Middle East
In new political document, Catholic bishops emphasize abortion over climate change
By Jack Jenkins — November 15, 2023
BALTIMORE (RNS) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops convened this week for an annual gathering that was, overall, more subdued than in recent years.
Yeshiva University adds a master’s program in Jewish studies for Christians
By Yonat Shimron — July 24, 2023
(RNS) — The program comes at a time when many seminaries and graduate schools are courting students of different faiths.
Muslim Brotherhood at the crossroads: Where now for Egypt’s once-powerful group following leader’s death in exile, repression at home?
By Ioana Emy Matesan — December 27, 2022
(The Conversation) — The Muslim Brotherhood once held the reins of power in Egypt. Now it faces internal splits, government repression and dwindling support.
Culture clash? Conservative Qatar preps for World Cup party
By Isabel Debre — November 17, 2022
(AP) — A clash of values has already erupted in Qatar, a conservative Muslim emirate that restricts alcohol, bans drugs and suppresses free speech, as it prepares to welcome possibly rowdy crowds for the first World Cup in the Middle East.
Mideast’s Jordan River: Rich in holiness, poor in water
By Mariam Fam — August 18, 2022
(AP) – The symbolically and spiritually significant Jordan River is physically dwindling, a decline that some say is intertwined with the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict and a rivalry over the precious water.
Iraq Shiite cleric behind parliament sit-in steps up demands
By Samya Kullab — August 10, 2022
BAGHDAD (AP) — Al-Sadr's political rivals in the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Iran-backed parties, said earlier that the parliament would have to convene to dissolve itself.
Now in spotlight, Dubai Jews struggle for public synagogue
By Isabel Debre — May 11, 2022
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Plans to build a permanent sanctuary for Dubai's fast-expanding congregation have sputtered to a standstill, Jewish leaders say.
Iraqi baby buried as death toll in EU-Belarus crisis grows
By Vanessa Gera — November 24, 2021
Poland has ordered a state of emergency along its border to stop migrants from coming through, and to keep family — or smugglers — from approaching the border to facilitate their travel further west.
What will President Biden and Pope Francis talk about?
By Thomas Reese — October 27, 2021
(RNS) — This will not be a pastoral meeting between the pope and one of the Catholic faithful. This is a meeting between the president of the United States and an influential world leader.
How the world’s biggest Islamic organization drives religious reform in Indonesia – and seeks to influence the Muslim world
By Ahmet T. Kuru — September 27, 2021
(The Conversation) — Nahdlatul Ulama is the world’s biggest Islamic organization, initiating a reform movement, which it is calling ‘Humanitarian Islam.’
Capitol attack may complicate Biden’s plans for Middle East peace
By Daoud Kuttab — January 22, 2021
(RNS) — The Democrats’ ascendance itself will do little to erase the conviction that the scenes at the Capitol reflect the real spirit of America’s foreign policy.
Mideastern burial traditions clash with fears of contagion
By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Samya Kallub — April 7, 2020
BAGHDAD (AP) — Mohammed al-Dulfi’s 67-year-old father died on March 21 after a brief struggle against the new coronavirus, but it would take nine days for his body to find a final resting place in the Shiite holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq. On two occasions, the family rejected remote burial plots proposed by […]
Caring more for each other could have ameliorated the pandemic. It’s not too late.
By Thomas Reese — March 24, 2020
(RNS) — A crisis either makes us better or worse people; it never leaves us the same.
Faith leaders offer mixed response after missile strike kills Iranian commander
By Jack Jenkins — January 3, 2020
(RNS) — Religious leaders were split along liberal and conservative lines, though even the president's staunchest supporters appeared unsettled about the potential blowback from the attack.
Turkish attack on Syria endangers a remarkable democratic experiment by the Kurds
By James L. Gelvin — October 11, 2019
(The Conversation) — In a region where religion and politics are often intertwined, the Kurdish state is secular, and the current conflict threatens to end one of the only such democracies in the Middle East.
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