VIDEO. Violent bloody protest at the Memorial in Burgas, Bulgaria. 2011

You will need to be signed in to youtube to see it, or go to the Bulgarian Website (link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mupvRlG-i8g&

Beat the pastors of Jehovah's Witnesses and wrecked their prayer house.

Story from a Bulgarian Website - Google Translated.

With fists and stones were smeared faces of two of the preachers of Jehovah's Witnesses

Author: Dobromir Doskacharov

Opponents of the sect stormed their church in Burgas distr Slaveykov with stones, a disfigured and severely wounded in the head

Today at 19 hours began protesting sect Jehovah's Witnesses in Burgas, who three days before this gathering supporters on Facebook.Organizers are local voevodes VMRO, led by their leader George Drakaliev.The protest had to be held in complex Slaveykov before the Hall of the kingdom of Jehovah's Witnesses, but grew into a mass melee.

Early protesters penetrated the high walls in the courtyard of the house of prayer and began to swear assembled the door people in suits.These were pastors.Prayer was begun 30 minutes earlier and was dedicated to their most important ritual - the crucifixion of Jesus.

With shouts of "freaks!"and "Die!"several people dressed in black with hoods, attacked with fists first two preachers who stand at the door.Immediately afterwards, about two dozen protesters joined in a mass battle, which was tossing stones piratki and irons.The door of the building was broken and thrown away, and several piratki flew far into the hall for prayers, which were clustered posledvatelite of Jehovah. 

Hell for sekatata lasted about 15 minutes, when teams arrived MI - Burgas.Under police escort had spent two seriously injured yehovisti - with blurred people were evacuated by ambulance.

Thugs. No way do the people in that building deserve to be punched & kicked by hooded thugs!

It is awful to see.

Thugs is right!!! I don't care how much you disagree with them, that was hard to watch.  No one deserves that kind of treatment.

This is terrible!!  Violence is not the way for sure.  It will not deter JWs.  Right to 'peaceful' assembly is still the right and best way.  It would not have worked against me when I was among them.  Right or wrong.

Knowledge and exposure of their own facts will work at best. 

Can't watch. How awful. Hatred and violence towards others is just wrong.

Wow.   That is bad.  I've never heard of anything like that in the states.

It looks like the mob wasn't even arrested!

I saw one ( teen- early 20's) who was leaned over a car and appeared to be cuffed.

I don't condone violence, but I wonder what the motivation of these guys was. 

Edited to add:  I Googled Bulgaria and Jehovah's Witnesses and found a bunch of stuff.  Remember there was an issue about jws becoming an approved religion there over the blood issue.  Of course, the Watchtower side stepped the issue by using deceptive language.  But there was also the ritualistic murder of a jw woman, and her neighbors believed it was due to her Watchtower involvement.  The suspect who was arrested had Watchtower literature in his home, but I can't find anything to say he was a jw.  But this article is interesting:

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=95517Members of the youth organization affiliated with Bulgaria's nationalist political party VMRO (Internal Macedonian Odrin Revolutionary Organization) staged Saturday a protest against the religious sect known as "Jehovah's Witnesses."

The nationalists had burst into Sofia's "Universiada" hall, where the sect is holding its three-day long annual congress. The young nationalists declared themselves against the actions of the sect and appealed to the State to make it illegal.

The mass protest demonstrations, previously announced by VMRO did not take place, however, due to a low turnout. Less than 10 VMRO members came to the rally while the "Jehovah's Witnesses" forum managed to gather several hundred people inside the "Universiada" hall.

According to the Leader of the VMRO's Youth Movement, Angel Dzhambazki, the "Jehovah's Witnesses" were illegal in many European countries.

"They use people's misery and faith, there are sick and miserable people and they promise them salvation, predict the end of the world and then make those people transfer their apartments and properties to some of the sect's leaders. This is almost a military-like organization for fraud and the sale of illusions," Dzhambazki stated.

Some of the nationalists had managed to sneak inside the hall and were briefly detained by the Police for taking pictures without a permit.

The "Jehovah's Witnesses" spokesperson has stated that the VMRO's accusations were lies, adding that the sect's members are known all over the world as peaceful people.

The "Jehovah's Witnesses" congress is continuing Sunday with a dramatic presentation of the Bible while VMRO promised to stage another rally against t the sect.

Yes I too wonder what was behind this.   It looks like they attacked for a while and the jws put the door back up and they came back again and tore the door down. 

 things that could provoke this kind of violence are  protecting pedophiles, rapists and other such things, or the death of someone related to blood.

I'd like to hear why they did this, but still to physically attack innocent jws just b/c they were the attendants, bad.

I'm very happy to see that no one here has condoned this type of violence.  It is just as bad or worse than what some accuse and blame JWs for doing.

That's horrible! Growing up I was always afraid something like this would happen during a meeting or Memorial. No matter what your disagreement is with the ORGANIZATION, it's wrong to take it out on the ADHERENTS, who (although they claim to have free will) really have minimal control over how they think and act.

I hated the violence, and my first thought was that the people in the hall probably went home and talked about how they are persecuted because they have the truth.  Totally counter productive.

I hated the violence, and my first thought was that the people in the hall probably went home and talked about how they are persecuted because they have the truth.  Totally counter productive.

Exactly...if the VMRO wants to protest, they should do it peacefully. Don't assault them, that just makes them look like victims, which is what JWs want! What n00bs!

I have always wondered about things like this, even when completely indoctrinated. A friend of mine had his car broken into during the Public Talk or Watchtower Study one Sunday and I couldn't help but wonder why Jehovah's Holy Spirit couldn't stop that. I've heard all kinds of reasonings like persecution or unforeseen occurrence or sign of the times, etc. But the Israelites allegedly never had to get new shoes during their 40 year trek in the wilderness because of God's protection. I finally got the answer I sought in the form of the words found in the Jim Caveziel version of "The Count of Monte Cristo."  The warden says, "God has nothing to do with it."

This kind of violence is completely unacceptable and it's a form of bullying, especially when these brutes know that over 90% of JWs would have no idea how to defend themselves in an attack (which is another thing that has always bothered me - the discouragement of learning self-defense). Did they actually expect any form of real physical retaliation?

Acts like these against God's people are another hint as to why they are not specially chosen.  Whatever happened to "he who touches you touches the pupil of my eye" or however that scripture went? The CRAZIEST thing is, during times of serenity, it is proof of God's protection. During times of persecution, it is proof of Satan's direct assault against God's people. Post hoc or cum hoc, take your pic. (if you're not familiar with these terms, now would be a good time to google them, latin in origin, good reading).

Anyway, I think it countries where JWs are either outlawed or viciously persecuted, it wouldn't hurt for the attendants to learn CQC.

Well, this certainly isn't going to help anything (may you all have peace!)... except to make them believe they really ARE being "persecuted" for Christ.  Well, for "Jehovah."  Although it's more like the Jews' persecution by the Romans (vs. the christians' persecution by the Jews), it's still heinous... and absolutely uncalled for.  Whatever happened to the pen being mightier than the sword?

Didn't watch it, BTW.  No benefit.

Peace.  Truly.  For everyone.

A slave of Christ,

SA

I've never heard of anything like that in the states.

 

You haven't???  Back in the old days (1940's and even into the '50's, blondie or someone can get the exact dates), JW's in the USA were beaten, put in jail, tarred and feathered, made to drink whole bottles of Castor Oil, all kinds of ill-treatment like that.  Some of it happened in Kentucky, in the same Circuit that I was once in.  Some of the people (including women!) that it happened to were still alive and could tell you first-hand what it was like.  The stories are in the old Yearbooks, and some in the older Awake!'s.  Up in Walkill area the farmers were planning an attack on WT property (and inhabitants).  It went so far as the roads around the property being filled with cars full of men with mayhem in mind and until the last minute, the police were letting it go on. 

I'm not in that area any more but I am still in contact with non-JW locals.  Even now people I know still talk about what they'd like to do to Kingdom Halls and Jehovah's Witnesses.  The hate is not dead in the USA, it's still smoldering.

AnneB

I meant of recent origin.  I sincerely apologize as my own grandparents suffered much indignities. I will say one thing about that time period, some jws made themselves very obnoxious.  Not ever a justification for a mob, but sometimes they just seemed to stand out like a sore thumb.

 I see no reason for your hostility, as I was a jws 4Th generation and do recall hearing all the stories but nothing much since WW2 ,although Vietnam had some problems also. 

I do not recall of late any sort of attacks on KH's but if someone knows of one please tell us.

Unemployed, lazy minded, bigoted fools. They did thier dirty work and deserve to be punished. Won't happen I'm sure. So sorry those witnesses had to suffer that. A little knowledge would have kept them out of that building but they reject learning things objectively. If only they would listen they wouldn put themselves in line for fools like this to abuse. Thanks FDS.