|
The Connection:
Christian News from the Holy Land |
| published by
United
Christian Communities, Inc. |
Issue 3
May 2008 |
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Christians in Palestine-Israel under pressure, but not
bowed
A prominent Christian from the West Bank: "On the official
level you don't find any discrimination, but the problem is with
those who enforce the laws. Many of them are racists …
"
By Ecumenical News International (ENI).
April 8, 2008 ENI
is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the
Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed
Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.
Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan said that while
individual Muslims or Jews, or certain groups within the
population, may feel animosity towards Christians, neither the
Israeli or Palestinian government condones it.
Sometimes, he noted, disagreements that begin between two
people can develop into a Christian-Muslim conflict when those
involved are of the different religions.
Still, one prominent Christian from the West Bank, who requested
anonymity, told ENI that "On the official level you don't find
any discrimination," he said, "but the problem is with those who
enforce the laws. Many of them are racists … If there is a
fight, immediately they will be against the Christian."
ENI's contact said that the heads of Christian churches
in Jerusalem are aware of the situation but afraid to talk about
it.
Younan said he and other church leaders had investigated 21
cases of theft of Christian properties in the Bethlehem area
since 2002. In these cases, he added, a group of unknown
criminals had forged documents in order to take over the lands
of absent Christians. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and
Bethlehem Governor Saleh Tamari had also spoken out against the
incidents and are following up each case individually, he said.
Bishop Younan told ENI that he had been heartened by the verbal
support given to the Palestinian Christian community by leaders
such as Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah. "All of them believe
there is a role for Christians here, and that Christians should
not leave. I am encouraged by these leaders," he said.
Yet, some Christians do speak about feeling intimidated by
Muslims, of preferential treatment of Muslims in the workplace
and at government offices, and of the different approach that
Christians have to issues such as socialising between men and
women, and women's dress. However, many secular Muslims also
have similar complaints.
Click Here to read the complete article
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Christian, Jewish groups support Islamic orphanages in Hebron threatened
with closure
Groups turn to Israeli courts to resist attempts by Israeli military to
shut orphanage
By Independent Catholic News
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/chje214.html
HEBRON
- 9 April 2008
The Israeli Military has been
given orders to shut down the orphanages and schools run by the Islamic
Charitable Society in
Hebron.
The Popular Committee for Supporting the Orphanages hosted
a press conference at the Hebron Girls Orphanage with approximately 70
attending,
During the conference Rabbi Arik Ascherman, of Rabbis for Human Rights,
spoke to the press conference by speaker phone, saying that under Jewish
law there must be evidence brought before the court and that there must
be witnesses to that evidence. Even in the name of security, he
said, this
closure is not warranted, as the Islamic Charitable Society has
threatened no human life.
Click Here to read the complete article |
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Archbishop back from
'historic' pilgrimage to Holy Land
Impressed with sense of tranquility in the Holy Land,
reports suffering of Christians not caused from bombings, but
from failure of pilgrims to visit.
Times of Malta,
Wednesday, 9th April 2008
Archbishop Paul Cremona
described the pilgrimage to the Holy Land as a major
experience, which allows one to feel the strength of one's faith
and religious spirit within. "Some go to search for their faith;
in our case, we went to confirm it," he said.
"Seeing with your own eyes the sites, such
as Galilee
and the Dead
Sea, what you read
comes alive," the Archbishop said.
Fr Twanny Chircop said it [is] not the
[rare] bombing that upset the priests in
Israel[but]
the fact that no pilgrims visited the sanctuaries. Mgr Cremona
said he expected to see police officers and soldiers at every
corner but was surprised that it was not the case and that there
was a sense of tranquility, particularly in places like
Galilee.
Click Here to read the complete article
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Jordan's
king donates land for church at baptismal river site
"It will be a center for the entire Anglican Communion all
over the world to visit and connect with what's going on here,"
Episcopal Bishop Suheil Dawani
The Christian Century Magazine
May 06, 2008
King Abdullah II of
Jordan
has given a plot of land to the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem
for construction of a church and retreat center at the
much-visited Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan site, where, according to
tradition, Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist took place.
In officially dedicating the two-and-a-half-acre site on March
28, Anglican bishop Suheil Dawani of Jerusalem called the gift a
"privilege" that will enable the building "of a medium-sized
Gothic church," according to Episcopal News Service.
Click Here to read the complete article
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BLOG:
Christian Arabs threatened from all sides — Israel, Middle East,
Arab and Islamic Worlds, too
Author:
Ray Hanania (Palestine/USA)
- May 7, 2008 posted at Mideastyouth.com
http://www.mideastyouth.com/2008/05/07/christian-arabs-threatened-from-all-sides-israel-middle-east-arab-and-islamic-worlds-too/
This week I got a chance to meet a Christian Arab member of the
Israeli Knesset, Nadia Hilou (Hilo). She is a member of the
labor Party, and is the only Christian Arab woman, one of 17
total women, and one of two Arab Christians in the Israeli
parliament. Nadia was the guest on my radio show in Chicago (RadioChicagoland).
. . . She has an interesting story to tell about the
challenges she faces as a Christian Palestinian in a Jewish and
Islamic World, in the Middle East and as an Arab living in
Israel. . . . Most Arabs cannot win in Israeli elections unless
they run on Arab lists in Arab regions. Israeli Jews will not
vote for them, reflecting Israel’s Jewish society which seeks to
exclude Christian and Muslim citizens. But that’s no different
than the traditions in the Arab World . . . What’s amazing about
her is that she was elected not from a “quota” seat which is the
only way Christians can ever be elected in the Arab World —
including in Jordan where my cousin has held a seat in the
Jordanian Senate, in a seat reserved for Christians — but rather
as a candidate appealing to a broad constituency that include
some Christian Arab Israelis, some more Muslim Arab Israelis and
a a majority of Israeli Jews.
Click Here to read the complete article
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