Miracle of Fatima
W
here is the modern day Moses? Where are the supernatural acts demonstrating the will and power of God? Perhaps the most significant supernatural event in recent history is the apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima on October 13, 1917. This Catholic event was witnessed by thousands of people, both religious and secular and remains in the news today … even in China.
The recent publicity centers on the content of the Third Secret of Fatima. This secret was written in 1944 and remained unpublished for more than 50 years, being released in June 2000, the day I left Lourdes to walk to Fatima. I would arrive in Fatima 10 weeks later after walking approximately 1,400 kilometers.
After arriving at the Shrine in Fatima I was excited about the opportunity to learn more about this mysterious Third Secret. At the time I considered it such a privilege to be at the place where the Virgin Mary appeared to the three young children, thinking to myself what better place to get some inside information.
After repeated attempts to learn the contents of the secret I was told to go back to Guelph and ask the local priest. What a disappointment! The Vatican had published a small book with the wording of the secret and some commentary in Portuguese … it was not published in English. All this seemed very strange to me at the time. Certainly being in Fatima was no privilege, rather being here and not being able to get any information exacerbated the secrecy.
After giving up my quest to learn the contents of the secret … the final blow was when the young Portuguese girl who had agreed to translate the Portuguese version suddenly had a change of heart and told me something came up and she had no time for me.
Discouraged yet peacefully resigned to the situation I found myself killing time near the Shrine. Unexpectedly an English speaking priest started his homily and as part of his homily he recited the words of the secret in English. Hmmm!!!
Children of Fatima
The Third Secret of Fatima:
"After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God."
The published portion of the Third Secret is believed by many to be incomplete. Much speculation exists suggesting the unpublished portion of the secret deals with prophecy of a future global cataclysmic event. WW III involving nuclear weapons?
On July 25, 2002 while sitting in San Juan D’Ortega Spain (my second Camino Santiago pilgrimage) I wrote down my meditations on the Third Secret.
“Seems meeting Whelm (who had also previously walked from Lourdes to Fatima) triggered a lot of memories of my walk to Fatima. I shared with him my experiences regarding Sister Lucia's letter made public in June 2000.
The next morning I planned to walk along with Whelm ... his stuff was prepared and ready to go when I got back to my tent after coffee but no sign of Whelm. I decided not to wait and moved along.
Quite a nice walk to this point ... I was so energetic ... walked fast ... whistled ... seemed to have lots and lots of energy.
My mind was equally energetic ... with thoughts and notions and fantasies of all kinds. I remembered what Jack Milan said ... "think what you want but talk to me before you act on your thoughts". I was never able to take his advice however, now it seems to be working for me. I am thinking twice and sometimes thrice before I act on my thoughts.
The walk was through a wooded area ... lots of mosquitoes buzzing around my head. I have no hat these days ... lost it in Estella. The mosquitoes buzzed about but none bit me! What a blessing!!
This experience reminded me of what a priest said in Medugorje in 1995 ... "thoughts are like a bunch of mosquitoes, constantly buzzing about your head and occasionally biting you”. Seems this priest and Jack Milan were trying to give me the same message.
With all of this background what I really feel I should write about are the thoughts that came to me this morning about Sister Lucia's letter ... her vision in 1917. I am sure the encounter with Whelm was the catalyst. In any event the thoughts this morning are brand new ... they never occurred to me before despite all the time I spent thinking about it.
Seems I agree with the Portuguese people that Lucia's vision in 1917 described in her letter was intended to provide humanity with more than a prediction concerning an attempted suicide on the pope several decades later. Why would the Virgin Mary come to us to let us know there would be an attempt on a pope’s life 80 years in the future? Although there is no question in my mind that the attempted suicide was part of it and is also consistent with what I am about to write.
May the Virgin Mary control my thoughts and this pen as I write.
I do not remember all the details of the letter. I will write about the details I do remember.
The mountain or hill ... this seems consistent with all significant scriptural writings ... Mount Zion ... Mount Sinai ... Mount Tabor ... the Beatitudes ... always a mountain.
The use of a mountain in these writings and events must be trying to tell us something. I will look up the definition of the word later but while walking this is what came to me.
A mountain is up ... above the normal level of ground ... like grace is above nature ... metaphysical is above physical ... supernatural is above natural. All the same notion ... much of scripture infers going up to heaven ... up to God ... up the mountain ... paradise is up in the sky ... the heavens are up.
The man in the white robe represents all of God's messengers ... prophets ... popes ... priests ... Levi's ... Budda ... Mohammed etc. All of the people sent by God to help us people make our way up this 'mountain'.
Climbing a mountain infers hard work ... the way to God is hard work.
Seems to me all people in all times had somewhere inside themselves ... sometimes buried very deep and imperceptible ... nonetheless still there ... a longing to go home ... without knowing where this 'home' is. We do not know what is on the 'top of the mountain' but we want to get there.
The dead people ... the arrows ... the bullets. This suggests to me that the vision represents a very very long period of time ... arrows are a primitive weapon from ages and ages ago, bullets are a 20th century military weapon. Thus the possibility that this vision is intended to convey the entire history of mankind.
The image in her vision of the dead people all around on the way up the mountain … both religious and secular people. We know today that man has been killing man in the name of religion, greed, self defense etc Human history is full of horrific and seemingly unexplainable wars and crimes against humanity ... empires have risen and fallen leaving countless dead bodies ... innocent victims.
The man in white ... the pope ... of course our pope John Paul II is a man of God and like so many men of God(prophets etc) people want to kill him ... the attempted suicide fits this explanation ... they nailed Him to a cross. The man in white symbolizes all of those people who lived only to help mankind find their way home … to God. Across all religions and cultures.
I can't remember but it seems to me the vision suggests mankind is near the crest of the mountain ... the human race is about to meet GOD ... FACE to FACE.
This can’t be so bad ... we have been waiting for this day for so many thousands and thousands of years!
Seems to me though that if those of us living at this time are about to meet our GOD face to face we should try to be ready ... try to prepare ourselves ... pray! ... pray! ... pray!
St John the Baptist and Elijah have been on my Camino several times ... maybe it is time to prepare the way for the return of our Saviour ... the return of Jesus Christ! ...
For myself ... I will keep walking and see what happens tomorrow.
July 29, 2002
First time writing since San Juan ... I have had some time to reflect on the above thoughts ... in the past few days I have gone hot and cold ... the thoughts still seem logical but I have gone cold on any motivation to share my thoughts with anyone.
I walked a lot more in the past few days ... seems I needed to and I wanted to avoid the scheduled stops where it is always so crowded and noisy.
So what has happened since San Juan? My encounter with Kristina from Belgium has occupied a lot of my mind time ... why? ... I have no idea. We only spent a few hours walking together and a few hours chatting over a period of a few days.
She seemed to want to chat more but I found myself resisting ... walking away or trying to avoid her. I feel bad that I refused to spend a few minutes with her in Burgos ... her last stop before going home.
After writing in San Juan I walked to Atapuerca ... apparently 'puerca' means pig in Spanish. A very interesting place ... discovered high quality evidence (bones etc) of mankind dating back several hundred 000's years.
Toured an archeological site with Sandra ... another young girl who seemed to connect with me when we met at the site. I had seen her several times in the previous 2-3 days but she was always so aloof. I shared much of my 'stuff' with her ... she seemed receptive.
My mind made a connection between the thoughts on the secret of Fatima and the archeological stuff at Atapuerca ... especially the evidence of arrows dating way way back. Was this intended to reinforce my thoughts? Who knows? ... probably just ego!
Further meditation on same subject a few days later.
The walk to Villafranca seemed to go so easy (21 kilometers or so) and I did not want to stop ... seemed I needed to keep going. I remembered there were two ways from here, one along the road and another a goat trail up the mountain. Ingrid and I took the road in August 2000 despite her hatred of walking along roadways.
I found the alternative route quite easily ... was even warned that it was very difficult. A steep mountain road ... 9 kilometers ... more than I wanted. I went anyway ... a long and very hard climb to the top of the mountain. I was reminded of the mountain in Sister Lucia's letter.
I even had the 'burning bush' at the top of the mountain. Seemed to be burning faster after I passed it ... right beside the trail. I Intended to tell the people in the village(about 5 houses) ... some village! On arriving in the village I forgot to mention it. I was offered a cervesa (beer) but declined the offer and headed down the mountain. Another 4.5 kilometers .. . ouch! ... ouch! ... downhill is in some ways is even more difficult!
On the road 100 meters or so from the village ... along comes the local fire truck. hmmm! They stopped and asked me about the fire. As best I could in my very limited Spanish I told them that I saw it and where! ... hmmm!
So as I continued down the mountain I kept saying to myself ... and even a 'burning bush' on top of the mountain ... like Moses ... wow! ... am I crazy eh!!
At the bottom of the mountain I stayed at the hostel ... first class again! ... wow!!
August 10, 2002
Thought often of the expression ... new thoughts are like new wine ... they must 'age' for a while before you know if they are any good! ... like wine eh!
The 'thoughts' I am referring to are my thoughts regarding Sister Lucia's letter (the Third Secret of Fatima). The day after Villafranca ... I remember the bar ... La Puerta. When I saw the name ... something seemed to say ... a door ... a doorway ... hmmm ... to what?? Maybe I am imagining all this.
Today, with more than seven years having passed since writing these thoughts I remain excited about the Third Secret of Fatima. The other day I learned about the ‘Omega Point’, a theory proposed by Pierre Teilhard in 193 . Are there any parallels between my mountain experience and Teilhard’s contention that mankind will soon meet God? (Omega Point). Hmmm!
Concurrent with the October 13, 1917 apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, history provided several profound secular events which would reshape global supremacy to this day:
• The defeat of the Ottoman Empire and with it the passing of control of Middle East oil to the Western elite. At this time Iranian oil was already under their control.
• The start of the Bolshevik Revolution in November 1917 which lead to Communism in the USSR and China, giving birth to numerous human atrocities in the 20th century. The Western elite did everything in their power to ensure Communism did not spread around the world including the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and innocent civilians in the Korean and Vietnam wars. .
• The Balfour Declaration in November 1917 which lead to the formation of the State of Israel and the still brooding Palestinian conflict of 60 years..
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 (dated 2 November 1917) was a formal statement of policy by the British government stating that:
"His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
The declaration was made in a letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Baron Rothschild (Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild), a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, a Zionist organization. The letter reflected the position of the British Cabinet, as agreed upon in a meeting on 31 October 1917. It further stated that the declaration is a sign of "sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations."
The statement was issued through the efforts of Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow, the principal Zionist leaders based in London but, as they had asked for the reconstitution of Palestine as the Jewish national home, the Declaration fell short of Zionist expectations.
The "Balfour Declaration" was later incorporated into the Sevres peace treaty with Turkey and the Mandate for Palestine.
Where are we today vis a vis these profound secular events?
• The destruction of the USSR and consolidation of US hegemony in the late 20th century. A direct result of the West’s persistent war against communism.
• The spectacular rise of China’s international influence in the first decade of the 21st century thereby challenging US global supremacy.
• The US/NATO attempts to militarily encircle Russia and China thus containing any potential threat to their global supremacy. e.g .The US missile shield plans for installation in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
• The current Western concern over the increasing influence of Iran in the Middle East, creating a serious threat to the West’s security of supply concern for Middle East oil.
• The unsettled Palestinian issue in Israel. The West’s failed attempts to crush resistance movements of Hamas and Hezbollah.
• The crumbling of US hegemony and introduction of a multi-polar world following the financial crisis of October 2008.
here is the modern day Moses? Where are the supernatural acts demonstrating the will and power of God? Perhaps the most significant supernatural event in recent history is the apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima on October 13, 1917. This Catholic event was witnessed by thousands of people, both religious and secular and remains in the news today … even in China.
The recent publicity centers on the content of the Third Secret of Fatima. This secret was written in 1944 and remained unpublished for more than 50 years, being released in June 2000, the day I left Lourdes to walk to Fatima. I would arrive in Fatima 10 weeks later after walking approximately 1,400 kilometers.
After arriving at the Shrine in Fatima I was excited about the opportunity to learn more about this mysterious Third Secret. At the time I considered it such a privilege to be at the place where the Virgin Mary appeared to the three young children, thinking to myself what better place to get some inside information.
After repeated attempts to learn the contents of the secret I was told to go back to Guelph and ask the local priest. What a disappointment! The Vatican had published a small book with the wording of the secret and some commentary in Portuguese … it was not published in English. All this seemed very strange to me at the time. Certainly being in Fatima was no privilege, rather being here and not being able to get any information exacerbated the secrecy.
After giving up my quest to learn the contents of the secret … the final blow was when the young Portuguese girl who had agreed to translate the Portuguese version suddenly had a change of heart and told me something came up and she had no time for me.
Discouraged yet peacefully resigned to the situation I found myself killing time near the Shrine. Unexpectedly an English speaking priest started his homily and as part of his homily he recited the words of the secret in English. Hmmm!!!
Children of Fatima
The Third Secret of Fatima:
"After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God."
The published portion of the Third Secret is believed by many to be incomplete. Much speculation exists suggesting the unpublished portion of the secret deals with prophecy of a future global cataclysmic event. WW III involving nuclear weapons?
On July 25, 2002 while sitting in San Juan D’Ortega Spain (my second Camino Santiago pilgrimage) I wrote down my meditations on the Third Secret.
“Seems meeting Whelm (who had also previously walked from Lourdes to Fatima) triggered a lot of memories of my walk to Fatima. I shared with him my experiences regarding Sister Lucia's letter made public in June 2000.
The next morning I planned to walk along with Whelm ... his stuff was prepared and ready to go when I got back to my tent after coffee but no sign of Whelm. I decided not to wait and moved along.
Quite a nice walk to this point ... I was so energetic ... walked fast ... whistled ... seemed to have lots and lots of energy.
My mind was equally energetic ... with thoughts and notions and fantasies of all kinds. I remembered what Jack Milan said ... "think what you want but talk to me before you act on your thoughts". I was never able to take his advice however, now it seems to be working for me. I am thinking twice and sometimes thrice before I act on my thoughts.
The walk was through a wooded area ... lots of mosquitoes buzzing around my head. I have no hat these days ... lost it in Estella. The mosquitoes buzzed about but none bit me! What a blessing!!
This experience reminded me of what a priest said in Medugorje in 1995 ... "thoughts are like a bunch of mosquitoes, constantly buzzing about your head and occasionally biting you”. Seems this priest and Jack Milan were trying to give me the same message.
With all of this background what I really feel I should write about are the thoughts that came to me this morning about Sister Lucia's letter ... her vision in 1917. I am sure the encounter with Whelm was the catalyst. In any event the thoughts this morning are brand new ... they never occurred to me before despite all the time I spent thinking about it.
Seems I agree with the Portuguese people that Lucia's vision in 1917 described in her letter was intended to provide humanity with more than a prediction concerning an attempted suicide on the pope several decades later. Why would the Virgin Mary come to us to let us know there would be an attempt on a pope’s life 80 years in the future? Although there is no question in my mind that the attempted suicide was part of it and is also consistent with what I am about to write.
May the Virgin Mary control my thoughts and this pen as I write.
I do not remember all the details of the letter. I will write about the details I do remember.
The mountain or hill ... this seems consistent with all significant scriptural writings ... Mount Zion ... Mount Sinai ... Mount Tabor ... the Beatitudes ... always a mountain.
The use of a mountain in these writings and events must be trying to tell us something. I will look up the definition of the word later but while walking this is what came to me.
A mountain is up ... above the normal level of ground ... like grace is above nature ... metaphysical is above physical ... supernatural is above natural. All the same notion ... much of scripture infers going up to heaven ... up to God ... up the mountain ... paradise is up in the sky ... the heavens are up.
The man in the white robe represents all of God's messengers ... prophets ... popes ... priests ... Levi's ... Budda ... Mohammed etc. All of the people sent by God to help us people make our way up this 'mountain'.
Climbing a mountain infers hard work ... the way to God is hard work.
Seems to me all people in all times had somewhere inside themselves ... sometimes buried very deep and imperceptible ... nonetheless still there ... a longing to go home ... without knowing where this 'home' is. We do not know what is on the 'top of the mountain' but we want to get there.
The dead people ... the arrows ... the bullets. This suggests to me that the vision represents a very very long period of time ... arrows are a primitive weapon from ages and ages ago, bullets are a 20th century military weapon. Thus the possibility that this vision is intended to convey the entire history of mankind.
The image in her vision of the dead people all around on the way up the mountain … both religious and secular people. We know today that man has been killing man in the name of religion, greed, self defense etc Human history is full of horrific and seemingly unexplainable wars and crimes against humanity ... empires have risen and fallen leaving countless dead bodies ... innocent victims.
The man in white ... the pope ... of course our pope John Paul II is a man of God and like so many men of God(prophets etc) people want to kill him ... the attempted suicide fits this explanation ... they nailed Him to a cross. The man in white symbolizes all of those people who lived only to help mankind find their way home … to God. Across all religions and cultures.
I can't remember but it seems to me the vision suggests mankind is near the crest of the mountain ... the human race is about to meet GOD ... FACE to FACE.
This can’t be so bad ... we have been waiting for this day for so many thousands and thousands of years!
Seems to me though that if those of us living at this time are about to meet our GOD face to face we should try to be ready ... try to prepare ourselves ... pray! ... pray! ... pray!
St John the Baptist and Elijah have been on my Camino several times ... maybe it is time to prepare the way for the return of our Saviour ... the return of Jesus Christ! ...
For myself ... I will keep walking and see what happens tomorrow.
July 29, 2002
First time writing since San Juan ... I have had some time to reflect on the above thoughts ... in the past few days I have gone hot and cold ... the thoughts still seem logical but I have gone cold on any motivation to share my thoughts with anyone.
I walked a lot more in the past few days ... seems I needed to and I wanted to avoid the scheduled stops where it is always so crowded and noisy.
So what has happened since San Juan? My encounter with Kristina from Belgium has occupied a lot of my mind time ... why? ... I have no idea. We only spent a few hours walking together and a few hours chatting over a period of a few days.
She seemed to want to chat more but I found myself resisting ... walking away or trying to avoid her. I feel bad that I refused to spend a few minutes with her in Burgos ... her last stop before going home.
After writing in San Juan I walked to Atapuerca ... apparently 'puerca' means pig in Spanish. A very interesting place ... discovered high quality evidence (bones etc) of mankind dating back several hundred 000's years.
Toured an archeological site with Sandra ... another young girl who seemed to connect with me when we met at the site. I had seen her several times in the previous 2-3 days but she was always so aloof. I shared much of my 'stuff' with her ... she seemed receptive.
My mind made a connection between the thoughts on the secret of Fatima and the archeological stuff at Atapuerca ... especially the evidence of arrows dating way way back. Was this intended to reinforce my thoughts? Who knows? ... probably just ego!
Further meditation on same subject a few days later.
The walk to Villafranca seemed to go so easy (21 kilometers or so) and I did not want to stop ... seemed I needed to keep going. I remembered there were two ways from here, one along the road and another a goat trail up the mountain. Ingrid and I took the road in August 2000 despite her hatred of walking along roadways.
I found the alternative route quite easily ... was even warned that it was very difficult. A steep mountain road ... 9 kilometers ... more than I wanted. I went anyway ... a long and very hard climb to the top of the mountain. I was reminded of the mountain in Sister Lucia's letter.
I even had the 'burning bush' at the top of the mountain. Seemed to be burning faster after I passed it ... right beside the trail. I Intended to tell the people in the village(about 5 houses) ... some village! On arriving in the village I forgot to mention it. I was offered a cervesa (beer) but declined the offer and headed down the mountain. Another 4.5 kilometers .. . ouch! ... ouch! ... downhill is in some ways is even more difficult!
On the road 100 meters or so from the village ... along comes the local fire truck. hmmm! They stopped and asked me about the fire. As best I could in my very limited Spanish I told them that I saw it and where! ... hmmm!
So as I continued down the mountain I kept saying to myself ... and even a 'burning bush' on top of the mountain ... like Moses ... wow! ... am I crazy eh!!
At the bottom of the mountain I stayed at the hostel ... first class again! ... wow!!
August 10, 2002
Thought often of the expression ... new thoughts are like new wine ... they must 'age' for a while before you know if they are any good! ... like wine eh!
The 'thoughts' I am referring to are my thoughts regarding Sister Lucia's letter (the Third Secret of Fatima). The day after Villafranca ... I remember the bar ... La Puerta. When I saw the name ... something seemed to say ... a door ... a doorway ... hmmm ... to what?? Maybe I am imagining all this.
Today, with more than seven years having passed since writing these thoughts I remain excited about the Third Secret of Fatima. The other day I learned about the ‘Omega Point’, a theory proposed by Pierre Teilhard in 193 . Are there any parallels between my mountain experience and Teilhard’s contention that mankind will soon meet God? (Omega Point). Hmmm!
Concurrent with the October 13, 1917 apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, history provided several profound secular events which would reshape global supremacy to this day:
• The defeat of the Ottoman Empire and with it the passing of control of Middle East oil to the Western elite. At this time Iranian oil was already under their control.
• The start of the Bolshevik Revolution in November 1917 which lead to Communism in the USSR and China, giving birth to numerous human atrocities in the 20th century. The Western elite did everything in their power to ensure Communism did not spread around the world including the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and innocent civilians in the Korean and Vietnam wars. .
• The Balfour Declaration in November 1917 which lead to the formation of the State of Israel and the still brooding Palestinian conflict of 60 years..
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 (dated 2 November 1917) was a formal statement of policy by the British government stating that:
"His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
The declaration was made in a letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Baron Rothschild (Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild), a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, a Zionist organization. The letter reflected the position of the British Cabinet, as agreed upon in a meeting on 31 October 1917. It further stated that the declaration is a sign of "sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations."
The statement was issued through the efforts of Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow, the principal Zionist leaders based in London but, as they had asked for the reconstitution of Palestine as the Jewish national home, the Declaration fell short of Zionist expectations.
The "Balfour Declaration" was later incorporated into the Sevres peace treaty with Turkey and the Mandate for Palestine.
Where are we today vis a vis these profound secular events?
• The destruction of the USSR and consolidation of US hegemony in the late 20th century. A direct result of the West’s persistent war against communism.
• The spectacular rise of China’s international influence in the first decade of the 21st century thereby challenging US global supremacy.
• The US/NATO attempts to militarily encircle Russia and China thus containing any potential threat to their global supremacy. e.g .The US missile shield plans for installation in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
• The current Western concern over the increasing influence of Iran in the Middle East, creating a serious threat to the West’s security of supply concern for Middle East oil.
• The unsettled Palestinian issue in Israel. The West’s failed attempts to crush resistance movements of Hamas and Hezbollah.
• The crumbling of US hegemony and introduction of a multi-polar world following the financial crisis of October 2008.