A "Peeping Tom" who photographed a woman in the changing room of a Bethlehem area clothes shop sparked a night of rioting between Palestinian Muslims and Christians, witnesses said.

At the height of the hours-long riot, hundreds of Muslims and Christians fought each other with metal rods and stones in the streets of the West Bank town of Beit Sahur, adjacent to Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus.

By Reuters, July 14, 2004

Israeli Journalist Amira Hass writes how the separation fence is seriously damaging the `Christian Triangle' in the Bethlehem area. Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian Christians in America are trying to breach the wall of evangelical support for Israeli policies.

Pastor Nihad Salman of the Immanuel Church has tried several times to get permits for his congregants to immerse themselves in the Jordan River, at the point where it flows out of Lake Kinneret. In vain, he says: "People from Indonesia and Korea come and immerse themselves in the Jordan, whereas to us, from Bethlehem, who were born here, whose land this is, it is forbidden."

Amira Hass, Haaretz, June 25, 2004

Jewish journalist Amira Hass doesn't merely report on the experiences of Palestinians - She went to live in Yasser Arafat's tiny, garbage-strewn statelet in Gaza. In this article, she writes about a Christian Choir with members from Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem who are now three separated, closed-off entities, with a sea of Israeli obstacles and bans separating them.

Hass eloquently explains the Christian Palestinian story of these three cities which were once one unit connected by familial and economic ties, with religious rites and services provided by Christian communities. Once the towns were cut off from one another, these links were destroyed.

Amira Hass, Haaretz, June 30, 2004

Lots of bad news comes from Gaza in the last few years. One can say, ?Can something good come out of Gaza??.

The Gaza Baptist Church is the only evangelical Church in the whole of the Gaza Strip and is asking help to preserve the oldest Public Library in the area


Special For Come and See, May 17, 2004

The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition and now has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing 62.3 million of the worlds nearly 66 million Lutherans.

The committee also drew attention to the fact that the construction of the wall is worsening "the already intolerable situation that is forcing the exodus of Palestinian Christians."

Worldwide Faith News archives, Feb 26, 2004

Christian leaders and activists from the U.S., Canada, and European nations will gather in Jerusalem April 14-18 for the 5th International Sabeel Conference, "Challenging Christian Zionism: Theology, Politics, and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict."

Sabeel is an international ecumenical effort of the Palestinian Christians which works with Christians of western nations to advocate for an end to Israel's 55-year military occupation.

Special For Come and See, February 12, 2004

The pastor of the famous Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem has warned that his sanctuary has become a potentially lethal danger zone, following last week?s earthquake in the Holy Land.


ROSS DUNN IN BETHLEHEM, Sctosman, Feb 16, 2004

Dean of Students of Bethlehem Bible College and pastor of East Jersualem Baptist Church writes to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the eve of Christmas asking him to remove the closoure of Bethlehem.

"As Christmas approaches, Mr. Prime Minister, and the eyes and hearts of hundreds of millions of Christians from around the globe turn to the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem for inspiration, let them see that those who have the power to rule the people today, are kinder, gentler and fairer than those who ruled when Christ, the Prince of Peace was born."

Special For Come and See, Dec 17, 2003

After three years of ongoing fighting between Israelis and Palestinians, everybody in Bethlehem is exausted - and hoping for a good Christmas season where some tourists may visit the birth place of Jesus.

By Matthew Tostevin, Alert Net, Nov 30, 2003

Edward Said, a polymath scholar and literary critic at Columbia University who was the most prominent advocate in the United States of the cause of Palestinian independence, died in New York City today. He was 67. The cause of death was leukemia, which Mr. Said had been battling for several years.

Though a defender of Islamic civilization, Mr. Said was an Episcopalian married to a Quaker

New York Times, Sep 24, 2003