Good news for Christians in the Holy Land generally comes with a subtext of anguish. The only Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip — a 26-mile-long slice of territory on the Mediterranean squeezed between Israel and Egypt — managed to get permits for 857 Christians to travel to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. That’s about 66% of Gaza’s entire Christian population of 1,300, which includes some 130 Catholics.
on April 6, 2016Correspondent Deborah Potter reports on the BDS (boycotts, divestment and, sanctions) movement, intended to pressure Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, and the support it is receiving from some US churches. Last year, the United Church of Christ became the largest Protestant denomination to divest its pension funds from companies doing business in Israeli-occupied territories.
on February 12, 2016The pension board of the United Methodist Church — one of the largest Protestant denominations in the United States, with more than seven million members — has placed five Israeli banks on a list of companies that it will not invest in for human rights reasons, the board said in a statement on Tuesday.
on January 12, 2016The pension fund for the United Methodist Church has blocked five Israeli banks from its investment portfolio in what it describes as a broad review meant to weed out companies that profit from abuse of human rights.
on January 12, 2016Christian Palestinians who are citizens of Israel suffer from the same widespread official and unofficial discrimination that other non-Jews do, in everything from land ownership and housing to employment and family reunification rights.
on December 24, 2015Children wait on their balconies for the musaharati, the man who roams the roads, beating drums to wake up the neighborhood to have the predawn suhoor meal and get ready to fast until sunset. Both children and adults watch for the musaharati, as people stay up all night long during Ramadan. When he appears, he is greeted with cheers and some even go out on the street to offer him gifts.
on July 9, 2015The leadership of three major U.S. churches took on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last week, voting on resolutions to support the pro-Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanction movement. The United Church of Christ — with nearly 1 million members — passed the resolution, while the Episcopal Church rejected it and the Mennonite Church U.S.A. delayed its vote until 2017, according to The New York Times.
on July 8, 2015Israeli forces deployed heavily at the 300 Checkpoint in Bethlehem on Friday as restrictions announced during the week were imposed on Palestinian worshipers. A Ma'an reporter said Israeli forces prevented men under 50 and women under 30 from entering Jerusalem, while children under 12 and girls under 16 were allowed to enter.
on July 3, 2015The international movement to boycott Israel over its treatment of Palestinians has received backing from one of the largest Protestant churches in the US, as two other major denominations prepare to vote on whether or not to divest money from the Jewish state.
on July 1, 2015