There is widespread unease but no certainty that situation of Christians will deteriorate in the Palestinian territories. Church authorities will seek reconfirmation of the February 15, 2000, Basic Agreement between the Holy See and the Palestine Liberation Organisation that guarantees religious freedom, upholds established Church rights and protects the Holy Sites.
?A disaster, Hamas?s victory is a disaster for Christians,? said an agitated K. M., a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem after poll results from yesterday?s elections showed the Islamist party gaining 77 of the 132 seats in the new Palestinian legislative council.
AsiaNews, Jan 28, 2006
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ISRAEL \ Jan 11, 2006
2296
Tourism Minister Avraham Hirchson has shunned US evangelical leader Pat Robertson shortly before the two were to sign a major funding deal for the Galilee Christian Heritage Center after Robertson suggested that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was a punishment from God for the Gaza Strip withdrawal, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
"The minister has very strong views on this and cannot accept what was said," Tourism Ministry spokesman Ido Hartuv said. "We reconsidered the deal and realized that we cannot sign with Robertson or anyone who supports his views."
By AVI KRAWITZ, The Jerusalem Post, Jan 11, 2006
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JORDAN \ Jan 10, 2006 4989
Jordan's King Abdullah II, whose interfaith efforts over the past year impressed Catholics, Jews and Muslims alike, will have a supporting role at this year's National Prayer Breakfast, according to a key aide.
Although he would not be the first Muslim to speak at the annual event at the Washington Hilton, he will have a bigger role than his predecessors, said Joseph Lumbard, special adviser to the king for interfaith affairs.
By Julia Duin, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, January 9, 2006
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OPINION \ Jan 10, 2006 4153
A Palestinian Christian writes in an Israeli Paper about Pat Robertson's comments that God is punishing Ariel Sharon with his illness.
This article does not represent the opinion of "Come and See", but we bring it untouched, since it represents the thinking of many Christian Arabs, and shows how much such comments can be a stumbling block for Arabs and Jews alike to come to Christ
Ray Hanania, Ynet News, Jan 10, 2006
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OTHER \ Jan 06, 2006 4443
Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for "dividing God's land."
"God considers this land to be his," Robertson said on his TV program "The 700 Club." "You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.'"
Sharon, who ordered Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last year, suffered a severe stroke on Wednesday.
SONJA BARISIC, The Associated Press, Jan 6, 2006
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PALESTINE \ Jan 05, 2006 5172
Two thousand years after Jesus came to Taybeh, the dwindling population of this tiny West Bank community is determined to survive and pass on to future generations their unique heritage: the last all-Christian village in the Holy Land.
The villagers of Taybeh are fiercely proud of their Christian heritage. In the entire Holy Land, there are only about 200,000 Christians, less than 2 percent of the population -- 130,000 in Israel and 70,000 in the West Bank and Gaza. Other Christian towns such as Bethlehem and Ramallah now have Muslim majorities, but by strict tradition, only Christians may live in Taybeh or buy property there.
San Fransisco Chronicle, Dec 25, 2005
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OPINION \ Dec 29, 2005 6168
Pastor of Nachalat Yeshua Messianic Congregation in Beersheba writes to Israeli National Paper the Jerusalem Post in light of the events that took place last Saterday, December 24, when his congregation was mobbed by a crowd of ultra-Orthodox extremists.
"While extremists controlled the direction and tone of the demonstration, other participants seemed ashamed of the violent behavior. The "we" here are Messianic Jews and gentiles, including Arabs, who believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and the one who saves us from our sins"
Howard Bass, The Jerusalem Post, Dec 29, 2005
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PERSIAN GULF \ Dec 28, 2005 4508
IRAQIS gathered for Christmas behind Kalashnikovs yesterday. Midnight Mass was cancelled because of bombing fears and curfews, but the country?s rapidly dwindling Christian minority turned out in their thousands for early morning services.
Protected under Saddam, Christians once numbered between 600,000 and 700,000 in Iraq, but church officials say that about half have now fled, especially from the south, where militias linked to Iraq?s ruling parties have waged a three-year campaign to Islamise the country at gunpoint.
From Stephen Farrell in Baghdad, Dec 25, 2005, Times Online, UK
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ISRAEL \ Dec 25, 2005 2571
Believers who came to the Shabbat Service at the Messianic Congregation at Beer Sheva to worship, were confronted by a throng of about 500 men, women, and children who had come to prevent the congregation from baptizing two believers. Apparently these people have heard the news of people coming to know Christ from Arad, a neighboruing town in the South of Israel, from which the two belong to the congregation there, and the plan was for a number of them in the congregation to come over to Beer Sheva and participate in the holy-day celebration, and the immersions would take place in the baptismal on the congregational property. The religious opposers of the good news forced their way into the grounds of the "Old House", creating a disturbance and claiming that they were going to rid Beer Sheva and Israel of Messianic Jews.
Special For "Come and See", Dec 25, 2005
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