All he had to hear was Surf's Up and this Californian grabbed his board and his camera
and headed for . . . Gaza!
Not many Americans
ever see the inside of Gaza, that war-torn spit of no-man's land tucked between
the southern edge of Israel and the northern flank of Egypt, but after hearing stories about
surfing in the Middle East, Alex Klein decided to make that the subject of his first
documentary film,
God Went Surfing With The Devil.
"The funny thing about Gaza," says Klein, "is that it's considered Shangri-La
for Israeli surfers. They think it's some kind of wave paradise. It's just ten
miles down the coast, but to hear them talk, it's got such mythical status you'd
think it was Indo. I had to see for myself."
Discrimination and persecution blamed
August 08, 2008
Assyrian International News Agency http://www.aina.org/news/20080808021621.htm
The divide between Egypt's Coptic Christian community and the Muslim majority is growing bigger as an increasing number of Christians are cutting ties with Muslim neighbors and turning to the Church for all their social needs.
Many Christians in Egypt are now sending their
children to schools run by the Church, letting their children play on
all-Christian soccer teams, and moving to all-Christian neighbourhoods.
The trend is in part a reaction to increased persecution by Muslim
extremist groups that have grown in Egypt in recent years.
Holy Land conflict needs courageous leaders and
gestures,
says new patriarch
Jerusalem always
has a world dimension,” Archbishop Fouad Twal said as he
explained that he doesn’t carry the burden of leading the Church
in the Holy Land all by himself. “The problems are not only for
me, they must be for all Christians outside and for the Church.
The Church must be involved in finding a solution, involved in
helping the Christian community to stay there. And I have asked
a lot of bishops to feel co-responsible… everyone must feel that
Jerusalem is his own mother Church.”
Even though many reports emphasize the dwindling numbers of
Christians, Archbishop Twal told CNA that “you will be surprised
to see how prayerful, how dynamic” the parishes in the region
are.
Archbishop Twal insists that progress has been made in the past
year because "the [politicians are starting] to consider that
maybe this religious leader…can have an influence on our
faithful and change the mentality for more cooperation.” He
continued, “We cannot resolve the problems but we are sure that
the politicians without us cannot solve the problem.” Together
in a “partnership with our people and with Muslims and Jews we
can create a new mentality for more peace and more collaboration
and less for hate.”
Christians Excavate Holy Land Treasures for Summer Fun
By Julie Stahl http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33855
Ramat Rachel, Jerusalem (CNSNews.com)
– Imagine spending your summer vacation covered with dust, swinging a pickaxe into stones that are thousands of years old.Dozens of Christian volunteers and students from around the world are spending a month this summer doing just that -- digging for artifacts from biblical times at an archeological excavation on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Trail through Israel's north follows
in footsteps of Jesus
A chance to get off
the bus and the beaten path in the Holy Land: A four day (or
shorter) walk in the Galilee in the footsteps of Jesus on the
Jesus Trail
By LAURIE COPANS
Associated Press Writer
Published on: 06/20/08
2008/06/20/jesus_trail_israel.html
MOUNT OF BEATITUDES, Israel (AP) — A dirt path begins across the road from a
bus-congested holy site on Israel's Sea of Galilee, winding up a hill covered
with wild oat and thistle. Thousands of pilgrims each year visit the stone church at Tabgha and other
sanctuaries marking Jesus' miracles. But few venture beyond the crowds to the
landscape Jesus walked in the Galilee. Those who do find silence and solace on
the rocky hills and in the shade of the olive trees that cover the plains.
Now a private Israeli project has set down a 40-mile hiking path, called the Jesus
Trail, through the region where Jesus ministered.
Pilgrims can sleep near the start of the trail in Nazareth, the town Jesus lived in as a boy, and travel each day to the start of a section. Or they can stay at the occasional guest house offered by kibbutzim and Arab communities or carry tents with them.
FOR INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN GET OFF THE BUS AND WALK WHERE JESUS WALKED,
CLICK HERE
BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, E-MAIL ADDRESS AND, IFYOU
WISH A CALL, YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER. OR CALL 800.869.4919
Click Here to read the complete article
Drive Started to Bring an Oncology Unit to Nazareth Hospital
Your help can make all the difference.
If you live in Nazareth, what does it matter if the
nearest oncology unit is “only” 45 minutes away by car (with good
traffic)? It means a lot if you are an Arabic speaking Christian living
in Nazareth and the nearest oncology unit is in Haifa.
In Haifa you may or may not have an Arabic speaking doctor or a
translator available. And with limited public transportation
available, your access to chemotherapy may depend on whether or
not you have a relative who works for an understanding employer who will
give them time off each time you need to go to Haifa for treatment.
Take the situation "K" found herself in. Her husband is a simple
worker and they have three children, ages 6, 7 and 10. For her
first chemotherapy she drove herself, but found that afterwards she was
vomiting too severely to drive herself back. So she remained at
the hospital, alone, from 10 am until 7 PM, when her husband got off
work and could take a bus from Nazareth to Haifa to drive her home.
“Fortunately” for her she found a solution: her brother lost his job and
so he could drive her.
This is simply an unacceptable situation for her and others like her.
And so the Italian Hospital in Nazareth has begun a drive to raise the
funds needed to build that unit. Its not much by US standards: the
equivalent of $150,000. United Christian Communities, Inc., a US
not-for-profit, has agreed to help the Hospital raise the needed funds.
And if you make at least a US$200 donation to United Christian
Communities for this purpose (they hope you will be able and willing to
give more) you will receive a beautiful simulated leather bound book on
the history of the hospital, in Arabic and English and lavishly
illustrated with photographs of the hospital and Nazareth going as far
back as 1882.
Won’t you help?
Click Here to make a
US tax-deductible contribution to United Christian Communities Inc. to
support an oncology unit in Nazareth.
Or send us a check made out
to United Christian
Communities Inc. Please be sure to note on your check the words Holy Family Hospital
Oncology. Send it to United Christian Communities Inc., 305
Madison Avenue, Suite 449, New York, NY 10165.
Don't forget to include the address to which you wish book on the
history of the hospital sent and, if different, the address you wish us
to send you your US tax receipt.