A holiday in Palestine is never going to be easy but, finds Andrew Mueller, the rewards for tourists and locals alike can be huge.

To get to the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, I have to negotiate a military checkpoint. Opposite the church marking the site of the Nativity, a building flies a huge poster of a man infamous, in some circles, as a terrorist.

The Observer, Sunday, Oct 23, 2005

The Israeli popular newspaper ?Yideot Ahronot? revelaed that Micha Bahooth, the Christian driver from Shefa-Amr came one day before the terrorist attack to the bus station in Shefa-Amr with a Jewish soldier by the name of Natan-Zada. Zada had a M-16 rifle, a black bag in his arm and a cap on his head. Bahooth told the instructor that the Jewish Soldier had fallen asleep in the bus and missed his station. The Christian driver offered the soldier a bottle of water before they drove him back to the central bus station in the Haifa bay.

The Christian driver was shot by Natan-Zada 24 hours after, together with 3 other passangers, in the first terrorist attack by a Jewish Terrorist against Israeli Arabs in the recent years

Special For "Come and See", Aug 8, 2005

After 9 years in Nazareth, executive director of Nazareth village D. Michael Hostetler and family will be leaving to Canada.

Mr. Hostetler, known by his friends as ?Mike?, was the living spirit behind the establishment of the replica of the first century village and museum created in 2000 in Nazareth.

Nazareth, June 22, 2005, Special for Come and See

One of the biggest landowners in Israel, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is in financial trouble. After decades of selling and leasing land cheaply, the current patriarch is launching a campaign to `redeem' property, assisted by well-known lawyer Gilead Sher. Sher replaced the disgruntled Mira Bornstein, who sued her former client for millions of shekels.

By Asaf Carmel, Haaretz, March 4, 2005

A bishop of Jerusalem says that Christians, as bearers of values such as justice, peace, dignity and human rights, can make a key contribution to solving the Mideast conflict.

Christians' weapons are those of "negotiation, patience and bridge-building," said Auxiliary Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, in a statement to ZENIT.

The Italian-born prelate has been in the Holy Land for 44 years. He was ordained bishop 11 years ago and has been patriarchal vicar of the Latin Church in Israel for the past decade.

Zenit.org, Feb 22, 2005

Open Doors with Brother Andrew works in Israel helping persecuted believers in the region reach out with the hope of Christ. President of Open Doors USA Carl Moeller says the Christian population in Israel has been affected. "From maybe 30 to 50 percent of the West Bank and Gaza being Christian in 1950, to now about 1.5 percent and that's because of the violence that's taken place."

Mission Network News, Feb 18, 2005

Another Israeli columnist writes from Washington about MK Benny Elon (National Union) and his relationship with evangelicals in the USA:
"He invests more time and effort than perhaps any other Israeli in nurturing the relationship with Evangelical Christians in the U.S. As minister of tourism during the intifada, Elon promoted visits by Evangelical churches to Israel, and he continues to attend their conferences and speak out against diplomatic compromise on the Land of Israel.

By Nathan Guttman, Haaretz, Feb 17, 2005

They unholy relationship between some evangelical leaders and Israel?s right-wing parties is becoming dangerous to the church. A new book by Israeli racist Knesset Member Benny Elon is the latest edition in Christian bookstores in America: "God's Covenant with Israel: Establishing Biblical Boundaries in Today's World".

This un-Christian political book is published just in time for the struggles over Israel's unilateral disengagement plan from Gaza, which Elon is against. Elon writes to evangelicals from one side about the religious and historic ties between the state of Israel and the Jewish people and from the other side, the book speaks about ?anti-Christian theology in Islam and contains a list of Palestinian Authority brutality toward Christians?.

Elon, a rabbi that does not believe in Jesus, asks Christians to "please keep the (Jewish) inhabitants of Gaza and northern Samaria in your hearts and prayers".

Read this unbelievable report by Gil Hoffman, The Jerusalem Post, Feb 11, 2005

It was one of those rare hours of joy for some two thousand Christians, mainly from Catholic churches coming from different towns and villages in Galilee to come together to attend the first ceremony in the new "Domus Galilaeae" International Center on the top of the mount of Beatitude near the Sea of Galilee in the north of Israel.

Korazim, Special For Come and See, Jan 12, 2004

Part of the remains of the Siloam Pool - which played a significant role in one of Jesus' miracles as recorded in the Bible's Gospel of John - have been uncovered by archaeologists in Jerusalem.

Just prior to Christmas 2004, spokesmen for Israel's Antiquities Authority announced they were slowly digging out the pool "where water still runs," says a published report by Associated Press.

by Bible Network News