My Current Situation

-
I have a friend and his family that live just down the street from the Tomb of the Sleepers. I spent a couple weeks over there back in 98. Went to jerash also went to Syria saw the place on the side of the mountain where Cain slew Abel. Visited lots of places while I was over there. You're the only one I've seen that mentions the Tomb of Sleepers. Went to the Dead Sea while I was there and also spent 4-5 days in Jerusalem.
Also went to Palmyra. But I understand Isis pretty much destroyed it.
 
Jadaharabi said:
I have a friend and his family that live just down the street from the Tomb of the Sleepers. I spent a couple weeks over there back in 98. Went to jerash also went to Syria saw the place on the side of the mountain where Cain slew Abel. Visited lots of places while I was over there. You're the only one I've seen that mentions the Tomb of Sleepers. Went to the Dead Sea while I was there and also spent 4-5 days in Jerusalem.
Also went to Palmyra. But I understand Isis pretty much destroyed it.
Click to expand...

I'm sure Syria was still nice to visit back then, that's where my father's family is from... the last of my relatives left Syria about 7 years ago before the Arab Spring took place. ISIS, the Russians and whoever else have destroyed most of the country by now, kind of breaks my heart I don't know when I'll ever be able to visit.
 
MopaR&D said:
I'm sure Syria was still nice to visit back then, that's where my father's family is from... the last of my relatives left Syria about 7 years ago before the Arab Spring took place. ISIS, the Russians and whoever else have destroyed most of the country by now, kind of breaks my heart I don't know when I'll ever be able to visit.
Click to expand...

I was the guest of Princess Alia of Jordan and president Assad of Syria. That is President Assad the father of the current president Assad. And Princess Alia was the daughter of King Hussein of Jordan and now she's the sister of the current King. Went there to look at horses.
 
Jadaharabi said:
I was the guest of Princess Alia of Jordan and president Assad of Syria. That is President Assad the father of the current president Assad. And Princess Alia was the daughter of King Hussein of Jordan and now she's the sister of the current King. Went there to look at horses.
Click to expand...

Dang man how did you get those connections? lol... My dad's family fled Syria in the 1970s because my grandfather was on the secret police's hit list for doing some anti-government... stuff. Ever since then he's lived in Egypt because that's one of the few countries not allied with Syria that wouldn't deport him back. He's 80-something years old btw and the Syrian government still wants his head. Ridiculous.
 
crazy to think that in not too short a time, the city of petra will be inhabited again
 
MopaR&D said:
Dang man how did you get those connections? lol... My dad's family fled Syria in the 1970s because my grandfather was on the secret police's hit list for doing some anti-government... stuff. Ever since then he's lived in Egypt because that's one of the few countries not allied with Syria that wouldn't deport him back. He's 80-something years old btw and the Syrian government still wants his head. Ridiculous.
Click to expand...

The horses. One of my mares was a full sister to one of Princess Alia's stallions.
I owned 12 descendants of straight Syrian bred horses from the importation of 1903 by Homer Davenport to America.
The Syrian government had just built a brand new government stud Farm. My wife and I are on the first page of the Farms guest book.
Mustafa Al Jabri is a friend. His uncle was once ruler of Syria. Mustafa ran against President Assad but then pulled out of the election.
He probably didn't want one of the eleven secret service agencies bumping him off. the job of the agencies were to watch the next agency. President Assad did not trust very many people.
Don't know if you've ever heard of him dr. Jerald Dirks. he wrote several books he had been a Methodist preacher converted to Islam. He wrote the cross and the crescent and several other books.
He and a few others were with me.
 
Jadaharabi said:
The horses. One of my mares was a full sister to one of Princess Alia's stallions.
I owned 12 descendants of straight Syrian bred horses from the importation of 1903 by Homer Davenport to America.
The Syrian government had just built a brand new government stud Farm. My wife and I are on the first page of the Farms guest book.
Mustafa Al Jabri is a friend. His uncle was once ruler of Syria. Mustafa ran against President Assad but then pulled out of the election.
He probably didn't want one of the eleven secret service agencies bumping him off. the job of the agencies were to watch the next agency. President Assad did not trust very many people.
Don't know if you've ever heard of him dr. Jerald Dirks. he wrote several books he had been a Methodist preacher converted to Islam. He wrote the cross and the crescent and several other books.
He and a few others were with me.
Click to expand...

That's awesome! I had to look up Dr. Jerald Dirks because I forgot the name but I have watched him speak before. Sadly I just searched now and apparently he passed away this past February. I've heard of his books I might have to check them out now, thanks!

Yeah the Assads have always been paranoid and authoritarian, Syria was (is?) one of those places you can't say anything bad about the government or you'll be looking over your shoulder the rest of your life. If I remember the stories right... My grandpa's beef started when he was in the Syrian army and fought in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war where apparently the Syrian government was paid off by the Israelis to retreat from the Golan Heights where he was stationed as a tank commander; he realized the corruption was rampant and tried to do something about it, became a high-ranking member of the Muslim Brotherhood (which back then was actually kind-of legit, not a bunch of crazy fundamentalists like now) and fought the gov. Obviously it didn't work out and I bet looking back he would have not done those things if he had known the kind of danger it put his family in. And just to be clear my grandpa is totally beyond the political stuff now he isn't involved with any of that anymore; he just wants to live his life and enjoy the little time he has left with his family as he grows older. I'm hoping to visit him soon as he's getting up there in age and lives in a fairly poverty-stricken part of Alexandria, Egypt. He finds satisfaction in helping the local poor people, only reason he hasn't moved to somewhere nicer which the rest of my family has tried to convince him to do for years.
 
I've known Jerry Dirks for many years I used to haul horses to and from his farm in Kiowa Colorado. We belong to the same clubs and we wrote articles together on the Arabian horses. It was through him that I got my invitations from president Assad and Princess Alia to come to the Middle East.
Here's another one for you I was at his farm for a convention that was being held in Colorado Springs. He had sold a bunch of horses to some people from the Middle East that were attending college in Denver. Well I'm at his farm an one of these horses in quarantine coliced. I didn't think anything about it, I just pulled out a tube and some mineral oil, mixed it in some water and tubed the mare.
Veteran does his thing and determines that the mare needs to have abdominal surgery. So I load the mare into my horse trailer and haul her into Denver to a Veterinarian Hospital.
At this point I don't know the owners of the horse. I'm at this veterinarian hospital with Jerry Dirk's wife when she gets a phone call to tell the Vets to go ahead and operate on the Mare. now this is a $5,000 operation at this point.
A little later this young man walks in and he is the owner at the Mare. His name is Hamdan I was told.
the Vet's pull this mares intestines out. Over 100 feet of it they find the blockage, cut the intestines remove it. Then sew the intestines back together and put all the intestines back in the mare. The mare was in foal at the time.
At the time of the 96 trip to the middle east the mare was shipped to Ammon Jordan at the same time we got there.
A few day pass and we are at the Syrian stud Farm Officers Club. Jerry Dirk's and I go to the restroom and when we come back there is Hamdan at the tables.
He greets Jerry. Then turns to me and kisses me on both cheeks. I'm an Illinois Farm Boy a redneck. I wasn't up on Middle Eastern customs. it would seem I had just been given the greatest compliment of them all.
Hamdan it turns out is a prince, the nephew of the ruler of the UAE. An yours truely had saved his mare and her foal. The mare gave birth to her foal in the UAE a few months later.
 
Last edited:
Sorry gunbunny was not trying to side track your thread. You brought back some great memories. Thanks for that.
 
Jadaharabi said:
I've known Jerry Dirks for many years I used to haul horses to and from his farm in Kiowa Colorado. We belong to the same clubs and we wrote articles together on the Arabian horses. It was through him that I got my invitations from president Assad and Princess Alia to come to the Middle East.
Here's another one for you I was at his farm for a convention that was being held in Colorado Springs. He had sold a bunch of horses to some people from the Middle East that were attending college in Denver. Well I'm at his farm an one of these horses in quarantine coliced. I didn't think anything about it, I just pulled out a tube and some mineral oil, mixed it in some water and tubed the mare.
Veteran does his thing and determines that the mare needs to have abdominal surgery. So I load the mare into my horse trailer and haul her into Denver to a Veterinarian Hospital.
At this point I don't know the owners of the horse. I'm at this veterinarian hospital with Jerry Dirk's wife when she gets a phone call to tell the Vets to go ahead and operate on the Mare. now this is a $5,000 operation at this point.
A little later this young man walks in and he is the owner at the Mare. His name is Hamdan I was told.
the Vet's pull this mares intestines out. Over 100 feet of it they find the blockage, cut the intestines remove it. Then sew the intestines back together and put all the intestines back in the mare. The mare was in foal at the time.
At the time of the 96 trip to the middle east the mare was shipped to Ammon Jordan at the same time we got there.
A few day pass and we are at the Syrian stud Farm Officers Club. Jerry Dirk's and I go to the restroom and when we come back there is Hamdan at the tables.
He greets Jerry. Then turns to me and kisses me on both cheeks. I'm an Illinois Farm Boy a redneck. I wasn't up on Middle Eastern customs. it would seem I had just been given the greatest compliment of them all.
Hamdan it turns out is a prince, the nephew of the ruler of the UAE. An yours truely had saved his mare and her foal. The mare gave birth to her foal in the UAE a few months later.
Click to expand...

Great story, I also have family in the UAE and visited there multiple times, I've definitely heard the name Sheikh Hamdan before. I just checked apparently he was named the Crown Prince of Dubai in 2008. Seems like an interesting guy...

It's funny you mention horses sold to students in Denver, I went to CU-Denver and there are definitely a lot of Gulf Arab exchange students there. You can see the wealth though, some were cool but most were just self-absorbed idiots lol.

And agreed sorry to hijack the thread but it brought back some nice memories as well I hadn't looked at those Jordan pics in a long time.
 
MopaR&D said:
member of the Muslim Brotherhood (which back then was actually kind-of legit, not a bunch of crazy fundamentalists like now)
Click to expand...
if they were fundamentalist, they werent mussies
what i mean is, the term "fundamentalist" is specific to Christians, who hold to the "irreducible" fundamentals of the Christian Faith, as laid out in "the fundamentals, a testimony to the truth"
it is a collection of 90 essays by leading Christian theologians and was published as a four book series in 1917 (i have a copy in my library)
if i remember correctly, the 5 fundamentals are:
the plenary inspiration of the Word of God
the Deity of Christ
the sufficiency of His Sacrifice
the Virgin birth
and as always, the fifth one escapes me

my point is, the term fundamentalist is exclusive to the Christian religion, and though i understand what you meant, there has got to be a better word for it (though they would be infinitely better of if they were fundamentalist)


pardon my intrusion, carry on
 
Jadaharabi said:
Sorry gunbunny was not trying to side track your thread. You brought back some great memories. Thanks for that.
Click to expand...
By all means, please go ahead.
I'm glad you were able to take the trip back in time.
Unfortunately I'll likely never get back to the area again. When the opportunity popped up I jumped on it. I really had to stretch to justify my presence.
I was a bit of a slacker, and should have taken way more photos when the opportunity was open. I guess I was counting to much of one the other members of the group to take pics.
I did have a brief run in with the Waqf, I was threatened with having my photo taken and being banned from the Dome of the Rock. I wasn't to worried.
 
gunbunny said:
By all means, please go ahead.
I'm glad you were able to take the trip back in time.
Unfortunately I'll likely never get back to the area again. When the opportunity popped up I jumped on it. I really had to stretch to justify my presence.
I was a bit of a slacker, and should have taken way more photos when the opportunity was open. I guess I was counting to much of one the other members of the group to take pics.
I did have a brief run in with the Waqf, I was threatened with having my photo taken and being banned from the Dome of the Rock. I wasn't to worried.
Click to expand...

There you did it again. On my second trip which was in 1998 made it to Jerusalem. I was with Jerry Dirk's again and Jamal a friend whose mother lived about a mile away from the Dome of the Rock.
The first night there we're going through the Stations of Christ and Jerry is telling me about each one as you're going along. And I said to him I take it you've been here before and he replied no. I said then how do you know so much about each station he says well it's written right here on the wall. and I look at wall and I can't understand anything written there. And said so you can read that, he sez yeah it's Latin I can read latin.
We were there a few days. Went to see arafat's compound while we were there.
My first trip was in 96 and my second trip was in 98, both of them were by invitation from Princess Alia and president Assad.
 
Jadaharabi said:
There you did it again. On my second trip which was in 1998 made it to Jerusalem. I was with Jerry Dirk's again and Jamal a friend whose mother lived about a mile away from the Dome of the Rock.
The first night there we're going through the Stations of Christ and Jerry is telling me about each one as you're going along. And I said to him I take it you've been here before and he replied no. I said then how do you know so much about each station he says well it's written right here on the wall. and I look at wall and I can't understand anything written there. And said so you can read that, he sez yeah it's Latin I can read latin.
We were there a few days. Went to see arafat's compound while we were there.
My first trip was in 96 and my second trip was in 98, both of them were by invitation from Princess Alia and president Assad.
Click to expand...
My story is less exciting. I got to deal with the Waqf around 2:00 on Ramadan, so he was a bit bitchy.
 
diymirage said:
if they were fundamentalist, they werent mussies
what i mean is, the term "fundamentalist" is specific to Christians, who hold to the "irreducible" fundamentals of the Christian Faith, as laid out in "the fundamentals, a testimony to the truth"
it is a collection of 90 essays by leading Christian theologians and was published as a four book series in 1917 (i have a copy in my library)
if i remember correctly, the 5 fundamentals are:
the plenary inspiration of the Word of God
the Deity of Christ
the sufficiency of His Sacrifice
the Virgin birth
and as always, the fifth one escapes me

my point is, the term fundamentalist is exclusive to the Christian religion, and though i understand what you meant, there has got to be a better word for it (though they would be infinitely better of if they were fundamentalist)


pardon my intrusion, carry on
Click to expand...

from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

Fundamentalism: noun, A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

That's the definition I was thinking of, particularly the intolerance part.
 
MopaR&D said:
from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

Fundamentalism: noun, A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

That's the definition I was thinking of, particularly the intolerance part.
Click to expand...
I kinda figured that's where you were coming from, but it is doesn't do justice to the etymology of the word
(Keeping the meaning of words correct is a serious issue in this day and age, just look at how many people don't know what the opposite of "life" is)
 
All I can say is WOW!!!! The pictures of the historical sites are great. And the Waqf is an organization or group responsible for Dome of the Rock and other Islamic sites in Israel. Here is a C&P from Wikipedia. There are a lot of definitions, this is the one that I think applies to Islamic sites in Israel.
The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf is an Islamic religious trust best known for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on and around the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Some form or another of the waqf has governed access to the Haram esh-Sharif since the Muslim reconquest of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187, with the latest version instituted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan after its conquest of the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1948 war. Accordingly, the King of Jordan currently supplies all of the funding needed to operate the waqf, which is in effect the civil administration for the holy site.
 
Jadaharabi said:
What is the Waqf?
Click to expand...
The Jordanian backed guard force at the Dome of the Rock.
They like to be pushy, but in the end they really have no authority that the IDF hasn't given them. They get a little big for their britches, apparently now and again. Ramadan had them a little irritable the other day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top