios.
"One Beta Israel story, recorded in the 19th century by a Protestant missionary, says the Christians did place the Ark in Aksum, but "only when a Falasha approaches it does the wall before it open up, whereupon he prostrates himself in front of the Holy Ark.
"The Falashas' belief in the Ark's powers led them to march unarmed to Aksum in 1862, where they prayed the walls of the cathedral holding the Ark would tumble down and they would then take it back to Israel, where it belonged. They were laughed at and beaten, and many died on the road."
During the Corbett-Harron expedition in November 1990, although the roads were demolished leading from the capital of Addis Ababa to the north and the search for the Ark had been canceled, the trail was still warm, knowing that the Black Jews were still in the country.
Most sources told us that thousands were still abandoned in the Lake Tana-Gondar areas, barely surviving while Ethiopia was being laid waste by armies from the north, central and the south.
On the last day in the war zone, Harron and I were almost ready to give up our search for these forgotten peoples.
Then a miracle happened on Nov. 15, 1990, when we celebrated Sigd, the Ethiopian Jews' day of prayer to return to their homeland, Israel, and the freeing of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. It's a celebration unlike any other in Ethiopian or Jewish history.
CORBETT'S DIARY: Thursday, Nov. 15, 1990, ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: "As we drove through the weaving traffic, we reached the Asmera road, which seemed to be blocked off and Sherry Yano (with CPAR -- Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief) was told by one of the few traffic cops I'd seen in Addis, that the road was off-limits because of a celebration at the Israeli embassy.
"So parking the land cruiser, we started walking along the road, filled with people going to and fro with many children in their Sunday best, along with women with great umbrellas and long, white dresses, and finely-robed men.
"Everyone had a wide smile on their faces and there was an unexplainable glow.
"Even the youngsters were different.
"I kept my vidcam recording this scene, and while the kids were curious, they allowed the three of us to be part of their celebration walk.
"On the side of the hill, guarded by what I knew to be an Israeli agent, the white-robed throng poured through the gates from the embassy, well hidden in the trees.
"Their lilting voices lifted into heaven.
"I felt a part of these radiant people.
"As we walked along, we inquired about where the leaders' compound was, and first a smiling man and then a young boy pointed the way.
"Just then a small car pulled up and two of Sherry Yano's friends yelled greetings.
"They, too, had a radiant look.
"One young woman, Jody, in a white wrap-a-round, and she, too, was bubbling about the celebration on the Israeli embassy grounds and how she had joined in dancing with thousands of Falashas.
"The small car now held all five of us as we turned down a narrow dirt road and stopped in front of a locked compound.
"Stepping through a narrow gate opening, I saw at least 100 men, women and children in their finest clothing, sitting alongside a neat bungalow, feasting on injerra and other typical Ethiopian food; chatting away, but I didn't feel out of place.
"Lyle and I were introduced to Andy (I was to learn later his last name was Goldman), a tall, twentysomething man from just outside Washington, D.C., who was with the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry with their headquarters in New York City.
"Andy said he preferred to be anonymous because this was such a sensitive issue, so I called him Andy No-Name because he didn't mention his surname in any conversation. And I didn't ask.
"Others were just as hesitant, even to the edge of paranoia.
"Walking up the steps to the living quarters of the neat bungalow, a woman, in a brightly colored dress, was sopping injerra in a bean mixture -- wot -- and was offering me a bite.
"In crowded rooms there were the celebrants. Andy No-Name led us to one particular room, slowly opening the door and there were a dozen Falasha priests.
"There were 14 altogether in the small room. One was a woman and one a teenage boy, who was, undoubtedly, a server of the special boiled meat from the rites of the animal slaughter earlier in the day.
"No one said a word as I moved my vidcam around the room, but there was no noticeable annoyance at an intruder in their inner circle.
"After leaving this sacred area, I passed through a roomful of women, all sitting on the floor drinking tea, and as I moved through I kicked a tray full of cups and quickly apologized for my big feet.
"They laughed and nodded at me.
"In the rear of the bungalow were more housing quarters with a dozen families in one spacious room. There appeared to be a sense of unity and purpose even in such cramped quarters.
"Then Andy No-Name asked me to sit down on a pile of leaves and we would talk, without the vidcam rolling.
"He explained the hardships of the Ethiopian Jews from the war-torn areas of Gondar and Lake Tana, but there were survivors and they all wanted to go to Israel and they had, in small numbers.
"Then it was a good thing I was sitting down, for when I asked how many Falasha Jews were in this one place in Addis, he replied: "About 22,000. There are between one and two thousand still remaining in Gondar." Did he say 22,000? I had heard him correctly and no doubt within a couple of months' time, all the Falasha Jews -- Beta Israel -- in Ethiopia would be all in one place, ready to go home to Israel."
The 1990-1991 drama of the civil war was forever overshadowed on Friday-Saturday, May 24 and 25, when Israel airlifted thousands of Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa in a lightning operation before the rebels closed in on the capital.
The 21-hour airlift of about 17,000 Falashas was launched in secrecy with military censors barring all news reports from Israel until after the last plane took off from Addis.
Military sources said the 'Lost Jews' were flown out in 30 unmarked civilian and air force planes, under the code name, Operation Solomon. The first great airlift in 1983-1984 had been dubbed Operation Moses.
However, the greatest regret was they had left behind the Ark of the Covenant, still "resting" in a church in the northern town of Aksum.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
The years of living dangerously
March 9/07
When Ivan Safronov, a military correspondent for Russia's top business daily, Kommersant, fell to his death from the fifth floor of his Moscow apartment building last week, it reinforced the fact that journalism can be deadly.
And two organizations, the International News Safety Institute (INSI), based in Brussels, Belgium, and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), have the facts and figures to make such an assumption.
Safronov's death remains under investigation, for as INSI director Rodney Pinder pointed out in an AP story: "Thirteen journalists have died in Russia since (President Vladimir) Putin came to power, and there hasn't been a conviction."
Meanwhile, both the INSI and the CPJ delve into a world of intrigue and have done so since the 1990s when it involves journalists, whether they are front-line news reporters, TV cameramen and women, behind-the-scenes editors and, of course, the Internet and its subsidiaries, which manages to peer into the seedier sides of life as no other medium has done before.
Besides Safronov's sudden demise, another highly-suspect case was that of investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was delving into the abuses by Russian troops in Chechyna. She was shot and killed outside her apartment last October, according to an AP report.
In pursing the matter, the INSI has reported that more than 1,000 journalists and their support staff have died in the past decade, and that Iraq and Russia happen to be the deadliest countries.
Just in the last couple of days that point was driven home when Iraqi TV cameraman Youssef Sabri was killed in a car bombing.
Apparently, Sabri was filming Shi'ite pilgrims in Karbala from the back of a police truck when he was killed by an explosion, which ripped through a police checkpoint.
Although the figures from the INSI were much higher because they included translators, fixers, office staff and drivers, the CPJ, claimed at least 95 journalists, not including Sabri, have died since the Iraq war began in 2003.
The INSI began compiling its list in 1990 while the CPJ started in 1992 when they reported 42 journalists were killed in scenarios involving murder, being caught in crossfire, and being on dangerous assignments. Some 11 others died that year, but the reason for their deaths still have not been confirmed.
While both groups might have discrepanies in their statistical data, the CPJ claims 55 died in 2006, with those involved in reporting on a variety of fronts from war, politics, corruption, crime, human rights, sports/culture to business. Of the reported 55, some 32 died in Iraq and two in Russia.
Briefly are details about just a few of those killed in Iraq during 2006:
* Munsuf Abdallah al-Khaldi, Baghdad TV, March 7, Baghdad: Unidentified gunmen in west Baghdad shot al-Khaldi, 35, a presenter for the Iraqi television station Baghdad TV. Al-Khadi was driving to the northern city of Mosul to interview poets when assailants stopped the car and fired three shots ... One passenger was killed and two others injured. Al-Khaldi presented an educational and cultural show focusing on Middle Eastern poetry.
* Amjad Hameed, Al-Iraqiya, March 11, Baghdad: Hameed and his driver Anwar Turki were shot and killed by gunmen apparently affiliated with al-Qaeda in an ambush in central Baghdad. Hameed had been head of programming for Iraq's state TV channel Al-Iraqiya since July 2005 ... The father of three children had just left home for work when he was shot several times in the head and chest.
* James Brolan and Paul Douglas, CBS, May 29, Baghdad: Cameraman Douglas and soundman Brolan were killed when a car bomb exploded while they were on patrol in Baghdad with Iraqi and American soldiers. Correspondent Kimberly Dozier, the third member of the CBS crew, was seriously injured in the attack.
* Ismail Amin Ali, freelance, August 7, Baghdad: The body of freelance journalist Ali, 30, was discovered in late evening by police in the eastern section of Baghdad known as al-Sadr City, according to a CPJ source. His body was riddled with bullets, and Iraqi police said they found signs of torture. The journalist had been abducted while he was at a gas station two weeks earlier. The kidnappers had demanded ransom, but his family was unable to pay.
While Politkovskaya's murder on Oct. 7, 2006 in Moscow received world-wide attention, there was also another journalist -- Vagif Kochetkov, who worked for Trud and Tulsky Molodoi Kommunar -- who died on Jan. 8. The 31-year-old from Tula, 125 miles south of Moscow, reported on politics, social issues and culture.
On the night of the attack, Kochetkov told his parents he was meeting an unidentified person, and he would return home to download his work onto his computer. That evening he called from a local coffee shop and told them he'd be home in an hour. On the way, he was attacked. Although his condition wasn't considered serious at first, he began to deteriorate and after brain surgery on Jan. 5 he fell into a coma and died three days later. Just prior to the attack, Kochetkov wrote an article on the activities of a Tula drug-dealing group with the banner headline: "Revenge of the Mafia?"
As we said, and statistics will confirm, journalism can be a dangerous profession.
When Ivan Safronov, a military correspondent for Russia's top business daily, Kommersant, fell to his death from the fifth floor of his Moscow apartment building last week, it reinforced the fact that journalism can be deadly.
And two organizations, the International News Safety Institute (INSI), based in Brussels, Belgium, and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), have the facts and figures to make such an assumption.
Safronov's death remains under investigation, for as INSI director Rodney Pinder pointed out in an AP story: "Thirteen journalists have died in Russia since (President Vladimir) Putin came to power, and there hasn't been a conviction."
Meanwhile, both the INSI and the CPJ delve into a world of intrigue and have done so since the 1990s when it involves journalists, whether they are front-line news reporters, TV cameramen and women, behind-the-scenes editors and, of course, the Internet and its subsidiaries, which manages to peer into the seedier sides of life as no other medium has done before.
Besides Safronov's sudden demise, another highly-suspect case was that of investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was delving into the abuses by Russian troops in Chechyna. She was shot and killed outside her apartment last October, according to an AP report.
In pursing the matter, the INSI has reported that more than 1,000 journalists and their support staff have died in the past decade, and that Iraq and Russia happen to be the deadliest countries.
Just in the last couple of days that point was driven home when Iraqi TV cameraman Youssef Sabri was killed in a car bombing.
Apparently, Sabri was filming Shi'ite pilgrims in Karbala from the back of a police truck when he was killed by an explosion, which ripped through a police checkpoint.
Although the figures from the INSI were much higher because they included translators, fixers, office staff and drivers, the CPJ, claimed at least 95 journalists, not including Sabri, have died since the Iraq war began in 2003.
The INSI began compiling its list in 1990 while the CPJ started in 1992 when they reported 42 journalists were killed in scenarios involving murder, being caught in crossfire, and being on dangerous assignments. Some 11 others died that year, but the reason for their deaths still have not been confirmed.
While both groups might have discrepanies in their statistical data, the CPJ claims 55 died in 2006, with those involved in reporting on a variety of fronts from war, politics, corruption, crime, human rights, sports/culture to business. Of the reported 55, some 32 died in Iraq and two in Russia.
Briefly are details about just a few of those killed in Iraq during 2006:
* Munsuf Abdallah al-Khaldi, Baghdad TV, March 7, Baghdad: Unidentified gunmen in west Baghdad shot al-Khaldi, 35, a presenter for the Iraqi television station Baghdad TV. Al-Khadi was driving to the northern city of Mosul to interview poets when assailants stopped the car and fired three shots ... One passenger was killed and two others injured. Al-Khaldi presented an educational and cultural show focusing on Middle Eastern poetry.
* Amjad Hameed, Al-Iraqiya, March 11, Baghdad: Hameed and his driver Anwar Turki were shot and killed by gunmen apparently affiliated with al-Qaeda in an ambush in central Baghdad. Hameed had been head of programming for Iraq's state TV channel Al-Iraqiya since July 2005 ... The father of three children had just left home for work when he was shot several times in the head and chest.
* James Brolan and Paul Douglas, CBS, May 29, Baghdad: Cameraman Douglas and soundman Brolan were killed when a car bomb exploded while they were on patrol in Baghdad with Iraqi and American soldiers. Correspondent Kimberly Dozier, the third member of the CBS crew, was seriously injured in the attack.
* Ismail Amin Ali, freelance, August 7, Baghdad: The body of freelance journalist Ali, 30, was discovered in late evening by police in the eastern section of Baghdad known as al-Sadr City, according to a CPJ source. His body was riddled with bullets, and Iraqi police said they found signs of torture. The journalist had been abducted while he was at a gas station two weeks earlier. The kidnappers had demanded ransom, but his family was unable to pay.
While Politkovskaya's murder on Oct. 7, 2006 in Moscow received world-wide attention, there was also another journalist -- Vagif Kochetkov, who worked for Trud and Tulsky Molodoi Kommunar -- who died on Jan. 8. The 31-year-old from Tula, 125 miles south of Moscow, reported on politics, social issues and culture.
On the night of the attack, Kochetkov told his parents he was meeting an unidentified person, and he would return home to download his work onto his computer. That evening he called from a local coffee shop and told them he'd be home in an hour. On the way, he was attacked. Although his condition wasn't considered serious at first, he began to deteriorate and after brain surgery on Jan. 5 he fell into a coma and died three days later. Just prior to the attack, Kochetkov wrote an article on the activities of a Tula drug-dealing group with the banner headline: "Revenge of the Mafia?"
As we said, and statistics will confirm, journalism can be a dangerous profession.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Editor Corbett
