Evangelist and sociologist Tony Campolo, speaking to United Methodist leaders in Birmingham on Monday, warned that too many Christians have become "evangelical Zionists" who favor ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the Middle East. He says this one-sided view is prevalent among Southern Baptists.

Tuesday, June 08, 2004, GREG GARRISON, The Birmingham News, Alabama

Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa is the new Custos of the Fransiscan Custody of the Holy Land. At the age of 39, Pizzaballa is one of the youngest elected for this influential office.

He is fluent in Hebrew and published "the Rite of the Mass in Hebrew". In this interview he speaks about challenges he faces in this new position. He talks about the dividing wall, the emigrating of Palestinian Christians and the small Hebrew Speaking Christian community in Israel.

Fransiscan Custody in Holy Land Website, May 15, 2004

The Church of Scotland?s troubled hotel and retreat in Israel was plunged into fresh controversy last night, after one of the Kirk?s senior ministers in Jerusalem accused officials running the project of not employing Christians in senior positions.

Responding to the concerns, the minister at the Tiberias project, said part of the problem was that Palestinian Christians from elsewhere in Israel did not have the necessary papers to travel to the north (!!!!)

ANDREW DENHOLM, The Scotsman, May 22, 2004

Seven Volunteers from Pro-Israel "Bridges for Peace" were denied a volunteer visa this week. This charitable organization donates some 35 tons of food to poor Israelis a month.

Visas for Christian clergy have received a great deal of attention in recent months with the dissolution of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the subsequent visa chaos that it left in its wake.

By Daphna Berman, Haaretz, May 28, 2004

Nazareth Baptist School in Israel celebrates its 50-th graduation. In this occasion, many graduates gathered for reunion meetings for this outstanding school that graduated more than 2400 students already.

The Nazareth Baptist School is the only Evangelical School in Israel where students attend Chapel and study the Bible.

Special For Come and See, June 4, 2004

Mordecai Vanunu's decision to move to Jerusalem after 18 years in prison is leaving the heads of the Anglican Church in town without much sleep. People who oppose Vanunu are confused about his residence. They are confusing the Anglican Church of St. George's Nablus Road with the other Anglican Church, Christ Church in Jaffa Gate.

"The duty of Christ Church is to convert Jewish people to Christianity. We have a different duty, to bring peace and partnership between people" says Bishop Riah Abu El Assal who was questioned by the security secret service this week over connections with BBC reporter Peter Hounam

Jonathan Wiesman, Kol Hazman and Yossi Melman, Haaretz, May 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

One of the top Israeli columnists writes in Haaretz about a Christian Arab lady who cannot live with her family in Israel since the Interior Ministry will not extend her husband's tourist visa and refuses to let him live in Israel permanently, as part of a family reunification process.

Uzi Benziman sheds light on the way the Israeli goverment treats its Arab citizens through the case study of the Mansour family.

By Uzi Benziman, Haaretz, May 16, 2004

While "The Passion of the Christ" is not showing in Israel, an insulting movie about God was just released. God, wearing a tattered robe that exposes a large cross, sits sloppily in front of a television set on the roof when somebody appears and hands him a letter reminding him that on January 1, 2002 he has to send his son to Earth in order to redeem mankind. The story tells how Jesus comes to earth and meets lots of people and comes back to his father with a pair of shoes.

By Goel Pinto, Haaretz, May 15, 2004