JERUSALEM, March 21, 2008
Pilgrims Crowd Holy Land For Good Friday
Christians Worldwide Mark Day To Commemorate Death Of Jesus Christ
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Christian pilgrims re-enact Jesus carrying the cross on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday March 21, 2008. Thousands of Christians from all over the world crowded the stone alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City to mark Good Friday. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
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Some pilgrims carried large wooden crosses as they walked down the Via Dolorosa, or Way of Sorrows, stopping at 14 stations that commemorate events that befell Jesus as he was led to his death.
Many pilgrims prayed in the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally the site of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. Some chanted hymns, while others prostrated themselves on a smooth stone slab marking the spot where Jesus' body was placed after being removed from the cross.
The crowd in one of the Old City's streets included two dozen members of an American church group from Ohio, dressed in white. Eileen Joiner, 43, from Akron, Ohio, said she was moved to be in Jerusalem. "You see a picture and it looks impressive. You see it in person and it's always so much more," she said.
The group's pastor, Janice Skeen, said a recent shooting attack in Jerusalem hadn't deterred them. "You can't escape the feeling and the presence of God here. This is his special land," she said.
The March 6 attack by a Palestinian gunman killed eight young students at a Jewish seminary in the city.
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East Jerusalem resident
Police said thousands of security personnel were deployed around Jerusalem because of Good Friday and the Jewish festival of Purim, which also falls this weekend. Jews celebrate Purim by dressing up in costumes and reading the Book of Esther, which recounts a victory by the Jews over their enemies in ancient Persia.We pray, but God doesn't have time for us.
Samir HelouEast Jerusalem resident
At a Purim celebration just outside the walls of the Old City, hundreds of Jewish children dressed up as angels, superheroes and rabbits were entertained by jugglers and clowns.
Police are also on high alert because of fears of a revenge attack for the February assassination of a high-ranking commander in the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Israel denied involvement, but Hezbollah threatened to avenge his death with an attack on Israeli targets. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the alert level Friday was one below the maximum.
Israel banned West Bank residents from entering Israel for fear militants might carry out attacks, but the closure also meant many Palestinian Christians couldn't make it to Jerusalem.
Samir Helou, an engineering lecturer from east Jerusalem, said there were markedly fewer local Christians in the Old City this year. "We pray every year for a better situation, and then every year becomes worse," he said.
"We pray, but God doesn't have time for us," Helou said.
Other visitors in evidence in Jerusalem hailed from Spain, Poland, the Philippines, Brazil, and several African nations, some wearing traditional costumes.
Anita Ekka, a Catholic nun from Madhya Pradesh, India, said she appealed for an end to conflict. "We pray here for the peace of the world, of the heart and of the mind," she said.
One American visitor, Linda Edwards of Perry, Georgia, said she loved the mix of nationalities but was somewhat put off by the countless vendors hawking postcards and religious trinkets.
If Jesus were here, she said, he would be "turning all the tables over and would get arrested by the police."
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 132 CommentsPosted by Candide777 at 03:14 PM : Mar 22, 2008
Do you ever do any research or just babble a political agenda that best suites to keep your stupidity from being known? You are a f*cking stupid monkey. Jesus wrote the bible or Romans? So it is westerners who were full of sh*t then and full of sh*t now.
Posted by zootallures2 at 04:11 PM : Mar 22, 2008
Sorry, fella, but you just proved my point. Speaking of points, did you have one to make, or are you just name-calling today?
Posted by fibonacci_ at 05:22 PM : Mar 22, 2008
Unless you are female, I would recommend better luck in a men''s room in a bus station or airport. Or Aw Powt, for those who speak Atta-French-Hebrew. Or let me guess, Atta happened to be the only Arab with a speach impediment that prevented him from going "rrrrrrrr".
Posted by fibonacci_ at 05:06 PM : Mar 22, 2008
Well, there are people who are convinced Pat Robertson can heal by closing his eyes and putting a hand in the air. You can''t tell them it''s fake anymore than you can tell you magic pancake morons that 9/11 was an inside job and the official story defies every law of physics.
Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:59 PM : Mar 22, 2008
Oh, yea, sure. I think the videos were the loopy ones. And you must be schizophrenic or something if you can''t see or live in reality. Sorry, but it was all fake and a controlled demolition. Face it.
Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:52 PM : Mar 22, 2008
The people who were trying to tell customers and FBI of the software and crooked deals going on were fired and wound up not at the WTC on 9/11. Does that make you laugh?
Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:31 PM : Mar 22, 2008
They even made cell phone calls from 30,000 feet and air phone calls on a plane that had no air phones.
Oh, my what else...
No airforce jets were sent up and the websites for the bases close by that had fighters listed on 9/10 and just transports listed on 9/12.
Bush was left at the school and on TV as an open target.
All three buildings came down exactly like a comtrolled demolition.
No questioning reporters or film crews were on the ground until after the collapse.
There is a shot from a building as high as the empire state building because it shows it. And that is impossible. Also, shots from a building that show a bit of the WTC towers roof, which is also impossible.
The colors in the videos are all limmited to those as if they are off an LCD screen to fake hellicopter shots.
Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:31 PM : Mar 22, 2008
Crashing? Nope, they fly right through at a constant speed and suddenly stop and explode. No crash at all. Plus they fly in at a speed and altitude impossible for a passenger jet. 200 mph is the maximum speed at that air thickness. Or do they now have after burners in case a 767 is in a dog fight?
Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:21 PM : Mar 22, 2008
Nope. That would be you. And human parts glued to monkey skulls doesn''t prove evolution. Acording to evolution, life would still be trying out combinations for a zillion sensors just to find that there is light to make eyes. It''s a hoax. Are there any fosils of sensors for things that aren''t here? For the universe to start, you kind of need the idea of start in the first place. Was there a logic explosion too?
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See all 132 Comments