Grenfell: By Accident or Design?

A consideration of some of the technical, chronological, iconographic, etymological and occult features of the disaster.

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June 21st — the summer solstice and the longest day of the year — marks the official start of summer. In Norway, people usher in summer with a massive celebration called Slinningsbålet. It's celebrated with a huge bonfire every year on June 24th in the town of Alesund, which sits on the west coast of the country.

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A 'water-shed' moment.

The Grenfell Tower fire will likely be a water-shed moment for many reasons. It has shown basic weaknesses in modern approches to building refurbishment, the materials used in them and an obvious failure in both building regulation standards and their enforcement. 

That it is now stated that there has been a 100% failure rate in the 145 buildings tested - and no doubt this is just a tiny proportion of those of similar construction - seems to indicate that Grenfell was not an isolated incident, but representative of a huge and general failure. When the inevitable fire did break out, it appears to have been compounded by an absence of other safety precautions. 

Manufacturers, designers, installers, building owners, managers, enforcers and government itself, are ALL implicated to greater or lesser extent. Previous cases at home and abroad were clear indicators of what could happen. Complaints and recommendations by tenants and Coroners were effectively ignored. Somehow the whole expensive system of testing and enforcement broke down.

The police (and presumably the HSE which is more technically competent in such matters) are undertaking a criminal investigation we are told. From personal experience, I know how complicated it is trying to identify individual culpability. There is always the temptation for scape-goating. Often because it is impossible to identify just one causal factor, no one is held criminally responsible. Civil claims for compensation are a whole different ball game.

What is clear is that fire has identified a huge and expensive problem facing the country with potentially thousands of building inherently unsafe and fire traps. Just as the Fire of London had a profound effect on a change structures from wood to stone and incorporating other features such as fire separation and organised response, so this latest incident will require a fundamental technical and social shift.

In view of the horrendous cost of wholesale cladding replacement to exteriors, given that fire must be initiated internally first, greater attention may be directed towards automatic fire suppression internally as being an adequate response to the risk. We shall see.

Either way, both here and abroad, it is certain the tragedy will redirect attention to the issue of external cladding and a considerable tightening of standards if it is to continue. Ironically, the removal for health reasons, of asbestos as a building material - a substance that would have lent itself to cladding in former times for its inflammability - may have created dangers of a different sort.

The causes of building fires


Fires in buildings have a range of causes from 'act of god' such as lighten strike; pure accident as perhaps a spark from a chimney lighting a thatched roof; a mechanical/electrical malfunction; negligence as perhaps an unattended chip pan; reckless behaviour; to intentional acts which we term 'arson'. 

It is alleged the Grenfell falls into the third category but the final three have not, as far as am aware, been ruled out as of yet. Were it to be proved that there were ritualistic elements to the incident, it would be a strong indicator of a sophisticated operation that could only be carried out by some deep-state organisation to whom such things were important. 

That such a thing exists, and has existed in Britain, is beyond doubt only recently confirmed by the dying MI5 assassin John Hopkins. Ritual is deeply embedded in certain influential elements of western and British society in which pre Christian festivities based on celestial events are still celebrated and in particular the wimter and summer solstices and equinoxes that divide them.

Adequate Risk Assessment?

There is no doubt the fire brigade responded quickly and heroically but by the same token the fire demonstrated clear the limitations inherent in the arrangements. Firstly the basic premise that people should remain in their flats obviously took no account of the possibility of an external fire. This despite numerous examples both at home and abroad, that showed this to be a very real possibility. 

Because the basic philosophy was flawed, no provision was made for a general alarm system. There can be little doubt if all the people in the block had been advised as soon as it was known the fire had taken hold outside, to leave in an orderly fashion via the staircase, many lives would have been saved. Many took that precaution and survived.


But in addition it may be questioned whether just one staircase for 24 floors could in any way be considered adequate for general evacuation nor the implications for firemen trying to make their way up if all the tenants were coming down. Given the "Towering Inferno", given the Twin Towers, given the requirement for specific fire risk assessment, how is it possible these scenarios were not foreseen and catered for?

Zinc to Aluminium

The BBC has announced today that to save money (£293,368) the specification was changed from zinc to aluminium but this is not the central issue. Neither metal burns. 

It is the material in the middle of the laminated structure - in this case polyethylene commonly called 'polythene' - that is at issue.

When subjected to heat it will first melt and then burn. So the principle question is why was the cheaper flammable plastic material allowed to be used? Was it specified by the architectural professionals and allowed by building control or was substitution or deceit involved? The Times story that the cladding has never actually been paid for, certainly complicates the issue and adds a distinctly 'fishy' note.

It appears that in the case of another London Borough - Camden - where the same contractors were employed, the fire retardant materials specified were not actually used, and the Council is considering suing the companies concerned. Was it the same situation in Kensington and Chelsea or not?

Can the polythene sandwich explain the fire intensity and spread?

But I do have a more fundamental problem relating to the nature of the fire and the speed with which it spread. Basically as far as we can tell three materials were actually involved, leaving aside the fixing arrangements. These were first the aluminium and polythene construction of the panels and second the insulation material affixed to the face of the building itself. (MDF or softwood was also used for soffits either externally or internally I cannot tell which clearly was also a factor) In both cases there are fire resistant variants. In the case of the panels it appears these were not specified or used as the case may be. The same question arises for the insulation panels (Celotex RS500 Polyisocyananurate) Of course isocyanates in fume are highly irritant and dangerous.

The Celotex throughout can be seen to be charred or missing. To what extent did it contribute flammable or toxic (cyanide) fume to the fire? Even so it is hard to see how just 3 mm of polythene, protected from oxygen in a non-flammable aluminium panel could have generated such intense (white hot) heat and spread so quickly in a wide arc of flame in apparently two different directional planes at the same time? This obviously requires detailed scientific examination and elucidation. I see no reason why the results of all the tests should not be made immediately available to the public.



A 'Thought Experiment'

If we advance with the hypothetical thought experiment, if in fact Grenfell wasn't an accident at all but an intentional act of sabotage as a coordinated part of a much wider effort, what would have been required? It certainly arrived as the fourth of four events whether it was labelled 'terrorist' or not.

Someone would have had to have thought up the idea although hardly an original one, if it was based on the 9/11 model. The latter is proof that such plans can be made and the means found to implement them. It requires ownership control or access to it. In both cases there needs to be cover for the insertion of the necessary structural changes to support the means of destruction.

In the case of Grenfell, how was it possible that all the usual defences designed to prevent flammable materials being used, were negated? The manufacturer's advice was ignored? The architect specification was ignored? The quantity surveyor didn't pick it up? The main contractor didn't spot the danger? The installation contractor didn't know? No one warned the owners and management agency? The building inspectors didn't notice a breach of the Building Regulations? If so this was compound failure.

Then there is the claim by the Times that the cladding was in fact never paid for by virtue of the first firm going bankrupt but then taken over by effectively the same management.  Effectively the same entity took over and finished the job but the suppliers of the materials were never paid over £400 000 owed to them. 

Doesn't this raise very profound questions about the role of both manufacturer and installer? How was it that the Manufacturer still honoured the supply of the cladding when they had not been paid? Would they not have sought to retrieve the unused stock? Would they have entered into another agreement with a firm that they knew had defaulted?

Even for a large firm, £400 000 is no small sum. What persuaded it to be so relaxed over the loss? Is it just possible it was compensated from a different source anxious for that material to be used? 

We now learn that at least one executive of the firm manufacturing the Celotex product was in fact a standing member of the committee that reviewed, and made recommendations concerning the Building Regualions. 

The Times has revealed (1.7.2017) that Mark Allen, technical director of Saint Gobain UK which makes Celotex is on the Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) Scotland Yard has confirmed that the Celotex RS 500 boards fitted to the face of the building for insulation purposes had proved "highly flammable". The product has now been removed as suitable for high rise work although it is probable it has already been installed in many hundreds, if not thousands of such locations. There has been much criticism that the Building Regulations have not been updated for more than ten years, and in the words of the Fire Protection Association, "not fit for current refurbisment methods and materials."

Saint Gobain is a French multi-national corporation and global brand that states: 

"Accounting for almost 70% of the Group’s sales, Habitat is Saint-Gobain’s main market. With a unique and diversified portfolio of materials and services that improve the energy efficiency and thermal, acoustic, visual and health comfort of buildings, Saint-Gobain provides solutions for the external envelope (roofs, facade coatings, external insulation systems, insulating glazing, etc.) and the internal lining (insulation, plasterboard, ceilings, etc.). They are used in all types of residential renovation projects (single and multi-unit dwellings)."   

Originally founded in Paris in 1665 - a year before the Great Fire of London - as a manufacturer of mirrors, the first unblemished mirrors being produced in 1666. 1678, the company produced the glass for the famous Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. It now produces a variety of construction and high-performance materials. The well-known firm of Jewsons is part of it.

Saint Gobain himself, is a little known Irish Benadictine mystic and spiritual student of Saint Fursey in Norfolk, England. He accompanied Fursey to France, where they lived as hermits in the forest of Coucy (Aisne). He was murdered by non-Christian raiders while in that forest in the year 670 AD. His saint's day is observed on, rather coincidentally given the solstice information given above, on June 20.





Visual impact and similarity to Twin Towers


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Perhaps the first and most obvious thing to observe is the iconic image and the way it replicates those of the Twin Towers on 9/11. Although visual similarity cannot prove common cause, the fact that the explanation for the collapse of the buildings has been proved to be a pack of lies certainly gives cause for caution in any similar incident. Nothing said by the American government about it is or was true. We are therefore justified in questioning everything said, and to be said, by the British government about Grenfell. This position has already been validated by the limited and confusing information (or lack of it) on deaths, casualties and causes.



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"Grenfell" and its mythological and military associations

This particular tower was chosen for the ten million refit and only this one. Why? Could it have been influenced by its name? 

"Grenfell Tower" we discover appears to have been named after Grenfell Road which ran to the south of the structure and the road itself was named after Field Marshal Lord Grenfell (1841 – 1925), a senior British Army officer who had a notable army career.

The name Grenfell itself might loosely considered to be "Green Valley" but the 'fell' might be considered rather ominous given the eventual undoubted fate of the building. 'Gren' has various early derivations in Norse. For example: 

Danish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse grein (“branch”).

Noun[edit]

gren c (singular definite grenen, plural indefinite grene)

1. branch
2. twig, spray (small branch)
3. bough
4. prong

The theme is continued in this computer game.


From: Magical Wiki here: http://magicalstarsignmagicalvacation.wikia.com/wiki/Gren

"Gren is the wood planet and mostly covered by jungle and woodland areas. Native inhabitants contain Felines and Salamanders. The salamanders used to live in the giant tree of  Yggsalad, but were thrown out because of pirate otters. At one point the entire planet of Gren was set on fire. Gren is second closest planet to the sun, but also one of the slower moving planets. When one of the Wood Alignment is in proper alignment it will be maintain it's aura for a considerable amount of time compared to Razen."


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We are I am sure familiar with the association of mid summer rites with forests and woods and in particular with the goings on a Bohemia Grove - an Illuminati ritual involving both fires and sacrifice. 


If the fire was intentional, was it chosen partly for its name and the association it gave it to the mythological  arboreal setting?

Other esoteric considerations of the disaster

That there was a catastrophic failures in design and procedures is obvious. Whether it resulted from ignorant, incompetent or mendacious causes awaits to be seen.  It is very strange however how the timing and other factors sit with other terrorist and occult features. Some have suggested this went far beyond a tragic accident, so something more akin to the circumstances of the events of 9/11 in New York. On a superficial level it certainly appears to have many similar visual and emotional similarities. Others have suggested this could be something more than accidental and that other highly coincidental factors might act as subtle indicators.



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We are living through a period of fetid terrorist events that never seem to add up. The three that occurred immediately prior to the Grenfell fire must at least raise a question as to whether it was terrorist in nature in some way? Strangely although the precise cause has not been finally determined, in contrast to Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge where a terrorist element was immediately identified, the possibility of deliberate arson in the case of Grenfell seems never to have been an option, in public at least.


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Nevertheless the significance of the timing cannot be overlooked, first as regards to the way it followed these previous attacks. More specifically that it was eleven days after the London Bridge incident. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of these events will be aware of the significance of of the number and its multiple, twenty two, that has cropped up so many times that it cannot be just chance. 

From https://forum.davidicke.com/showthread.php?t=108214 we read: 

"Eleven The number of destruction and judgment and the death of man. Any event or thing assigned with 11 is to aid the rising of the
Dajjal/anti-Christ In Latin the Devil's name is LVX which translates as (50+5+10=65=6+5=11) Armistice Day/Remembrance Day November involves three elevens making 33."
Of course the events of 9/11 weirdly resonate both with the twin towers and with Grenfell itself. When we add to the mix the fact that the official explanation for 9/11 is a pack of lies, never challenged by the British Government, we have genuine cause for concern the response to Grenfell will be equally nefarious.

Summer Solstice

But perhaps even more strange is the fact that the fire on the 14th day of June was just seven days prior to the summer solstice or longest day that has deep ritualistic roots of both fire and sacrifice. The visual similarity of the two images at the top of the page cannot be doubted. Is this purely coincidental?

The 14th June also just happens to be "Flag Day" in the United States. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened on June 14, 1777, by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. It was also exactly 101 years since President Woodrow Wilson issued the proclamation establishing the day. It is also the official birthday of the American Army.

In another strange coincidence, the same day saw an alleged terrorist event in an American baseball game. A gunman opens fire at a Congressional Baseball practice, injuring five people, including United States Congressman Steve Scalise who was in critical condition. The suspected gunman later died from injuries after exchanging gunfire with Capitol Police. 

All the parallels with European terror events need not be enumerated. Strong circumstantial evidence suggests these are all related and linked to American/Israeli/European/military/secret service origins rather that the blamed Muslim extremist organisation under the various names applied to it.

Room 16, 4th Floor

It just so happens 16 years have elapsed since 9/11. Four fours are 16 obviously. Four cubed equals 64. There happens be just 64 British Free Masons who have been awarded the Victoria Cross, to whom a memorial was only dedicated (by the Duke of Kent) on 25th April, 2017 on the tercentenary of the foundation of the Masons in Britain, eight weeks and a day before Grenfell. Eight happens to be the number of the sun and the sun worshiper. It takes eight years for Venus to orbit the sun 13 times which is significant to many occult groups including the Illuminati. Perhaps it is worth noting Leister Crowley wrote a book called 'Book Four' which was a complete guide to Magic.



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Addendum - The Ancient Roots of Ritualistic Metaphor.

Growing up in a Talmudic or Biblical environment, it is impossible not to see life but through ritualistic, metaphorical and etymological eyes - not to mention whilst at it, the significance of numbers and dates. Other religious and nationalist groups have their own distinctive mythology. 

The importance of these perspectives cannot be over-stated because they may be key to the mind-set of those that rule the human affairs on planet earth. 

The Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac.

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The physical world, complete with all its technical innovation and destructive power, is a manifestation of rational thought but these earlier belief systems, handed down over millennia, codified in terms of religious belief and associated ritual, have deeper influence.

The strange thing is, humans seldom enquire of or question the cultural underpinning of their psychological outlook or world view because it is taken as a given. Indeed the rational man may scoff at its significance whilst spending all his waking hours playing Dungeons and Dragons or similar computer games filled with trolls and fairies!

So it behoves anyone who wishes to understand human behaviour and particularly the influential individuals or organisations that effectively control world events, to look beneath the superficial at the psychological belief systems that drive their actions and objectives, however irrational they may appear.

Nor can we afford to pour scorn on those that highlight the fact that ritual elements frequently, in fact invariably, play a part in certain sorts of violent 'terrorism' to which to greater or lesser extent the world is currently subjected. 

Just as it is a feature of some psychopaths to subject their victims to ritualised abuse to fulfil some deep-seated need, so we must recognise that many terrorist events - surely by definition planned and executed by such a category of person - operate on levels of meaning, the deeper of which we should always be alert to, and which may provide clues as to authorship of the event.

The ritual content or context can never be taken as infallible, as in such esoteric territory it may always be put down to coincidence or the overactive imagination. We are all familiar with the favourite put-down of "conspiracy theorist" which has been used very effectively in the public domain to silence and cover-up the most horrendous of crimes. One does not have to believe the mythology to expose it.


Fire and Sacrifice


http://www.greenlifestylemag.com.au/files/imagecache/node/askg/SolsticeLogoFire_sm.jpg

The human veneration of fire is probably as old as man himself and it is not hard to see why. It must have appeared to have magical properties, particularly as it related to cooking and the smelting of metals. It was also central to survival and a modicum of comfort. But perhaps even more important was the features it shared with the sun that gave it its special significance, namely light and heat and its transforming power. 

It was impossible to explain either of these phenomena in what today we would regard as scientific terms, but one thing they knew from observation and experience, and that was that the whole of life was cyclical and dependant on that celestial sphere. It appeared to decline and move away from mid-summer onwards. There was no guarantee it would return, hence the archaeological and oral evidence for fire and sacrifice at both summer and winter solstice.

The need to supplicate and propitiate whatever forces - call them Gods - that ruled the universe to ensure the return of the sun, must have appeared paramount. Using fire to emulate it and gifting in terms of animal or even human sacrifice, must have appeared necessary. We find the concept of sacrifice embedded deeply in most religions and cultures. The following image depicts it in relation to central and south American civilisations.


Maya and Aztec Human Sacrifice

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The Viking blót sacrifices

"It was always important for the Vikings to be on good terms with the gods. In order to ensure that this was the case they made “blót” sacrifices. The blót was an exchange, in which they sacrificed to the gods in order to get something back in return. For example, this might the gods’ goodwill regarding weather, fertility or luck in battle." 

Taken from: http://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/religion-magic-death-and-rituals/the-viking-blot-sacrifices/

The "Burnt Offering"

Are there apparent ritual features of the Grenfell Fire?



So in this context let me focus on just one recent incident - the Grenfell House fire. Previous articles of mine have concentrated on practical aspects of the fire and its investigation. In this one I attempted to highlight the rather strange and fascinating symbolic features that may be purely coincidental or by design. If the latter was the case, the cause of course could not be other than criminal.

Only you can decide.


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I found this following reference to Gren, particularly as it relates to the visual representation accompanying it interesting.

Guest apartments for scientists

Wenner-Gren Foundations offer apartments for foreign guest researchers working in laboratories in Stockholm. The Center is situated close to the city center as well as to the University of Stockholm, the Royal Academy of Sciences, the Karolinska Institute, the Karolinska Hospital, the Royal Institute of Technology and the Stockholm School of Economics. Those who are accepted as tenants receive a scholarship (subsidy), which reduces the rent considerably.

http://www.swgc.org/images/layout/wenner-gren-logo.png




Relevant Jewish Historical Symbolism?

Jews (and others) remember an horrific massacre that took place about 200 Km SW of Paris, near Orleans, on May 26th, 1171 - though no longer celebrate it, on the 20th of Sivan (now the 14th June). 

• 20th of Sivan, 5777 = Wed, 14 June 2017
• כ׳ בְּסִיוָן תשע״ז

In this early period a wicked rumour that Jews required christian blood for their rituals ciculated. There was also widespread anti-semitic feeling in medieval Europe leading to persecution and even massacre. It also led to general banishment from France in 1180 or there abouts.

(How strange these ideas keep recurring today but now focusing on what is termed the 'illuminati' that may or may not include Jews within its number - the most notorious example of which was the so-called "Pizzagate" scandal.)

The whole Jewish community of Blois was sententenced to be burned alive in a building and this was carried out.

There were apparently thirty one or thirty two "Martyrs of Blois" The anguished lament was instituted, "O daughters of Israel, weep for the souls that were burnt for the sanctification of the Name, and let your brothers, the entire House of Israel, bewail the burning."

There is an obvious, but not necessarily significant, correlation here between the circumstances and remembrance of Blois and the fire at Grenfell both falling on the same day.

See also:  http://www.yeshiva.co/midrash/shiur.asp?id=21441

The following is reproduced from: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112387/jewish/The-Martyrs-of-Blois.htm

The Martyrs of Blois

(circa 1171)

By Nissan Mindel
Published and copyrighted by Kehot Publication Society

The 20th of Sivan is the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Jews of Blois, victims of the first ritual murder accusation in France, more than 800 years ago.

Blois is a city in France, on the river Loire, not far from Orleans. It is not a large city (its present population is about 25,000), but it has the "distinction" of being one of very few cities in France, or for that matter in all of Europe, where there has been no Jewish community for the past 800 years. Jews simply shunned that horrible place, where the Jewish community was so cruelly destroyed as a result of a false ritual murder accusation in 1171.

Many have been the false accusations made by the enemies of the Jews as an excuse for killing and robbing them. But none was more wicked than the accusation that Jews require Christian blood for the Passover matzoth or for other bizarre, fictitious rituals. The first such accusation was made in Norwich, England, in 1144. It was repeated in several other British cities in later years. From there it spread to continental Europe, where the blood libel in Blois was the first of many to follow from time to time, down to the latest times (Beilis case in 1911), in practically all Christian lands. This vicious slander cost the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocent Jewish men, women, and children. But the hatred it bred among the Christians towards the Jews was one of the main causes of Jewish suffering and persecution in Christian lands throughout the centuries.

The story of the burning of over thirty Jews (forty, according to some accounts), men and women, at Blois was recorded by Rabbi Ephraim of Bonn, a great Talmudic scholar (he was one of the Tosafists) and paytan (religious poet), who lived at that time. Rabbi Ephraim ben Yaakov (born in 1132 and died about the year 1200) witnessed also the terrible massacres perpetrated against the Jews by the Crusaders. He recorded all those tragedies and the heroism of the martyrs, and composed penitential prayers and lamentations in their memory. The following account of the Martyrs of Blois is taken from his historical work.

It happened in the year 4931 (1171). At that time there lived in Blois about forty Jews. One of them, Isaac ben Eleazar, rode up to the river one Thursday, toward evening, shortly before Pesach. It so happened that a stable servant rode up at the same time to water the horse of his master. The Jew bore on his chest an untanned hide, but one of the corners had become loose and was sticking out of his coat. When, in the gloom, the servant's horse, saw the white side of the hide, it was frightened and sprang back, and it could not be brought to the water.

The Christian servant was a simple peasant, who had often heard the priest preach in church that Jews used Christian blood for their Passover matzoth and wine, warning all his flock to keep a watchful eye over their children during the Passover season. Now, when his horse took fright, he hastened back to his master and said: "Hear, my lord, what a certain Jew did. As I rode behind him toward the river in order to give your horse a drink, I saw him throw a little Christian child, whom the Jews have killed, into the water. When I saw this I was horrified and hastened back quickly for fear he might kill me too. Even the horse under me was so frightened by the splash of water, when he threw the child in it, that it would not drink!"

The servant knew that his master would rejoice at the misfortune of the Jews, because he hated a certain Jewess, influential in the city. He was not mistaken, for his master said, "Now I can have my vengeance on that woman and the rest of the Jews."

The next morning the master rode to the ruler of the city, Theobald, son of Theobald, Count of Blois (son-in-law of King Louis VII of France). The Christians called him "the Good," but he was a wicked, cruel man.

When the ruler heard the accusation he became enraged and had all the Jews of Blois seized and thrown into prison, where they were all put into iron chains. The only exception was that influential Jewish woman, Dame Pulcelina, whom the count admired for her wisdom and beauty. She had often been able to get favors from the ruler for the Jewish merchants of Blois. But now, the Count's wife (Alix, daughter of the king) gave strict orders to the servants not to allow her to speak to her husband for fear she might get him to change his mind.

The ruler had no evidence against the Jews, except for that half-wit stable servant. The Count was ready to make a deal with the Jews and free them for a large sum of ransom money. He sent a Jew to the neighboring communities and asked them how much they would give to free their brethren. The Jews consulted with the imprisoned hostages, and the latter advised offering only one hundred pounds, in addition to their uncollected debts from Christian debtors amounting to the sum of one hundred eighty pounds. The Jews in the dungeon told their brethren in other communities not to pay a high ransom for their lives, lest the Christians should find it profitable to imprison Jews for ransom.

However, nothing came of the negotiations, because the Bishop arrived on the scene and insisted that the Jews should be condemned to die, and that he would "prove" their guilt.

The priest told the Count to have the witness tested by the ordeal of water, to discover if he had told the truth. The test was to be arranged as follows: A huge tank would be filled with water, and the servant who "saw" the Jew throw the child into the river would be put into it. If he floated, his words were true; if he sank, he had lied.

The Count of Blois commanded that the test be carried out forthwith. Now the priest had so arranged in advance that the servant should not sink in the water. Such was justice in those days. The Jews were found guilty on the basis of that water test, and condemned to be burned alive.

At the wicked ruler's command they were taken and put into a wooden house around which were placed thornbushes and faggots. As they were led forth, they were told, "You can save your lives if you will leave your religion and accept ours." The Jews refused. They were beaten and tortured to make them accept the Christian religion, but still they refused. Rather, they encouraged each other to remain steadfast and die for the sanctification of G‑d's Name.

At the Count's command two of the leading Jews, both kohanim, Rabbi Yechiel the son of Rabbi David haKohen, and Rabbi Yekuthiel the son of Rabbi Judah haKohen, were taken and tied to a single stake to be burned in front of the others, so as to make the others convert. They were both saintly and pious men of great Torah learning, being the disciples of RabbeinuYaakov Tam and Rabbeinu Shmuel ben Meir, the grandson of Rashi. A third prominent Jew, Rabbi Judah the son of Aaron, was also tied with them to the stake. At the ruler's command, fire was set to the faggots. The fire spread to the cords on their hands so that they snapped. The three Jews came out of the fire, and called to the Christians who had assembled to watch them die: "By your own laws you should let us go free, for you see that we came out alive from the ordeal by fire!" They struggled to get out, but they were overpowered and pushed back into the house, and the house was set on fire. They came out again and seized one of the executioners and dragged him along with them towards the fire. When they were right at the fire, the armed soldiers pulled themselves together, rescued the Christian from their hands, killed them with their swords, and then threw their bodies into the fire.

A certain Jew by name of Rabbi Baruch ben David haKohen was there and saw all this at that time with his own eyes. He lived in the territory of that ruler and had come there to arrange terms for the release of the Jews of Blois, but unfortunately did not succeed. However, a settlement was made by him for one thousand pounds to save the other jews of that accursed ruler. He also saved the scrolls of the Torah and other sacred books.

This terrible atrocity happened on Wednesday, 20th of Sivan, in the year 4931 (May 26th, 1171). All the facts were written down by the Jews of Orleans, a city close by to that of the martyrs, and made known to Rabbeinu Yaakov ben Rabbi Meir, Rashi's grandson and greatest Rabbi of his time.

It was also reported in that letter that as the flames mounted high, the martyrs began to sing in unison a melody that began softly but ended with a full voice. "The Christians came and asked us, 'What kind of a song is this, for we have never heard such a sweet melody?' We knew it well, for it was the hymn Oleinu -- "It is our duty to praise the L-rd of all... for He has not made us like the nations of the lands...'"

Rabbi Ephraim of Bonn records the amazing fact, as, witnessed by the said Rabbi Baruch, that the bodies of the martyrs were not consumed by fire; only their souls were released. When the crowd saw it, they were amazed and said to one another, "Truly these are saints." For a long time, the thirty one (or thirty two) martyrs of Blois were not allowed to be buried. They were left at the bottom of the hill on the very spot where they were burnt. It was only later that Jews came and buried their bones.

Rabbi Ephraim adds the anguished lament, "O daughters of Israel, weep for the souls that were burnt for the sanctification of the Name, and let your brothers, the entire House of Israel, bewail the burning."

All the communities of France, England, and the Rhineland took upon themselves to observe the 20th of Sivan as a day of mourning and fasting. This was also confirmed by Rabbeinu Yaakov ben Meir, who wrote letters to them informing them that it was proper to fix that day as a twenty-four hour fast day. (Rabbeinu Yaakov Tam died in the third week after the Kiddush Hashem in Blois.)

Ramadan

http://www.ramadan.quotesms.com/images/ramadan-images/ramdan-images17.jpg

Observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (Sawm) to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to Islamic belief. 

The word Ramadan comes from the Arabic root ramiḍa or ar-ramaḍ, which means scorching heat or dryness. In 1917 it occurred from Friday 26th May and ended in the evening of Saturday, 24th June, 2017; namely 19 days prior and ten days after the Grenfell fire. 

The practical effect was at the time the fire broke out, many Muslim families were apparently celebrating with friends by breaking their fast after the sun had set. In other words it is unlikely that for these individuals and for the total number affected, it could not have happened at a worse time, unless of course this was part of an intentional calculation?

See also:

http://veaterecosan.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/grenfell-disconnected-jottings-httpsuk.html

http://veaterecosan.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/grenfell-house-fire.html

http://veaterecosan.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/grenfell-fire-discussion-of-safety.html

http://veaterecosan.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/shades-of-911-major-fire-in-london.html