Middle East Christians
How the Israel-Hamas war has brought together Arab Christians and Muslims
By Daoud Kuttab — November 3, 2023
(RNS) — Bonds strained in recent years by the rise of Islamic radicals have been cemented again.
Why Jerusalem’s Latin patriarch opened church courts to non-Catholic lawyers
By Daoud Kuttab — September 11, 2023
(RNS) — A courageous decision gives more people access to the law.
A feud between a patriarch and a militia leader adds to the woes of Iraqi Christians
By Abby Sewell and Salar Salim — August 4, 2023
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — The shrinking religious minority that was also violently targeted by al-Qaida before the rise of IS has been rocked by yet another crisis in the form of a political showdown between two influential Christian figures.
Bethlehem rebounds from pandemic, lifting Christmas spirits
By Maya Alleruzzo, Jalal Bwaitel, and Hannah Schoenbaum — December 27, 2022
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Tourism is the economic lifeblood of this town in the occupied West Bank, where for the past two years the pandemic kept international visitors away.
Growing pains for Arab evangelical Christians in the Middle East
By Daoud Kuttab — October 4, 2022
(RNS) — Pressure from Arab governments and other Christian groups has only contributed to evangelicals' cooperation in the region.
President Biden, don’t forget to tell the Saudis to protect religious minorities
By David Curry — July 14, 2022
(RNS) — Biden needs to make a bold statement on behalf of religious minorities across the Middle East.
Patriarch of Jerusalem’s edict puts unity on Holy Land’s Christmas in doubt
By Daoud Kuttab — December 2, 2021
(RNS) — Western and Eastern Christians in Jordan and Israel have long agreed to celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar, on Dec. 25, and Easter according to the older Julian calendar.
How much longer will the Middle East celebrate Christmas?
By Knox Thames — December 24, 2020
(RNS) — The birthplace of Christianity may soon be uninhabitable for its believers without reforms to help them survive.
Latin patriarch of Jerusalem says Biden will need to ‘rebuild trust’ with Palestinians
By Claire Giangravé — December 15, 2020
(RNS) — Years of being shunted aside by U.S. policy have taken their toll, said the spiritual leader of Latin rite Catholics in the Middle East.
Lebanese town bans Muslims from buying, renting property
By Bassem Mroue — June 26, 2019
BEIRUT (AP) — The ban only applies to Christian property — a Muslim resident or landowner of Hadat is allowed to sell or rent his property to Muslims from outside the town or to whomever he wants.
Evangelicals find like-minded Christians in unlikely place: Palestinian West Bank
By Dan Rabb — May 10, 2018
BEIT SAHOUR, West Bank (RNS) — It's an evangelical church that is proudly, defiantly Palestinian.
Jerusalem tax spat pits heaven against earth
By Jerome Socolovsky — March 12, 2018
JERUSALEM (RNS) — An ethereal city graced with sunlight so bright it turns the white stone skyline gold at sunset, Jerusalem is also an earthbound city whose teachers must be paid and whose garbage must be collected.
Christians are key to support for el-Sissi in upcoming Egypt election
By Mina Nader — March 5, 2018
CAIRO (RNS) — Since Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took over Egypt’s presidency four years ago, he has worked to improve life for Coptic Christians, giving them near equal rights and benefits as Muslims even as their churches have been attacked by terrorists.
Is Trump widening a rift between the evangelicals and Mideast Christians?
By Jack Jenkins — January 8, 2018
(RNS) — 'Christians in the Middle East, the vast majority of them, believe American evangelicals have crocodile tears,' said Wadie Abu Nassar, a Catholic political analyst based in Haifa, Israel.
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