Israel/Palestine
Features
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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…
Daily Dispatches
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Day 8: Last Supper and Return to New York
It was not yet 6 a.m. when we were roused from our beds by a hotel-wide security alarm at the Batsheva Hotel in the heart of Jerusalem. The announcement was in Hebrew, and none of us could understand it. Was it a fire? A bomb? Our WhatsApp group kept buzzing: “What on Earth was that?”…
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Day 7: ‘The Past is my ID’: A Visit to Dheisheh Refugee Camp
The wheels of the Lilian, our trusted bus, spun on empty streets this morning. It was Saturday, Shabbat — the Jewish day of rest. Roads that are normally busy and chaotic lacked any sign of life. But as soon as we left the bus at Bethlehem’s Dheisheh refugee camp, we were welcomed by blasting music,…
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Day 6: Breaking Bread in Bethlehem, ‘Holy FOMO’ in Jerusalem 
On Friday, we met tour guide Saleem Anfous, who took us through the Old City of Bethlehem. Our first task was to taste it. We stopped by a bakery for ka’ak al-Quds, a bread covered in sesame seeds that’s also called the “Jerusalem bagel.” The bakery owner estimated that his traditional wood-fired oven, passed down…
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Day 5: Reporting in Jerusalem, and a View Behind the Wall
After days of gloomy skies, the sun returned to Bethlehem and Jerusalem, just in time for our first day of solo reporting. Most of us boarded our faithful steed, a bus we now call ‘Lilian’ at 9 AM (not so) sharp, and headed into Jerusalem. This morning also marked the first instance that our group…
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Day 4: Rain on the Stones of Jerusalem: On the Ground in the Old City
The early-morning sun reflected off the rows of white houses of Bethlehem as we started the day. Storm clouds started to roll in as we packed into our blue bus that we’re affectionately calling Lilian. As we started the journey towards Jerusalem, rain began to fall. There was a palpable energy from yesterday’s interviews with…
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Day 3: Baptisms in the Jordan and the View From an Israeli Settlement
In the trusty hands of Zaki, our driver from East Jerusalem, we loaded into our big blue bus and departed Nazareth for a drive through the Jordan Valley toward Bethlehem. In stop-and-go traffic, under a milky sky, we passed through rolling hills, a rainbow of greens, browns and purples, as we made our way to the…
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Day 2: From Mary’s Well, to a Church Halfway House to an Ahmadi Mosque
By Ania Gruszczynska and Nora Zaim-Sassi This morning, we met Bassam Hakim, our tour guide around Nazareth. Hakim grew up in the city in a family devoted to hospitality. “Nazareth is my passion,” he said, by way of introduction. We made our first stop at Rehov Hagalil Street’s graffiti wall. Although Nazareth is in Israel,…
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Day 1: In the Footsteps of Christian Pilgrims
The New Testament describes the miracles Jesus performed — many of them near the Sea of Galilee, in the northwestern corner of Israel, where he spent much of his adult life. The Sea of Galilee, the lowest freshwater lake on Earth, was the focal point of today’s trip for us on our first day in…