Newsfeed
Palestinian Christians under Israeli occupation speak out
Publication Date: 13/12/2017
Source: TRT
We went to Bethlehem, home to an ancient Palestinian Christian community to hear what they have to say about Christians in the West supporting Israel, Donald Trump’s move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and to see what life is really like for Christians living in the occupied West Bank.
How Orthodox Christians are keeping Easter traditions despite lockdown
Author: Henriette Chacar
Publication Date: 17/4/2020
Source: 972 Magazine
Every year on the eve of Eastern Orthodox Easter, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, revered as the site where Jesus was crucified and resurrected, overflows with thousands of worshippers. They wait on their feet for three, sometimes four hours to witness the miracle of the Holy Fire, which, according to Orthodox tradition, appears from Christ’s tomb.
Christian Adversary ignores Israeli efforts to combat covid-19
Author: Dexter Van Zile
Publication Date: 24/4/2020
Source: Camera
If there was any hope that the COVID-19 pandemic would get anti-Israel commentators in the United Church of Christ to dial back or tone down their animus toward the Jewish state, it was dashed on the afternoon of Thursday, April 17, 2020.
It was dashed when Rev. Dr. Peter Makari, Executive for the Middle East and Europe for the Common Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ, gave a video briefing about the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on countries in the Middle East. The folks who logged onto the Zoom webinar were served up the all-too-predictable “Israel bad, everyone else innocent” narrative about the Middle East that Makari has promoted for years.
'The last generation': How occupation is driving Christians out of Palestine
Author: Peter Oborne
Publication Date: 24/12/2019
Source: Middle East Eye
One week before Christmas. I’m in Manger Square and watching pilgrims descend from buses and make their way to the Church of the Nativity, first built in the fourth century, on the spot where, according to Christian tradition, the infant Jesus was born.
Inside the church I join a party of Spanish pilgrims. We pause to sing carols by Jesus’s crib. There’s no doubting the sincerity or the devotion of those who make the pilgrimage to Bethlehem every year. For me, an Anglican Christian, it is a profoundly moving experience.
'GOD TV' Spat Exposes Tensions Between Israel, Evangelicals
Publication Date: 18/5/2020
Source: New York Times
An evangelical broadcaster who boasted of miraculously securing a TV license in Israel now risks being taken off the air over suspicions of trying to convert Jews to Christianity.
The controversy over “GOD TV” has put both Israel and its evangelical Christian supporters in an awkward position, exposing tensions the two sides have long papered over.
Iran sentences young Christian woman to 10 lashes, three months in prison
Author: Emily Judd
Publication Date: 14/5/2020
Source: Al Arabiya English
Iran has sentenced a young Christian woman to 10 lashes and three months in prison for allegedly demonstrating against the military’s downing of a Ukrainian airplane in January.
Donald Trump Is Complicit in a Catastrophe for Christians
Author: Munther Isaac and Jamal Khader
Publication Date: 6/5/2020
Source: Haaretz
While the world is busy fighting COVID-19, Israeli political parties have reached a government coalition agreement. Benjamin Netanyahu has succeeded in bringing annexation of occupied Palestinian territory to the table, setting a provisional timeframe: Less than two months from now.
He can thank the Trump plan for the confidence to push annexation so hard and so fast.
Iranian Christian Converts Released Following Reduced Bail
Publication Date: 24/5/2020
Source: Persecution - International Christian Concern
In February, four Iranian Christian converts were arrested for membership in a house church in Rasht. Their bail hearing was held on May 14th.
Forbidden Pilgrimage
Author: Ahmad Damen
Source: Palestine Remix - Al Jazeera
Every year, Israel draws millions of tourists to the “Holy Land”. They are told a false history of Palestine – one that airbrushes out the Christians and Muslims who have lived there for centuries.
Tourism is a crucial part of Israel’s economy. In 2013 alone, 3.5 million tourists visited the country, many of them on religious pilgrimage. Israeli tour operators, however, convey a distorted narrative, and for Christian tourists, the censorship is particularly pronounced. Christians’ historic connection to the land is ignored, as is the numerous ways Israel has persecuted Palestinian Christians since 1948.
Christian convert unconditionally released from prison
Publication Date: 2/4/2020
Source: Middle East Concern
Iranian Christians are thankful that Rokhsareh (Mahrokh) Ghanbari has been informed by prison authorities that she is released from her prison sentence.
