Today almost all Christadelphians belong to the main "Central" fellowship. But, following some disagreements, there have been different groups of Christadelphians:
They do not have priests or pastors, instead each local church has a group of elders who are chosen by the members each year. Most male members take turns to speak each week.
Quezon City
Quezon City, or Q.C., is the largest city of the Philippines. It is just south of Manila. In 2015, it had a population of 2.936 million people. The city, on Luzon island, was named after Manuel L. Quezon, the former president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
Robert Larue Stewart
Robert "Uncle Bob" Larue Stewart (1917-2006) is the founder, former owner and broadcaster of the GMA Network (formerly known as Republic Broadcasting System).
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid is an event that occurred on 31 May 2010. It was in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea, when Israeli naval forces seized an aid flotilla of six ships carrying 663 or 682 pro-Palestinian activists from 37 nations, known as the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla". The activists were trying to breach the blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian supplies.
During the event, Israeli military forces seized a convoy of six ships carrying goods which should be brought to the Palestinian territories in the form of aid. There were 663-682 people on board these ships. The ships were headed to the port of Gaza. Israel had offered them to land at a different port, so that the aid could be inspected, but the crew had declined this offer. During the incident, at least nine people were killed.
The Gaza strip is part of Palestine. It is amongst the most densely populated areas on Earth. About 1.5 million people live on a surface of roughly 493 km².
The Palestinian Authority says that this is an occupied territory. They say, Israel is the occupation force, and it should withdraw, and give the territory back to the Palestinians. Israel has attacked and bombed Gaza several times.
Israel does not see things this way, since they gave over the territory to Palestinian administration in 2005, and have pulled back their troops over time . Meanwhile, Hamas, the Palestinian group which controls the territory, has launched it's rockets at Israel.
Hamas took over the Gaza Strip since the Fatah–Hamas conflict that was after the 2006 Palestinian elections Israel said Hamas to be a terrorist movement. Likewise, Egypt did not agree with Hamas removing the Palestinian Authority officials from Gaza.
The Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip was said to be a safety measure by Israel, but the Free Gaza Movement are opposed. Hamas, along with other groups had been causing trouble there and in southern parts of Israel. The blocked started in 2007. Many countries (like Egypt) feal sorry for the Gaza Strip, a few others (like Iran) hate or some how fear Israel and some (like the USA) agree with Israel.
The Turkish passenger ship Cruse Liner MV Mavi Marmara was trying to take Turkish and Cypriot aid to the Gaza Strip on May the 31st, when the Israeli Navy found it. The 3 year old blockade was upheld by Flotilla 13. The Mavi Marmara was 40 miles from the Gaza Strip when it was raided. 27 British activists, 9 Palestinian, 8 Turks, 2 Irish, 1 Swedish, 1 South African, 1 American and 1 Albanian were on the Mavi Marmara, along with a few others. The Mavi Marmara was followed by the Irish passenger ship MV Rachel Corrie and 4 other minor vessels. The ships carried a total of 663-682 activists and aid workers, including several Turks, several Malaysians another American, an Australian, and a Belgian.
There were in total 663 or 683 people from 37 nations on board the 6 ships in the civilian flotilla. Notable people aboard the flotilla included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan, former UN Assistant Secretary-General Denis Halliday, Israeli-Arab member of Knesset Haneen Zoubi, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel Raed Salah, Swedish novelist Henning Mankell, and a number of politicians from European and Arab national governments and the European Parliament.
Israel said that the other 5 ships were boarded and taken over peacefully, and that the only incidents took place in the "Mavi Marmara", but many reports that several people from the other ships were also wounded.
The flotilla had planned to break through the Gaza blockade, ignoring Israel's plan for the activists to stop at the port of Ashdod and transfer the cargo through there. After the flotilla's activists ignored repeated calls to give in, soldiers from the Shayetet 13 (Flotilla 13) unit boarded the ships at around 04:00 IST
The convoy organizers Arafat Shoukriof, of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM), denied the account of Israeli military. One of the co-organizers of the flotilla convoy, said those on board one ship had called them by telephone to say that Israeli helicopters had arrived to do a surprise raid.
The boarding of the "Mavi Marmara" resulted in violent clashes between activists and Israeli soldiers, though the details are disputed.
Apparently an Israeli helicopter dropped 30 specialist soldiers on to the ship. Fighting then broke out for an unknown reason. An Israeli trooper was thrown over the side of the ship, some aid workers rioted and threw chairs at the Israelis. The Israelis then used tear gas, tasers, stun grenades and smoke bombs to stop the trouble. Later several gun shots were fired by both sides. Finally, at the end of it all, an Albanian woman fell over the side of the ship. The soldiers, who used stun grenades, then asked for government permission to use their firearms, which they then received.
The Israeli military said that the troops were suddenly attacked after climbing down ropes from helicopters onto the deck of the ship. Soldiers were reportedly beaten badly, one was stabbed, and one was thrown in to the sea Two Israelis had their guns taken away. An Israeli commando said that there was live fire at some point against them from below deck. Stun grenades and tear gas were used in an attempt to disperse activists. After this proved ineffective, the commandos requested and received permission to use shoot the resisting activists. The commandos then shot activists in the legs, which forced them to disperse. The commandos reached the bridge and took over the ship after 30 minutes. Some fighting can be seen in videos released by the Israeli military and Free Gaza activists. The Israeli military released 20 videos of the incident,
According to Major Avital Leibovich of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, the activists attacked the soldiers with knives, slingshots, spikes, and clubs, and with pistols that were found by the Israeli troops. Adam Shapiro, a board member of the Free Gaza Movement, said that according to the Al Jazeera correspondents on the ship, the soldiers started opening fire immediately as they came down the ropes.
The wife of the Mavi Marmara captain, Nilüfer Ören, stated that IDF began tracking them after , there were 40 Israeli ships following and snooping on the convoy until the troopers were boarding the ships from helicopters at 04:45 am. She also said that stun grenades and smoke bombs were used. Therefore activists and crewmembers used gasmasks. Norman Paech, a former member of the German parliament Left Party who was aboard the Mavi Marmara said he only saw three activists resisting on his part of the boat and said "They had no knives, no axes, only sticks that they used to defend themselves."
Reporters for Iranian TV and Al Jazeera TV news told of the use of tear gas/CS gas and stun grenades. The Israeli solders said that the activists wore gas masks and ski masks. Neither side were fully believed by the United Nations, who tried not to take sides.
The MV Rachel Corrie gave in and hoisted the white flag of truce when boarded by the Israeli navy.