Israel

Delegates of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church have voted down two proposals that would divest the denomination's funds from companies that did business in Israel.

The measures, which were defeated on Wednesday at the Tampa-based conference, were preceded by emotional lobbying by both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy and an attendee of the conference, told The Christian Post that the divestment "would encourage further conflict rather than peace." more >>

WASHINGTON – An Israeli-Arab pastor with strong ties to the Palestinian territories believes that for Christians to be involved in the Middle East peace process they "need to learn the Bible" and what it says about Jesus' ministry.

Steven Khoury, a Jerusalem-born pastor who is vice president of Holy Land Missions and author of the book Diplomatic Christianity, spoke at a Family Research Council-hosted event that focused on the plight of Palestinian Christians.

"They need to learn the Bible. Go back to study the roots of our faith, which is learning the Bible," said Khoury to The Christian Post. more >>

A new report on the state of Christians living in the Holy Land aired on CBS' "60 Minutes" last weekend has stirred controversy among some Christian and Jewish groups that have blasted the report as unfairly portraying Israel as an oppressor of Middle East Christians.

CBS' Bob Simon conducted the new report seeking to refute that Muslim discrimination is driving force for the mass exodus of Palestinian Christians from the Holy Land. He argued that it has been Israeli settlements and the policies of Israel that have forced Christians out of the Holy Land.

Today Christians make up 1.5 percent of the population of Jerusalem but just in 1967 had constituted five percent of those living in the holy city, according to the report. more >>

The Jerusalem Prayer Banquet, to be held in New York City next month and feature former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as a guest speaker, promises to offer attendees a new perspective on the importance of Jerusalem for people of all faiths.

The event was organized by Eagles' Wings, a global mission community with a network of supporters in Germany and Jerusalem founded by its executive director Dr. Robert Stearns.

"The mounting crisis in the Middle East makes this the most important Jerusalem Banquet we have ever hosted," Stearns, also an expert on Israel-Christian relations, explained in a press release. more >>

Christians in Israel have marked Good Friday, the day Christ was crucified, with annual ceremonies re-enacting Jesus' Stations of the Cross.

Believers commemorated the holy day through prayers and processions in Jerusalem, as did Palestinian Christians in the town of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, Christ's birthplace. They carried olivewood crosses and re-enacted Jesus' Stations of the Cross, or the final hours where Jesus carried the cross on His way to be crucified, the Associated Press reported.

Many of the Palestinians, bearing their nation's flag, offered prayers in their olive groves and farmlands, which are located between Israeli settlements on the way to the planned separation barrier. The prayers were also meant to highlight the ongoing conflict in the country, where Palestinians are protesting what they see as Israel's increasing restrictions on accessing their lands. According to Israeli authorities, however, these restrictions are necessary in order to prevent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers. more >>

A massive march to the city of Jerusalem is planned for this Friday with communities from around the world calling for "freedom for Palestine and its capital Jerusalem" in an event that has attracted the support of Desmond Tutu, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright as well as the nation of Iran.

The event, called "Global March to Jerusalem," is being orchestrated by the International Central Committee, a group comprised of 42 delegates representing five continents.

The delegates seek to have one million people march in solidarity along the borders of Israel in surrounding Middle Eastern countries in an attempt to come "to the nearest point possible" to the ancient and historically significant city. more >>