Featured Stories from Israel/Palestine (2023)
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In the Holy Land, Six Christian Faiths Jockey for Power at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
As published in New Lines magazine Aba Sibhat, an Ethiopian priest, types into his phone with a curious grin before he holds the Android device up to me. “The Egyptian monks want to steal our church,” reads the text, Google-translated from Amharic. For someone whose people have been at possible risk of eviction for more…
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Amid Israel Protests, ‘Passover Table is the New Thanksgiving Table’
As published on Religion News Service (RNS). As Israelis continue to protest in unprecedented numbers against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed overhaul of the judicial system, political tensions arise within Jewish families during Passover. JERUSALEM (RNS) — For Passover, Tsiyona Sharvit, an Israeli woman who lives on a kibbutz in a West Bank settlement, plans…
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Amid Israeli Red Tape, Married Palestinian Couples Struggle to Remain in Jerusalem
BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK – In 2015, on the first evening of the Christian camp, Maria* and Michal met for the first time. After dinner, they peeled away from the crowd to admire the statue of the Virgin Mary that stood at the front of the church. Maria, who was 18 at the time, sat in…
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The Last Palestinian Hill: Palestinian Farmers Peacefully Resist Israeli Efforts to Confiscate Land
ON A HILLTOP OUTSIDE OF THE WEST BANK CITY OF BETHLEHEM – The Rev. Terry Oliver, a Christian minister and grief counselor from outside of Seattle, Washington, knelt in front of a freshly dug hole in the rocky soil at a Palestinian family farm here called The Tent of Nations. He took a fragile olive…
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Amid Rising Attacks on Christian Sites in Jerusalem, a Growing Sense of Urgency Among Clergy and Advocates
JERUSALEM – Attacks on Christian holy sites and Christian clergy have risen precipitously in recent months. Sadly, examples abound. Days after the New Year, two Israeli Jewish teenagers were caught on camera vandalizing and destroying 30 graves at the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery in Jerusalem. Weeks later, a mob of settlers attacked an Armenian wine bar…
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Jerusalem Cafe Owner Turns Down Millions for Property with Secret Tunnel to Holy Sites
JERUSALEM — On a Wednesday in March, Emad Abu Khadija was preparing baklava, sahlab, and Turkish coffee for customers at his cafe in the Old City of Jerusalem when Israeli soldiers arrived. It was another sporadic check on the 1,000-year-old tunnels that exist beneath the Khan Abu Khadija Cafe, which reportedly lead to several of…
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The Writing on the Wall: Palestinian Flags in Ultra-Orthodox Neighborhood
JERUSALEM – Dozens of Palestinian flags are painted up and down the ancient walls. The red, green, black and white colors of the flag adorn the outsides of buildings, walls and doors. But this is not the West Bank or Gaza. These flags are painted in the heart of Jerusalem, in one of the most…