Palestine
Palestinian Christians slam Pence’s pro-Israel faith
By Karin Laub — January 22, 2018
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian Christians say U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's brand of evangelical Christianity, with its fervent embrace of modern-day Israel as fulfillment of biblical prophecy, lacks their faith's compassion and justice, including for those who have endured half a century of Israeli occupation.
Keen Islamic prayer activists bring a new dawn to Gaza
By Cathy Lynn Grossman — January 5, 2018
(AP) Fervent religious activists, urged on by Hamas, roam the streets with loudspeakers calling people to early prayers.
First Look: Trump talks Israel on Mike Huckabee’s new TBN show
By Jonathan Merritt — October 6, 2017
Trump's peace plan, the president says, will be decided "in the not-too-distant future" and "everybody says it is not going to work."
United Church of Christ resolution decries Israel’s treatment of underage prisoners
By Lauren Markoe — July 3, 2017
(RNS) The resolution, which passed Sunday at the church's general synod in Baltimore, also calls on the U.S. to withhold military assistance.
Trump trip to Middle East, Vatican offers religious opportunities and pitfalls
By Lauren Markoe — May 18, 2017
(RNS) Whether the president's time abroad will appease faith groups upset by his proposed Muslim travel ban and his waffling over the possibility of moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem — among other thorny issues — remains to be seen.
At least four dead in Palestinian truck attack in Jerusalem
By Reuters — January 8, 2017
(Reuters) It was the deadliest Palestinian attack in Jerusalem in months and targeted officer cadets as they disembarked from a bus that brought them to the Armon Hanatziv promenade.
Amid Middle East gloom, Christmas brings some cheer in Bethlehem
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 19, 2016
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - This Christmas, for once, Bethlehem really can boast again that there is no room at the inn, as relative calm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank brings pilgrims and tourists flocking to the town of Jesus's birth.
UN agency ignores Jewish ties to Temple Mount
By Lauren Markoe — October 13, 2016
(RNS) A UNESCO vote unsettles those who see it as an attempt to dismiss Jewish ties to the faith's holiest site.
Jewish agencies condemn church groups’ resolution on Israel
By RNS staff — September 15, 2016
(RNS) The American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League characterized the statement as 'profoundly' disappointing.
Our response to terror must be reconciliation
By guest — July 12, 2016
(RNS) In the wake of terrorist incidents, we must avoid the impulse to give in to hatred.
Ten minutes with my Arabic teacher
By Lauren Markoe — July 11, 2016
(RNS) You want hope for peace between Israel and Palestinians? Meet my ten year old Palestinian Arabic tutor.
Presbyterians vote to continue pressure on Israel
By Lauren Markoe — June 25, 2016
(RNS) Advocates for Palestinians cheer the PCUSA as Jewish groups denounce measures that "demonize" Israel.
Palestinian leader retracts rabbis water poisoning allegation
By RNS staff — June 25, 2016
(Reuters) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas retracted his allegation that Israeli rabbis had called for the poisoning of Palestinian water
Bike lanes * Saint Barbie * So long: October’s Religious Freedom Recap
By Brian Pellot — November 2, 2015
Churches attack bike lanes for "burdening" their religious freedom as Saint Barbie leads a plastic revolution in Argentina. Savor every word of this last ever recap as I say “so long” to On Freedom.
Palestinians set fire to Jewish shrine; Israeli soldier stabbed
By Reuters — October 16, 2015
Jerusalem (Reuters) The recent unrest that has engulfed Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, the most serious in years, has claimed the lives of 32 Palestinians and seven Israelis.
