Friday the 13th


Spooky season is officially here, but when Friday the 13th falls in October, then you know those suffering from paraskeidekatriaphobia are sure to go a bit wiggy.  

I googled the history of Friday the 13th this morning but could find real answer to the origin of the superstition that surrounds the date.  Some believe the fear has its roots in Norse Mythology in which the evil Loki is said to have crashed a party with 12 guests and tricked the god Hod into killing his brother Balder the god of light, joy and reconciliation.  Some say it is because there were 13 people at the last supper and on Friday Jesus was crucified.  And a final though has the origins in 1306 when King Philip of France arrested the Knights Templar and began torturing them.  Whatever the origin, superstition often rules behavior, and superstition has definitely taken hold.  

For me superstition is not something I easily give in to, but with a "global day of Jihad" looming, this day I'm a little more wary.

Like most Americans, I am woefully uninformed about the long-standing animosity between the Palestinians and Jews, so I've done some research and here is what I've learned:

  • After the Ottoman Empire was defeated in WW1, Britain took control of the area known as Palestine, and because of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which was endorsed by the newly created League of Nations (forefunner to the United Nations), the UK was given the job of establishing a "national home" for the Jews.
  • To the Jews, Palestine was their ancestral home - given to them by God, but Palestinian Arabs also claimed the land and tensions between the two groups grew in the decades between 1920 and 1940 when the number of Jews in the area increased, with many fleeing persecution in Europe, especially following the Nazi Holocaust of WW2.
  • In 1947, the UN voted for Palestine to be split into separate Jewish and Arab states.  The plan was accepted by Jewish leaders, but rejected by the Arab side and never implemented.
  • In 1948, Britain realized they could not solve the problem, and withdrew.  Jewish leaders declared the creation of the State of Israel, but the fighting between Jewish and Arab militias had been intensifying for month, and the day after Israel declared statehood, five Arab countries attacked.
  • Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced out of their homes, and by the time of the ceasefire the following year, Israel controlled of the territory.
  • Jordan occupied land which became known as West Bank, Egypt occupied Gaza, and Jerusalem was divided between the Israeli forces in the West and Jordanian forces in the East.
  • Because there was never a peace agreement, there were more wars and fighting in the following decades.  
  • In a war in 1967, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as most of the Syrian Golan Heights, Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula.  
  • Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 war and stayed until 2005, during that time building Jewish settlements.  However, Israel withdrew its troops and settlers in 2005, though it retained control over its airspace, shared border and shoreline.
  • Hamas won the Palestinian's elections in 2006, and seized control of Gaza the following year.  Hamas is an Islamist militant group that is committed to the destruction of Israel.
So, with all of this happening 6,000 miles away, it's easy to shove it to the back burner, and hope it all just "goes away", but here is why you should be paying attention:
  • The U.S. is an Israeli ally.  
  • Russia and China have refused to condemn Hamas - who kidnapped and subsequently murdered of civilians (including elderly, women and children), and then posted the videos to social media.  
  • And Iran supports Hamas
And while Jason Voorhees is fictional and doesn't frighten me at all, this is the sort of stuff that has me jumpy on Friday the 13th this year.

"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.  Such things must happen but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains.

'Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.  At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." - Matthew 24:6-13

Stand firm my friends, stand firm - and pray, pray, pray.

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