Posts in Middle East
Valentine’s Day And Ash Wednesday Coincide This Year: What’s a Catholic To Do?

Not everyone will be enjoying chocolate this Valentine’s Day. For the first time since 2018, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day fall on the same day. In fact, this rare occurrence is taking place once again in less than a week. It has happened three times in the last century — 1923, 1934 and 1945 — and will happen again in 2029.

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Noted Muslims Condemn Hamas As israel Continues To Seek Release Of Hostages

The swelling number of Islamic clerics and Middle Eastern politicians condemning Hamas continues to grow since the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel. Canadian-based imam was the latest to do so. Tariq Abdulhaleem called for Hamas’ leadership to be prosecuted for facilitating what he called “genocide in Gaza.”

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A Different Campus Story: Jewish-Palestinian Cooperation

The Jewish and Palestinian American pair are the force behind Atidna, a student organization of Jews and Palestinians that began at the university’s Austin campus two years ago. Initially, it focussed on similarities between Jewish and Palestinian culture, Kahlenberg said on a call shared with Hashem, stressing “that Jews and Arabs are cousins in one family and we’re not inherent enemies.”

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Why The Drone Attack On American Troops Risks Widening Middle East Conflict

A drone attack that killed three American troops and wounded at least 34 more at a base in Jordan has increased fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East — and the possibility that the U.S. may be further drawn into the fighting.

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South Africa vs. Israel: International Court Of Justice Orders Provisional Measures

(ANALYSIS) On Jan. 26, the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, ordered provisional measures in the case of the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).

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Death Toll Nears 25,000 As Israel-Hamas War Marks 100 days

In the face of the vast human suffering, staggering damage to infrastructure and environmental catastrophe caused by the conflict — which marks its 100th day on Sunday — another controversial post-war scenario is for Israel to rebuild some of the post-1967 Gaza Strip settlements from which it unilaterally withdrew in 2005.

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Israel’s Highest Court Protects Its Power To Curb Extremism

(ANALYSIS) In the midst of Israel’s fierce war against Hamas in Gaza, the country’s highest court on New Year’s Day drew attention back to a previous conflict within the country. In a narrowly divided decision, the justices struck down a significant part of the contentious judicial reform passed in July 2023 by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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How Blue And White Became Synonymous With Judaism

A web search for “Hanukkah decorations” yields a trove of whimsical items like menorah-and-dreidel-adorned straws, pillows, mugs, candy and napkins. These widespread choices have one thing in common — they are blue and white.

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Bethlehem Nativity Scene Puts Jesus in Gaza Rubble

A church in the West Bank city of Bethlehem has politicized its annual nativity scene, laying a figure of baby Jesus amid the rubble of a destroyed masonry building to represent the Gaza Strip this Christmas season.

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Grieving For The Suffering Of The Palestinian People

(OPINION) In many ways the Palestinians are victims, and my strong support for Israel does not stop me from grieving over the suffering of the Palestinian people. They have been victims of decades of bad leadership. Victims of lifelong anti-Israel propaganda. Victims of the aftermath of the Six Day War in 1967.

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Coming To A Museum Near You: Holy Land Treasures Go On Tour

“Treasures from Kings: Masterpieces from the Terra Sancta Museum” will be on exhibit at Portugal’s most famous art museum through Feb. 26, then travels to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and to the Frick Collection in New York. From there, the international tour may include other key European cultural institutions before returning to Jerusalem.

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The Symbolism And History Of The Keffiyeh

After Israel declared war on Hamas following the terror group’s surprise attack on Oct. 7, and hostilities resumed in the region, some Palestinians have been urging non-Palestinians to wear the keffiyeh, a distinctive checkered scarf, during protests.

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A Solid News Peg For The Under-Covered Story Of Christian Persecution

(ANALYSIS) With all-important developments in the Middle East and Ukraine, it seems off-kilter to state that another major international story is being severely neglected and has long been so. But such is The Guy’s opinion about mainstream media neglect of the waves of evidence for ongoing global persecution of Christians, on which we now have a Nov. 1 news peg.

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Unblemished Red Heifers Key To Understanding Mideast Conflict

(ANALYSIS) A conspiracy theory held widely in the Middle East is that Israel is planning to destroy the site of Al-Aqsa complex in Jerusalem, which includes the Muslim holy sites of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Some add this is part of a project to clear the buildings from the Temple Mount in order to build the Third Temple. A key part of this scheme is believed to be efforts to breed a flawless red heifer.

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Amid Ongoing War, Israel’s National Library Opens Its Doors

Israelis craving a reprieve from all the bloodshed of the past month stemming from the Oct. 7 terror attacks perpetrated by Hamas are venturing out to explore the newly-opened National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. The visionary mega-project, a landmark to Jewish resilience, contains some six million rare volumes, manuscripts and books.

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Gaza Bombing Adds To The Generations Of Displaced Palestinians

(ANALYSIS) An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes since the Israeli military began bombing the Gaza Strip on Oct. 8, 2023, in retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas militants. Many of these Palestinians have sought refuge in United Nations emergency shelters in a situation the World Health Organization has described as “catastrophic.”

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Israel Struggling To Identify Many Of The 1,400 Hamas Victims

Since Hamas’ savage Oct. 7 cross-border assault on multiple army bases, kibbutzim, cities and a music festival near the Gaza Strip, staff at the Israel Defense Forces’ Shura Army Base have been working around the clock to identify the bodies of the 1,100 civilians and 315 soldiers, reservists and police officers massacred by jihadi terrorists.

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Why I Choose To Stand For Peace In The Israeli-Arab Conflict

(OPINION) Caution is imperative by both Muslim and Jewish communities. There is no need to be added to a list of victims of these hate crimes as these lists are mere numbers to the world. It does not matter if you are pro-Palestine or pro-Israel. What matters most is humanity and being pro-peace.

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