Tag: Palestinian Territories

‘Only jihadists want to see Christians leave the Middle East’

August 6, 2018 Arab Spring, Arabs, Cairo, Canada, Churches, Egypt, Europe, Islamic extremism, Lebanon, Middle East, Migrants, Minorities, North Africa, Palestinian Territories, Refugees, Syria, USA

Around 300 Christians went to Bartella during the Easter weekend of 2017, to have the very first Easter celebration in three years in their home town. A convoy of about 15 buses travelled from Erbil, crossing several Kurdish and Iraqi army checkpoints to reach the church. The people still live in Erbil and cannot go back to Bartella to live or to rebuild. But for this day many take the chance to celebrate Easter in their own church again. (Open Doors International)

“The only people that want to see all Christians leave are some of the violent jihadists,” concludes a new book. “Everyone else, including some we might term as Islamists, desires their continued presence. They recognise that it is Christians who are the leaven that permeates the whole of society.” The . . . Read More

Christians in Gaza fear the arrival of Islamic State

April 11, 2018 Palestinian Territories Egypt, Gaza, Islamic State, Israel, Minorities, Palestinian Territories, Sinai

A street in Gaza city showing flags of different Palestinian political groups and factions. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Reports that militants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State have entered the Gaza Strip through Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula have created fear among local Christians. Fr Mario da Silva told the Spanish Catholic news website ACI Prensa: “There is now a lot of fear with the news that the Islamic . . . Read More

Palestinian father who lost daughter: ‘Don’t be pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel, be pro-justice’

April 5, 2018 Palestinian Territories Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, Education, Egypt, Gaza, Greek Orthodox, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Minorities, Palestinian Territories, Syria, West Bank, Youth

George Saadeh is headmaster of a school where children are taught to "have respect for those who think differently than you". (Photo: Open Doors International)

A Palestinian Christian father whose 12-year-old daughter was killed by Israeli soldiers has spoken about the ongoing conflict and his decision to forgive the soldiers who shot her, just over 15 years ago. Violence erupted once again at the weekend along the Israeli border with Gaza, leaving at least 16 . . . Read More

Do Christians really ‘thrive’ in Israel?

January 26, 2018 Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Jerusalem, Messianic Jews, Orthodox Jews, Palestinian Territories, Tel Aviv, Theophilos III, USA, West Bank

Jews praying at the Western Wall, Jerusalem. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Protests in the southern Israeli town of Dimona have flared up again, two weeks after a meeting centre for Messianic Jews re-opened its doors. The centre was closed in May last year following violent protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews and attacks on the homes of church leaders. Earlier this week a . . . Read More

A Middle Eastern Christian’s view of Pence’s agenda

January 22, 2018 Donald Trump, Egypt, Human rights, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jerusalem, Middle East, Mike Pence, Palestinian Territories, Refugees, Saudi Arabia, Syria, USA, West Bank

A Jordanian Christian trauma counsellor has urged US Vice President Mike Pence to recognise Palestinian statehood to make good his pledge to help Christians in the Middle East. Issam Smeir, who has worked with refugees in the Middle East and in the US, wrote a first-person piece for the Washington . . . Read More

Pence’s plans to help Middle East Christians overshadowed by political storm

January 19, 2018 Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Arabs, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bethlehem, Churches, Copts, Donald Trump, Egypt, Israel, Jerusalem, Jews, Jordan, King Abdullah II, Middle East, Mike Pence, Palestinian Territories, USA, West Bank

US Vice President Mike Pence’s postponed trip to the Middle East goes ahead this weekend amid myriad tensions and a fast-shifting diplomatic landscape. Pence’s trip is a shortened version of the one planned for last month, which was abruptly cancelled when protests erupted at President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem . . . Read More

Trump’s Jerusalem move rejected by Arab Christian leaders, who fear backlash

December 11, 2017 Israel Bethlehem, Donald Trump, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Jerusalem, Jews, Middle East, Palestinian Territories, Tel Aviv, West Bank

Church leaders in the Middle East have voiced grave concerns at US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city and move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. There are an estimated 200,000 Christians in the Holy Land, of whom around 50,000 live . . . Read More

Inquiry finds ‘no evidence’ of World Vision Gaza links to Hamas

March 27, 2017 Palestinian Territories Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Palestinian Territories

An Australian government review has found no evidence of allegations that an aid worker siphoned off millions of dollars to Hamas while he was working for a Christian charity, reports The Guardian. In August 2016, Israel accused Mohammad El Halabi, head of World Vision Gaza, of diverting millions of dollars a . . . Read More

Arab and Jew ‘cross the divide’ through shared faith

October 3, 2016 Israel Arabs, Israel, Jerusalem, Jews, Palestinian Territories

Hisham*, an Arab, and Miriam*, a Jew, are both 16. They grew up in Israel in a climate where suspicion, even full-blown hate, has set the tone of each towards the other. The boy and girl are friends now – their friendship has this one thing in common: a faith . . . Read More

Charity clears mines from Jordan River path

May 17, 2016 Israel Armenians, Churches, Israel, Jordan River, Palestinian Territories

Seven historic churches near the Jordan River site of Jesus’ baptism are to be cleared of mines, making way for more pilgrimages and furthering inter-communal reconciliation. A British charity, the Halo Trust, is undertaking the work on the Israeli side, west of the river, in an area unsafe since the . . . Read More

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