Palestinian officials warn of 'social explosion' in Lebanon if UNRWA cuts continues

Palestinian security officials warned of a social breakdown and threats to Lebanon's security if UNRWA services stopped.

Around 80 per cent of Palestinian refugees live below the poverty line in Lebanon. [Getty]


Palestinian officials have warned of a "social explosion" and a security breakdown in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon if funding to the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) is not restored.

More than a dozen donor countries, including the US and UK, suspended their funding to UNRWA after Israel alleged, without evidence, that a dozen of its employees participated in the 7 October surprise attack by Hamas on the Gaza envelope.

The UN agency suspended the employees and launched an independent investigation into the allegations – for which it said Israel has yet to provide it with the evidence.

UNRWA, which provides essential medical, educational and financial services to Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world, announced that its services could halt by the end of February if the funding suspension continues.

UNRWA isn't just a relief agency, it's a symbol of the Nakba

Society

Mohammad Ersan

If services do stop, social order could severely degrade in Palestinian refugee camps, Adnan Rifai, a member of the Palestinian Popular Committee in Lebanon, told TNA.

"There is no one that is going to replace UNRWA, not even Arab states. We don't have anything to replace the services. They haven't given us any choice except to starve," Rifai said.

Around 80 per cent of the some 270,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live below the poverty line. If cash assistance given by UNRWA halts, this number could rise to 93 per cent.

Palestinian refugees are restricted from working a wide swath of occupations in Lebanon, as well as face limitations on their ability to purchase housing legally.

UNRWA employs thousands of Palestinians, providing a key source of income for the already vulnerable group.

Demonstrations have been held in front of the UK and EU embassies in Beirut to protest the funding cuts for UNRWA – but donor states have remained bullish on the suspension.

Palestinian security officials have warned that further degradation of the already dire socioeconomic situation in the camps will have knock-on effects on the security of Lebanon as a whole.

Since Israel's military operation in Gaza started, Palestinian refugees have reportedly been signing up to fight alongside Palestinian forces in Lebanon in droves.

"This will impact the security of the country and in the camps. To be realistic, what will people do? This is why the Lebanese government is worried," Major General Munir al-Maqdah, the commander of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, told TNA.

Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, Ain el-Helweh, saw several weeks of intense gun battles in the summer of 2023 after Islamist factions clashed with Fatah security forces. Order was restored with a decision to deploy a joint Palestinian-Lebanese security force in the camp.

Israel out to destroy UNRWA, says agency chief

The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Al-Maqdah said that while a cessation of UNRWA services would negatively impact the camp's social order, it would not renew tensions between factions within Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.


He explained that Israel's military operation in Gaza has created more unity among factions that competed in the past.

"Our position is unified. The situation between the factions in the camps is united; we are all looking at what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank," Al-Maqdah said.

 

Do immigrant deaths at the border influence white and Latinx Americans' belief in the American dream?

by Wiley

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The American dream narrative posits that anyone who works hard can become successful in the US, whereas the systemic racism narrative argues that the US is a racist country where minorities are systemically held back

A survey-based study in Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy has found that these narratives predict individuals' support for the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump or Joe Biden, above and beyond more traditional political ideologies.

In a follow-up experiment in which participants were confronted with news clips of immigrant deaths at the border, white individuals decreased their belief in the American dream and increased their beliefs in systematic racism, while Latinx individuals increased their belief in the American dream and decreased their beliefs in systematic racism.

The researchers noted that the results may help to explain support for the Republican party among Latinx voters.

"For Latino immigrants, the narrative of the American dream offers a path toward assimilation to US culture as well as financial stability. The American dream narrative becomes even more of a source of power and hope when faced with the sacrifices of immigrants crossing borders," said corresponding author Ella Ben Hagai, Ph.D., of California State University.

"A possible reason why white participants did not increase their agreement with the American dream but endorsed a view of the US as a systemic racist country may be because of their psychological need to feel moral when they learn about the deaths of immigrants crossing the border."

More information: Immigrant's death at the border: Do they Influence White and Latinx Americans' Belief in the American Dream?, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy (2024). DOI: 10.1111/asap.12382 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/asap.12382

Provided by Wiley Why do white Americans support both strict immigration policies and dream act?

No foreign interference behind the attack on residence of Nijjar associate: Canada

ByAnirudh Bhattacharyya
Feb 21, 2024

Pro-Khalistan groups, including Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) had alleged that India was responsible for the firing at the home of Simranjeet Singh in the early hours of February 1

Toronto: Canadian law enforcement has said they have not established any links to foreign interference as they charged two teenagers for a shooting that targeted the residence of an associate of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18.

A protest outside India’s consulate, a week after Canada's PM Justin Trudeau raised the prospect of New Delhi's involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on September 25, 2023.

(REUTERS)

In a release on Tuesday, the Surrey detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said, “At the time of this incident, there was speculation circulating that this was connected to foreign interference. Investigators have not established any links to foreign interference in relation to this matter.”

Pro-Khalistan groups, including Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) had alleged that India was responsible for the firing at the home of Simranjeet Singh in the early hours of February 1. They had connected the attack with the fact that Singh had helped organise a protest outside the Indian consulate in Vancouver on January 26. Moninder Singh, spokesperson for the British Columbia Gurdwaras Council and also a prominent separatist in Canada, told the outlet CBC News at the time that Simranjeet Singh “feels like this is the Indian state, or their actors, that are playing their part here to kind of scare them off from…the activism work that he’s doing”.

He also said he believed Simnranjeet Singh’s connection to Nijjar could have been a factor.

The two 16-year-olds have not been named as they are minors. Surrey RCMP spokesperson Cpl Sarbjit K Sangha said that they were arrested on February 12 and the British Columbia Prosecution Service approved charges against them of Discharging a Firearm into a place and Possessing a Loaded Prohibited Firearm. “The youths are currently being held in custody awaiting their next court appearance,” she added.

SFJ had also accused India of being behind shots being fired at a house under construction in Brampton, in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), on February 12, as it belonged to Inderjeet Singh Gosal, who helped organise the so-called Khalistan Referendum in Surrey on September 23 after its coordinator Nijjar was killed. There have been no updates with relation to the investigation into that episode. However, drive-by shootings, targeting residences, mainly for the purpose of extortion, have become rife in both the Lower Mainland region of BC, where Surrey in located, as well as the GTA.

Relations between India and Canada cratered last year when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and Nijjar’s killing. That case is being probed by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).

Israel's finance minister says release of hostages ‘not most important thing'

Hamas demands an end to Israel's offensive in Gaza in return for any hostage deal with Israel.

21/02/2024 Wednesday
AA

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich


Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday that hostages held by Hamas are “not the most important thing” for Tel Aviv.

"No, that's not the most important thing," Smotrich told Israeli public broadcaster KAN when asked if the return of hostages was of utmost importance.

"Bringing them back at any cost is an untrue and irresponsible statement. This is not a competiti

The hardline minister argued that Israel's main goal is to destroy Hamas.​​​​​​​

Israel estimates that at least 134 Israelis are held by Hamas following its cross-border attack on Oct. 7.

Hamas demands an end to Israel's offensive in Gaza in return for any hostage deal with Israel.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, killing nearly 29,195 people and injuring about 69,170 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Awarding gas exploration rights in Gaza's coast evidence of 'subjugation'

Expert disputes Israel's right to sign off on gas exploration rights within Palestine's declared maritime zone under any circumstances

Murat Temizer |21.02.2024 - 


ANKARA

The sign off on gas exploration rights off of Gaza's coast to foreign corporations at a time when Israel is carrying out genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza is further evidence of Israel's goal of total political and economic subjugation of the Palestinian people, according to Susan Power, head of legal research and advocacy at Al-Haq, an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organization based in Ramallah, West Bank.

Power told Anadolu that Israel awarded gas exploration licenses in Zone G, 62% of which fall under Palestine's declared maritime boundaries, which are internationally recognized under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

"Israel has also awarded licenses in Zones H and E, which also fall within Palestine's declared maritime boundaries; 5% of Zone H and 73% of Zone E are in Palestine's boundaries," she said.

She stated that Palestine has declared its maritime boundaries in accordance with UNCLOS principles, a convention to which Palestine is a party.

Consequently, she argued that Israel does not have the right to sign away gas exploration rights within Palestine's declared maritime zone under any circumstances.

She explained that Israel is not a party to UNCLOS, and as Israel maintains that it does not recognize Palestine as a state, it therefore does not recognize Palestine's declared maritime zones.

"However, as an occupying power, Israel does not have the right to extract Palestinian finite and non-renewable resources for commercial gain, as it is doing by signing away gas exploration rights within Palestine's maritime zone," she said.

"Israel's actions to control Palestine's maritime boundaries and sign away gas exploration rights within Palestine's declared maritime zone amount to de facto and de jure annexation of Palestinian territory in favor of applying Israeli domestic law and control to the area in violation of international humanitarian law," she said.

Power noted that under Article 55 of the Hague Regulations and the rules of usufruct, Israel is prohibited from extracting or profiting off of Palestinian natural resources for commercial gain or the benefit of the occupying power.

"Israel has no right to grant these corporations licenses to extract and exploit Palestinian resources. Therefore, the corporations that were granted gas exploration rights by Israel are also in violation of international humanitarian law and norms by depleting the natural resources of an occupied territory," she explained.

What happens in Gaza?

Israel, having killed tens of thousands of civilians in attacks and occupation of the Gaza Strip, announced the results of the tender it organized for exploration in Palestinian waters in December 2022 on Oct. 29 last year, just days after it intensified its attacks in Gaza.​​​​​​​

Within the scope of the tender, the Israeli administration granted licenses to six Israeli and internatiian maritime borders.

On Feb. 5, Adalah, the Legal Center for the Protection of Arab Minority Rights in Israel, sent a letter to the Israeli Energy Ministry demanding the cancellation of gas exploration licenses issued in these areas.

Following Adalah’s request, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and Al-Haq, along with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), similarly issued warnings to companies holding licenses not to carry out any activities in these areas.

ZOONOSIS

Scientists fear the 'fatal' 'zombie deer disease' could spread to humans

The disease is known to affect deer and elk populations

Web Desk Updated: February 21, 2024 



Canadian scientists are wary about chronic wasting disease (CWD), also known as the zombie deer disease spreading to humans. The fatal infection is a neurological condition, which kills almost every animal it infects. The infection is rapidly spreading among the deer population in the US. And the affected deer are left drooling, stumbling, lethargic and with a blank stare.


The disease is known to affect deer and elk populations. The fatal disease is caused by misfolded proteins known as prions and as per a Guardian report, scientists fear that it could evolve and soon affect humans.

Canadian authorities have ordered the testing of any road-killed deer, elk, moose or caribou to mitigate its spread. Once infected, it takes about a year for the animal to manifest symptoms like drastic weight loss, drooling, lack of fear of humans, listlessness, lack of coordination, excessive thirst or urination.

Two cases were reported-- in a mule deer and a white-tailed deer in January, in Kootenay, Canada. About a week ago a case was confirmed at the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, US.

According to scientists, CWD affects non-human primates, monkeys, is highly possible. “Since 1997, the World Health Organization has recommended that it is important to keep the agents of all known prion diseases from entering the human food chain,” a warning issued by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reads.

According to scientists, the disease is probably transmitted via bodily fluids. Transmission could also occur indirectly through environmental contamination, affecting soil, food, or water. According to the CDC, the disease has no cure or vaccine. And what makes it more dangerous, is the prions can persist even after an infected deer or elk has perished, which means other animals could catch the infection from the contaminated surroundings.

END SHIPPING LIVE CARGO

‘Abhorrent’ scenes aboard live cattle export ship as it heads to Iraq


21 February 2024 - 09:59BY TIMESLIVE
The NSPCA humanely euthanised eight cows aboard the ship and others were found dead.
Image: Cape of Good Hope SPCA

The scenes aboard a live cattle export ship that ignited public outrage after docking in Cape Town were “abhorrent”, says the National Council of SPCAs.

The vessel, Al Kuwait, stopped in the city to load feed for about 19,000 cattle on a journey from Brazil to Iraq. It set sail on Tuesday evening.

“The scenes on the vessel were abhorent, with an extreme build-up of faeces and urine and animals having no option but to rest in dams of their own excrement,” said the NSPCA.
The animals had "no option but to rest in dams of their own excrement".
Image: NSPCA


“Compromised animals were discovered, including diseased and injured animals. The NSPCA humanely euthanised eight cows aboard the ship and others were found dead. NSPCA veterinary consultant Dr Bryce Marock ensured treatment of other animals.”

The NSPCA said the incident was a stark reminder that live export of animals by sea was a gruesome and outdated practice, inflicting unnecessary suffering.

The animal welfare organisation thanked government for allowing the ship to dock to load feed for the animals.

“The potential consequences of leaving those animals without sustenance during the arduous journey are unfathomable.

“We appreciate government’s recognition, now more than ever, of the necessity for regulations rather than mere guidelines regarding the export of animals. While a complete ban on live animal exports via sea remains the ultimate goal, we urge government to refrain from authorising another shipment from South Africa until these regulations are firmly established as a matter of utmost urgency.”

Israeli missile attack hits high-security district in Syrian capital

Reuters Published about 2 hours ago

DAMASCUS: Several Israeli missiles hit a residential building in the Kafr Sousa district in Syria’s capital Damascus on Wednesday, Syrian state media reported.

The neighbourhood hosts residential buildings, schools and Iranian cultural centres, and lies near a large, heavily-guarded complex used by security agencies.

US lawmakers hopeful of pause in Gaza war before Ramadan

The district was targeted in an Israeli attack in February 2023 that killed Iranian military experts.

Syrian state news agency SANA said an “Israeli attack” had targeted a residential building but made no mention of casualties.

It published an image of the charred side of a multi-storey building.

Witnesses heard several back-to-back explosions.

The blasts scared children at a nearby school and ambulances rushed to the area, the witnesses told Reuters.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Iran has been a major backer of President Bashar al-Assad during Syria’s nearly 12-year conflict.

Its support for Damascus and the Lebanese group Hezbollah has drawn regular Israeli air strikes meant to curb Tehran’s extraterritorial military power.

Palestine head prepared to govern Gaza once fighting ends

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

February 21, 2024 

Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, takes part in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun on Feb. 20. (Jun Takaku)

RAMALLAH, West Bank--The head of the Palestinian Authority said his organization is prepared to form a “technocratic government” in Gaza once peace is established there.

Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, called for an end to the fighting in Gaza between Israel and the militant Hamas group and laid out a comprehensive peace plan to realize a two-state solution in an exclusive interview on Feb. 20 with The Asahi Shimbun.

Abbas, 88, criticized the Israeli invasion of Gaza as “an ongoing crime of genocide.”

But he added that, “There is a real opportunity to end this tragedy and turn it into an opportunity to implement the two-state solution” based on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

This is the first time that Abbas has spoken with Japanese media since the fighting broke out in Gaza in October 2023.

The Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 in the wake of the Oslo Accords and it governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank. But Gaza has been under the control of Hamas since 2007.

After the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel in October 2023, the Israeli government has not backed down from its objective of destroying Hamas.

While Western and Arab nations are looking toward the Palestinian Authority to become more involved in administering Gaza after the fighting ends, some have also criticized that it has not held elections since 2006 and concerns have also been raised about corruption within the authority.

In November 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden called for a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority to administer both the West Bank and Gaza.

Abbas said the Palestinian Authority had never abandoned Gaza and that it still held responsibility over the lives of Gaza residents.

As for the future administration of Gaza, Abbas said, “We will form a technocratic government of qualified Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for re-establishing the necessary infrastructure for basic services and imposing the rule of law and security.”

Under the comprehensive peace plan being considered by Western and Arab nations, among the topics being discussed are the functioning of such a government, the rebuilding of Gaza and the holding of elections.

The eventual peace plan is expected to include not only recognition of a Palestinian state by foreign governments but also a specific timetable for ending the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza by Israeli troops.

Abbas proposed the holding of an international conference to implement the comprehensive peace plan.

“With Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations, the recognition of Palestine by the European countries and Japan, and to go to an international conference with the aim of implementing the process of ending the Israeli occupation, the Palestinian people will enjoy their freedom and independence and live in safety and peace alongside Israel,” Abbas said.

He also criticized the Biden administration, saying it “did not fulfill its responsibilities to stop the Israeli aggression against our Palestinian people under the pretext of self-defense.”

At the same time, Abbas praised the U.S. statement favoring a two-state solution but said there was a need for “forcing the Israeli occupation authorities to adhere to the political process and the international legitimacy resolutions.”

Abbas also expressed the hope that Japan would recognize the State of Palestine and participate in the international conference to implement the comprehensive peace plan.

“We thank Japan for its support of the political solution on the basis of international law, as well as for its economic support for building the institutions of the Palestinian state,” he said.

(This article was written by Jun Takaku and Fumiaki Sonoyama.)

Black History Month; P.B. Randolph

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Black History Month; P.B. Randolph

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Paschal Beverly Randolph (P.B. Randolph) was a 19th Century magickian, a spiritualist and founder of the Rosicrucian movement in the United Sates.

Like Paul Lafargue he was a mulatto but one who initially denied his Negro roots.

( 8 Oct. 1825 - 29 July 1875 ), physician, philosopher, and author, was born in New York City , the son of William Beverly Randolph, a plantation owner, and Flora Beverly, a barmaid. At the age of five or seven Randolph lost his mother to smallpox, and with her the only love he had known. Randolph later stated, "I was born in love, of a loving mother, and what she felt, that I lived." His father's devotion is questionable. In 1873 Randolph hinted at his own illegitimacy, stating that his parents "did not stop to pay fees to the justice or to the priest."

Randolph 's mother possessed a strong temperament, unusual physical beauty, and intense passions, characteristics that Randolph inherited. Later many, especially his enemies, perceived Randolph as being of "Negro descent," which he denied. Sent to live with his half-sister, Randolph was ignored, unloved, and abused and eventually turned to begging on the streets.

Being born in New York to a 'free black' woman, his reluctance to be considered a Negro at the time is understandable. And since his upbringing was in the time and area of the Gangs of New York, plagued by nativism as it was, it is also understandable.

But by the time of the Civil War he was an outspoken advocate of Negro Rights.

Born poor and of mixed race in 1825 and raised (more or less) by prostitutes in the Five Points slum of New York, Randolph was self-educated and prickly proud. Creating himself, he picked and chose just how "black " to be. He could de-emphasize his African heritage in the face of prejudice--after his suicide, a newspaper said he was "part Spaniard, and inherited all the suspicious distrusting qualities of the people of that nationality. " At other times, he emphasized it, as during his Civil War Black Nationalist phase, when he worked briefly as a teacher for the short-lived Freedman 's Bureau, an agency designed to educate freed slaves but only halfheartedly supported by the federal government.

Yet when some Northerners advocated a scheme to ship freed slaves to Africa, Randolph, speaking for the slaves, emphasized "American: " "We men of color were born here; so were our fathers and mothers down a long line of ancestry....Are all our sufferings to be rewarded by our removal to African deserts and barbaric climes and places?...No! Never! Here is our home, and here we mean to stay, and on this soil will die, and in it be buried. "

And like Lafargue he was an internationalist, traveling and training as well as lecturing in Europe. As with many in the occult movement of the 19th Century he was a social reformer. And like his contemporary Virginia Woodhull, Mrs. Satan, he was an advocate of womens rights and Free Love.

Randolph is to be remembered for his philosophical works on love, marriage, and womanhood. He provided new and unique insight into the then taboo world of sexual love. He aided the education, rights, and equality of both women and blacks. He foresaw the evils of tobacco and drug abuse. Finally, Randolph, through his position as the Americas' first Supreme Grand Master of the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis, directly or indirectly touched the lives of more than 200,000 neophytes (students) comprising the Fraternitas and other Rosicrucian orders.

P.B. Randolph 's life story demonstrates also how reform-minded American Spiritualism turned into "occultism. " Spiritualism was well-intentioned, "scientific " but also passive, linked to social reform (early feminism, the abolition of slavery) but also to faddishness, most notably "free love, " which could, depending on who was talking, mean anything from a partnership of equals to mere spouse-swapping. ( "You and I were meant to be soul mates. ") Occultism, on the other hand, is individualistic, rooted in personal development and self-improvement, and generally not connected to any social or political philosophy.

With the democratic decline in Europe after the revolutions of 1848 and the Paris Commune secret societies were formed for the purposes of pursuing democratic as well as socialist revolution. In England and the Commonwealth they were formed for the purposes of pursuing trade unionism which had been banned as an illegal combination.

That secret societies should form for finding and revealing secret knowledge, was thus a natural outgrowth of this period and was coincidental with the growth and popularity of fraternal orders after the Civil War in America and across Europe.

His patron both in Spiritualism as well as getting him work with Lincoln was Colonel Ethan A. Hitchcock, a noted military officer as well as practicing alchemist. Like other occultists, John Dee comes to mind, he too was also a spy. The secrecy of the occult overlaps with the secret society of intelligence gathering. They share a similar cosmological outlook that is the search for hidden or secret knowledge.

As happens in the Occult community, as in the political one, sectarian differences are frequent and lead to rivalries and mutual denunciations. Such was the case with P. B. Randolph, who is credited with founding the Rosicrucian movement in the United States.

He faced attack by rivals for hegemony over the occult movement in America denouncing him for his Luciferian ideas from the likes of Madam Blavatsky and her Theosophists and from the white supremacist founder of the American Scottish Right of Freemasonry; Albert Pike. Ironic because both of them are also accused of being Luciferians.

Such is the case of 19th Century occult wars not only in America but in Europe where again competing orders of Rosicrucian's charged and counter charged each other as being in league with Lucifer.

The Luciferian charge comes about from Randolph's advocacy of free love, which was also embraced by American Anarchists at the time. His theories were outlined in his book Eulis and in his other famous treatise; Magia Sexualis

Today we would call his practices sex therapy, where he discussed sexual dysfunction with his patients, and as a Doctor he practiced mesermism, the passing of hands over the body to affect the magnetic energies. He also advocated the tantra practice of heightened sensuality by controlling the male orgasm and ejaculation.

 In 1870 he founded the Order of Eulis, which kept its teachings
secret because of the sex and drugs.  Some people must've talked,
though: H. P. Blavatsky denounced Randolph as immoral, a charge also
leveled at the Luciferian Freemason Sir Albert Pike.  An occult war
followed.  In 1872 his "Rosicrucian Rooms" were raided by police and
he was jailed for distributing "Free Love" literature.  Fires,
robberies, and disease followed, and on July 29, 1975, he shot
himself.  His friends and followers claimed that Blavatsky's curses
had nailed him.  Blavatsky founded the philosophical society the same
year.

By the 1870s many of Randolph's writings dealt with 
occult aspects of  love and sexuality.

Randolph, as a physician, also counseled many of his patients on matters of
family relations, marital bliss and the art of love. These acts of kindness and
concern were sometimes taken as conduct condoning "free love."

In February 1872, he was arrested and imprisoned for promoting
"free love" or immorality. Although acquitted of all charges, as it was discovered in
court that the indictment was merely a clever attempt by former
business partners (now enemies) to obtain his book copyrights, Randolph
never recovered from the humiliation of the proceeding.

Although dying at age 49, Randolph was a prolific writer, producing many books
and pamphlets on love, health, mysticism and the occult.

And further confusion was sown with his initiation into a mystical Gnostic cult from Syria/Iraq which mistakenly has been associated with the Yezedi.

The Yezedi created a sensation amongst some 19th Century scholars who had finally discovered a genuine devil worshiping cult. And the devil they worshiped was Lucifer.

Despite my best googling efforts the only references I could find to Ansaireh is that referred back to the region in Syria/Iraq which is named after a Mountain.

Gertrude Bell in her diary refers to visiting the region and the Yezedi who dwelled there. Which may have been the reason the author of the introduction to Magica Sexualis thought Randolph had been initiated into their religious teachings.

During his journeys to Paris, Pascal became aware of several works which were being published in France and Germany dealing with the Ansaireth or Nusairis of Syria. 25 There was much discussion, in the Rosicrucian circles that Randolph traveled in, of the purity and sublimity of the teachings of the Ansaireh. Books by Niebuhr, M. Catafago, Victor Langlois and others told of these mysterious hill dwellers in Northern Syria who were neither Jews, Christians or Muslims. They may well have been the people that modern anthropology has identified as the Yezidi, the devotees of the Peucock god, Melek Ta'aus.

PBR tells how the chief of the Ansaireth, Narek El Gebel, arrived at the Rosicrucian Third Dome in Paris with letters of introduction and then, recognizing Randolph's abilities and character, invited him to come to Syria and to study with the Ansaireth. Randolph went to Syria and was initiated into the Ansairetic Brotherhood. Upon his return to America, he established the Priesthood of Aeth based on the Ansairetic Mysteries

There were a variety of Christian and Islamic sects in the region. Including the Druze and Nusairis and one of the last surviving gnostic sects the Mandaens. As well as Kurds and Yezedi, Sabians all of whom faced persecution from the Turks for being dhimmis.

In another part of this Consular District there seems to have been little change from the old times of rapine and bloodshed in Turkey. I allude to the Ansaireh mountains, stretching from the valley of the Orontes to Mount Lebanon. On a late occasion a member of the Medjlis of Tripoli, passing through a Christian village in pursuit of the revolted Ansaireh, set fire to it, and, when the inhabitants conveyed their moveable property of value into their Church (…), it was broken open and plundered. This case, with many others equally abominable, of simultaneous occurrence, was laid before Her Majesty’s Consul General for Syria, the perpetrators of the outrages being under the jurisdiction of the Pasha of Beyrouth, and will thus have already come under Your Excellency’s notice. (Aleppo, 31st March, 1859; FO 78/1452 (No. 11), Skene to Bulwer, Constantinople)

The author of the introduction to Magica Sexualis is mistaken in associating the Ansairth with the Yezedi. As I said the Yezedi at the time had become somewhat of a sensation amongst certain Christian religious and historical scholars. And the Nusairis refer to an Islamic Shi'a Sunni sect.

Randolphs Rosicrucian Order and his fellow occultists of the time were fascinated with the recent discoveries of Gnosticism and the Gnostic's. Finding a living Gnostic religion which offered initiation would have been more in keeping with their occult traditions.

I suspect Randolph had been initiated into the the mystery religion of the Mandaens. Whose followers were in the same region of Syria at the time.

Within the Middle East, but outside of their community, the Mandaeans are more commonly known as the Ṣubba (singular Ṣubbī). Likewise, their Muslim neighbors will refer to them collectively as the Sabians (Arabic al-Ṣābiʾūn), in reference to the Ṣabians of the Qur'an. Occasionally, the Mandaeans are also called the "Christians of St. John" (a misnomer, since they are not Christians by any standard), based upon preliminary reports made by members of the Barefoot Carmelite mission in Basra during the 16th century.

Other groups which have been identified with the Mandaeans include the "Nasoraeans" described by Epiphanius and the Dositheans mentioned by Theodore Bar Kōnī in his Scholion. Ibn al-Nadim also mentions a group called the Mughtasila, "the self-ablutionists," who may be identified with one or the other of these groups. The members of this sect, like the Mandaeans, wore white and performed baptisms.

The similarity of beliefs about healthy living, not eating meat, avoiding tobacco, reincarnation and sexuality strike me as Mandaean rather than Yezedi.

According to E.S. Drower in the introduction to The Secret Adam, Mandaeans believe in marriage and procreation, and in the importance of leading an ethical and moral lifestyle in this world, placing a high priority upon family life. Consequently, Mandaeans do not practice celibacy or asceticism. Mandaeans will, however, abstain from strong drink and red meat. While they agree with other gnostic sects that the world is a prison governed by the planetary archons, they do not view it as a cruel and inhospitable one.

The Rosicrucian movement he founded still exists today publishing his works;

SEERSHIP; Guide to Soul Sight


The importance of Randolph cannot be underestimated. His works influenced later magickal and occult practitioners including Eliphas Levi as well as the Ordo Templi Orientis in particular Theodore Reuss and Aleister Crowley.