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[yialousa1971]

Father Basilios Nassar: The Latest Martyr of Orthodoxy



On January 25, 2012 Greek Orthodox Hieromonk Basilios Nassar was shot by an armed terrorist group in Hama, Syria on the second day of heavy fighting there. Fr. Basilios was at the Metropolis when he was informed by a phone call that a parishioner of his was shot and needed assistance. The Patriarchate of Antioch has reported that the 30-year-old priest was shot while giving medical aid to the wounded man who was previously shot. Fr. Basilios was shot in the chest and in the right armpit. Immediately another priest, Fr. Panteleimon Isa, who was with him dragged his bloody body to a nearby building to save him, but the martyr for Christ Father Basilios was dead within 30 minutes from hemorrhaging. His funeral took place today, January 26th, in the Church of Saint George in Hama. The blessed Father Basilios, known in the world as Mazin, was born in 1982 in the village of Kfarmpo in Hama and was a graduate of the Theological School of Balamand. He was also a teacher of Byzantine Music in the school Saint Kosmas the Melodist which he founded in the Metropolis. May his memory be eternal!



On January 25, 2012 Greek Orthodox Hieromonk Basilios Nassar was shot by an armed terrorist group in Hama, Syria on the second day of heavy fighting there. Fr. Basilios was at the Metropolis when he was informed by a phone call that a parishioner of his was shot and needed assistance. The Patriarchate of Antioch has reported that the 30-year-old priest was shot while giving medical aid to the wounded man who was previously shot. Fr. Basilios was shot in the chest and in the right armpit. Immediately another priest, Fr. Panteleimon Isa, who was with him dragged his bloody body to a nearby building to save him, but the martyr for Christ Father Basilios was dead within 30 minutes from hemorrhaging. His funeral took place today, January 26th, in the Church of Saint George in Hama. The blessed Father Basilios, known in the world as Mazin, was born in 1982 in the village of Kfarmpo in Hama and was a graduate of the Theological School of Balamand. He was also a teacher of Byzantine Music in the school Saint Kosmas the Melodist which he founded in the Metropolis. May his memory be eternal!

http://www.omhksea.org/2012/01/orthodox ... dical-aid/

Fr. Georges Massouh: Basilios Nassar and the Best Jihad

He was a fighter, but he was not like other fighters. He was a warrior, but he did not resemble any other warrior. He was armed, but his weapons are not of this world. He was a revolutionary, but his revolution was not of this world, even if it was in this world. He followed the example of his Jesus. His age was on the threshhold of thirty years. His name was Basilios Nassar and it has become the Martyr Basilios Nassar.


He was from the village of Kfarbahom in the district of Hama. He grew up in his village and studied theology in the St. John of Damascus Institute at Balamand University. He obtained a master's degree in theology and then returned to serve his village church. He was killed by treacherous bullets last week while performing humanitarian work, attempting to bring relief to a wounded member of his flock.

Father Baslios' weapon was the Holy Gospel and his armor the life-giving Cross. His sword was absolute truth and his arrow righteousness and piety. His citadel was the Holy Church which the Lord acquired with His holy blood. He carried love as a banner that sheltered him against hatred and prejudice. He raised up hope as a wall against oppression and coercion. He declared his faith in a teacher who left no law other than a single commandment: "Love each other as I have loved you."



Basilios believed that "the servant is not greater than his Master." Christ spoke these words when He washed the feet of His disciples on the night of His crucifixion. Basilios carried his apron and went around serving the poor, the destitute, the needy, the indigent, the sick, the widows, the orphans, the elderly... On his final trip, he wanted to be like that Samaritan who cared for the one who had "fallen among robbers," wounded and struggling with death. He went beyond what the Samaritan did, since it was not enough for him to give money for the wounded man's care. He paid for redemption with his blood, to save a person from death. He died so that someone else may live and so reached the limits of martyrdom.

Like his crucified teacher, Basilios did not believe in violence as a way to defend the oppressed. He believed in the Word of Truth and in human dignity and in the freedom that is the image of God in humankind. He did not carry a weapon to defend the children of his flock, but he carried his white shroud. He did not carry a white flag with which to surrender before blind hatred and the strife that has ignited among the children of a single nation and a single city and a single village. Rather, he carried the banner of love which alone destroys hatred and conquers it. A person does not conquer hatred with hatred. This is what Basilios said to us in his martyrdom.

Basilios comes from a Church that has produced thousands of holy martyrs, from a Church that considers bearing witness with blood to be the loftiest witness. He comes from a Church whose golden age was not an age of alliance with the state. Rather, her golden age was when she lived and spread and evangelized in the shadow of persecutions that the tyrannical Roman state unleashed against her children. He comes from a Church whose children say, "In Him (that is, the Lord) we live and move and have existence" and in no other.



It is important for us to know which side killed the Father Basilios the New Martyr, even if that is difficult in the midst of civil wars. However, it is more important for us not to traffic in his pure blood and not to profit from it in the bazaar of internal conflict. That said, the bitter reality indicates that an honorable Syrian citizen was killed by Syrian bullets fired by a Syrian citizen. This is the most painful thing, that the children of a single nation attack each other with bullets.

Blessed is the Orthodox Church to whom the beloved Basilios belongs, in the ranks of her righteous martyrs. Blessed is he because he completed his quest and fought the good fight. Is there anything more glorious than this jihad?

Fr. Georges Massouh is Professor of Islamic Studies at Balamand University.

http://araborthodoxy.blogspot.com/2012/ ... r-and.html




http://noctoc-noctoc.blogspot.com/2012/ ... yr-of.html

[yialousa1971]

Islamic terrorists attack the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saydnaya in Syria





And while the Antiochian Greek Orthodox Christians of the city of Hama in Syria are still mourning the loss of their beloved priest Vasilios Nasar (a priest who is an example to all), who was murdered as evidence shows by Islamic terrorists on January 25, 2012, four days later, on 29 January, the same terrorists set their target on the Greek Orthodox women's monastery of the Theotokos of Saydnaya. The Monastery of the Virgin Mary of Saydnaya is the most important religious center of the Greek Orthodox Christians of Syria since the miraculous icon of the Theotokos of Saydnaya is kept there. It is believed that the icon was painted by Saint Luke the Apostle himself. The monastery was built in 547 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I and it's situated in the small city of Maaloula just outside Damascus.





On Sunday, January 29 while there were many pilgrims at the monastery, Islamic extremists attacked it with an RPG rocket. However, with the intervention of the Virgin Mary the shell that fell on the wall did not explode. The attack destroyed part of the northern wall of the monastery and the heating room.
The nuns of the Monastery believe that this act was aimed at sowing rebellion among the people of Syria and undermine national unity. Just as in Iraq, Muslim extremists are targeting Christians first so that they can destroy any opposition to their plans to create a fundamentalist Islamic state. After the Christians, the next goal are the other Muslim groups, often those belonging to Shiite sects of Islam, who are considered heretics.

http://noctoc-noctoc.blogspot.com/2012/ ... greek.html

[repulsewarrior]

interesting, thanks.

[Bananiot]

And, here is where the importance of Turkey for the West (to which we now firmly belong) comes right into the epicentre of this issue. Without realising it, our resident fascist, has elevated the strategic importance of Turkey in the area and the Muslim world at large, to its relevant hights. The West needs Turkey like we need oxygen and as a key regional player with a democratically elected government, Turkey is a living example to all neophyte and other emerging states of the Arab spring, in the Arab world.

[B25]

And, here is where the importance of Turkey for the West (to which we now firmly belong) comes right into the epicentre of this issue. Without realising it, our resident fascist, has elevated the strategic importance of Turkey in the area and the Muslim world at large, to its relevant hights. The West needs Turkey like we need oxygen and as a key regional player with a democratically elected government, Turkey is a living example to all neophyte and other emerging states of the Arab spring, in the Arab world.

Banana, you got the wrong forum, this needs to go into the jokes forum. You must be losing it in your old age

[Kikapu]

And, here is where the importance of Turkey for the West (to which we now firmly belong) comes right into the epicentre of this issue. Without realising it, our resident fascist, has elevated the strategic importance of Turkey in the area and the Muslim world at large, to its relevant hights. The West needs Turkey like we need oxygen and as a key regional player with a democratically elected government, Turkey is a living example to all neophyte and other emerging states of the Arab spring, in the Arab world.

Not according to this article, Bananiot.

Turkish model unique

Iskandar also noted the importance of differences between Turkey and the Arab Spring countries.
“Holding up Turkey as an example to the Arab world is an oversimplification and not useful to anyone,” Iskandar said.

“The Turkish experiment is extremely unique, and its long history starts with the post-Ottoman area and [Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk. Each country has to devise its own way toward democracy. [The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)] is not the Muslim Brotherhood or the Salafis. And you are not going to be able to turn the Muslim Brotherhood or the Salafis into the AK Party in one night,” Iskandar said.

Iskandar said holding up Turkey as a model for the Arab Spring countries honored neither the Arab world nor Turkey. “Turkey is not an entirely Middle Eastern country. It is a cosmopolitan nation, it has its own particularities. And these particularities are completely different from Libya, for instance,” Iskandar said.
Iskandar drew attention to the fact that the “Turkish model is framed on the notion that secularism is an important part of the state structure.”

“However, the majority of the Arab world doesn’t have secularism in politics. Even [toppled Egyptian leader] Hosni Mubarak was not secular. The term ‘secular’ in the Arab world is considered an extremely negative term. You can’t call yourself ‘secular’ in the Arab world. Besides, people want religion to be a part of politics. It is in the opposite direction to Turkey’s state traditions. It has to be seen through a historical lens,” Iskandar said.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey ... sCatID=338

The same article also points out Turkey's weakness in the area as a "regional power" against Syria after she became the forerunner to get involved in Syria, in the hopes that it would get help from NATO, a repeat of Libya situation with France who had taken the lead in the early days of that conflict, but instead, Turkey finds herself all alone , and after all the bravado expressed by Turkey in the last year or so in sorting out the Syrian President Assad with repeated warnings to him, Turkey is now eating humble pie by the truck loads.

Turkey pushed over Syria

Adel Iskandar, an Arab media scholar, says it is in the interest of a lot of countries to push Turkey to intervene in Syrian crisis, which rocks the country for nearly 1 year, a move that could be injurious to Turkey

Turkey is in a very difficult situation vis-à-vis Syria since many Western countries are pushing it to intervene in its southern neighbor, a prominent Arab media scholar has said, adding that such an attack would not benefit Ankara.

“A lot of countries are refraining from getting involved in Syria militarily, and it is in the interest of a lot of countries to push Turkey to intervene Syria. But the reality is, is that it might not be in Turkey’s best interest,” Adel Iskandar, a lecturer at Georgetown University, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey ... sCatID=338

Last but not least, another article about where Turkey has/is gone/going wrong with Syria. What will the West think of Turkey if Turkey does not go forward with their expectations by Turkey getting militarily involved in Syria?

Personally, I think the West is egging Turkey into the Syrian conflict without any support from them, perhaps in the hopes for Turkey getting a bloody nose from it. What do you think, Bananiot?

Columnists 19 February 2012, Sunday
GÖKHAN BACIK
[email protected]
Did Turkey misfire in Syrian crisis?

After almost 10 years of a honeymoon, Turkish-Syrian relations have turned very sour. Turkey is hosting the opposition that aims to topple the Damascus regime, and the Bashar al-Assad regime is allowing Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists in Syrian territory. Worse developments may still be in the offing if the Assad regime survives longer than many expect. It is not possible to rejuvenate the two states' bilateral relations after all the negative developments between Ankara and Damascus. So long as Syria is ruled by the Assad regime, Ankara will be treated with mistrust there.

http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-27 ... risis.html