Jews, Christians and Muslims have buried their loved ones in Jerusalem’s Bab al-Rahma Cemetery for hundreds of years, but more recently Israel has banned burials, citing the need to protect Jewish antiquities. Now, Palestinian families who claim to own the land are suing Israel.
Read MoreThere’s one thing people on the left and right can agree on in this contentious political climate: showcasing a Muslim woman in a hijab and burkini in the pages of Sports Illustrated can be a controversial concept.
Read MoreThousands of Eastern Orthodox pilgrims crowded in Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday for the Easter ceremony at Jesus’ burial and resurrection site. Some believe a flame miraculously comes from heaven into Jesus’ tomb.
Read More(COMMENTARY) Iran’s nefarious intentions and activities are being closely scrutinized by the Trump administration and have led to crippling sanctions on Iran’s oil exports. And now U.S. waivers – which permitted eight specific countries to purchase Iranian oil despite existing sanctions – will not be renewed in May 2019.
Read MoreEthiopian Jews make up only two percent of Israel’s population, but they account for 40 percent of the public discrimination complaints. The art show “The Color Line” draws inspiration from the Black Lives Matter movement and the African-American writer W.E.B. Du Bois.
Read MoreWhat would Jesus eat? Some of the world’s oldest Lenten bites, from Israel to India, are still sizzling. Others are cultural adaptions to fit the Lenten fast with local ingredients.
Read MoreEvery six months, before Passover in April and the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah in September, thousands of written prayers are picked out from the crevices of the wall to make way for new ones. The old notes are buried.
Read MoreA Mexican Catholic order is creating a $100 million pilgrimage retreat in Israel for Mary Magdalene devotees, with a special emphasis on feminism in the church. A biopic film on Jesus’s female follower will be released April 12 in the U.S.
Read MoreJudge Noach Dear, an Orthodox Jew, and his court attorney Deema Azizi, a Syrian Muslim refugee, prefer to wear their religious garb - a yarmulke and hijab respectively. Their shared expressions for their faiths unites rather than divides them.
Read More(COMMENTARY) Much violence and discrimination against Christians globally goes unnoticed in newspapers. This could be seen with US Vice President Mike Pence’s recent remarks - hardly reported - condemning religious persecution of both Muslims and Christians.
Read MoreThere has been little real learning from the New Zealand mosque attack that could shape what we do in the future. However, on Mar. 24, there was a remarkable article in the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph that suggests at least one way forward.
Read More(COMMENTARY) While western Christians today view fasting largely as an individual activity, Eastern Orthodox Christians practice fasting communally.
Read More(COMMENTARY) Religious persecution of Christians is more than at any other time in modern history, while other groups like Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jews also suffer discrimination and violence in different regions of intolerance.
Read More(NEWS ANALYSIS) Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked released a satirical perfume ad jabbing at leftists who call her fascist, the country’s largest English daily labeled Israel’s democracy a joke and President Trump upended decades of U.S. policy in one tweet.
Read MoreSurviving Yazidis and Christians in Iraq and Syria will remember their people’s genocide for generations. And in the aftermath of ISIS attacks, help and hope are still in very short supply.
Read MoreThe oldest Christian guesthouse in the Old City is a hub for interfaith and intercultural dialogue.
Read MoreZafar agreed to an arranged marriage at age 17, believing the man and his family that the move from Pakistan to Canada would give her more educational opportunities. She didn’t expect to become a prisoner in her own home.
Read More(COMMENTARY) In February, Pope Francis met with Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayebb, and together, they acknowledged the “God who has created all human beings”.
Read More(COMMENTARY) Four years after 21 Christians were beheaded by ISIS in Libya, a new book, The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs, explores their ancient faith.
Read More(COMMENTARY) A joint declaration from the Vatican and Al-Azhar University, seen as the intellectual hub of Sunni Islam, called upon world leaders “to stop using religions to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism, and to refrain from using the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism and oppression.”
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