When Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel was growing up in Kufur Yaseef in Galilee, in what used to be Palestine, he never imagined that his Christian upbringing would prepare him to lead one of the most influential mainline denominations in America.

"I heard the cry of the Palestinian Christians asking us to pray for them and asking us to have solidarity with them to stay on the land". "We need to say to Israel, 'We love you; we support you; we support your security; but what you are doing to the people in the West Bank is wrong,'"

By Andrew J. Skerritt The Herald, Published January 31? 2003)

A host of leading Christian clergymen and leading figures attended a mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Friday, January 31, to show solidarity with the Iraqi people in the face of rising U.S. "immoral and inhumane" war threats.

In a speech following the mass, Archimandrite Atallah Hanna ridiculed claims that the U.S. forces are amassed in the Gulf region to liberate Iraq.



Islam Online, Feb 3, 2003

Grace and Truth Congregation has been trying to get a permit to build a church in the Industrial Zone of Rishon Litzion, just south of Tel-Aviv. Ant-Christian Organization Yad LeAchim appealed to Israel's Supreme Court to stop the building.

Special For Come and See, Jan 30, 2003

For the second time in three months, a Jordanian Christian widow has been forced into hiding after a court ordered her to surrender her children to an estranged Muslim relative.
When Mrs Qandah?s husband died in 1994, a local Islamic court declared that he had converted to Islam years earlier. According to Islamic Law, this meant his minor children automatically became Muslims too.

Christian Solidarity WorldWide, Jan 23, 2003

The Nassar family is one of the few Christian families left in the Bethlehem area that owns hundreds of dunums of land. The transfer of their land to nearby Israelis settlements in contradiction to international law would deal a great blow to the dwindling Christian population in the Bethlehem area in these already very difficult times.

Allison Jones-Nassar is one of the members of the family who was born in the USA. She writes a direct letter to George W. Bush, the President of the US.

Special For Come and See, Jan 28, 2003

A Palestinian has been seriously injured as an Israeli helicopter fired missiles during a raid in Gaza City overnight, causing heavy damage to a Christian Anglican chapel, a metal workshop and other buildings, Palestinian medical and security sources said.

ABC News, January 24, 2003

The proposed Palestinian constitution declares Islam the official religion, and that the state would guarantee the sanctity of places of worship and respect other religions.

Most of the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are Muslims, and about 50,000 are Christians.

By Mark Lavie, Associated Press, Jan 21, 2003

Negative statements about Islam by high-profile Southern Baptists Jerry Vines, Jerry Falwell and Franklin Graham made headlines throughout the Muslim world last year. To express their concern, the missionaries working in 10 preominantly Muslim Countries jointly composed a letter asked it will be distributed in Baptist circles.

By Tony Cartledge, Associated Baptist Press, Jan 14, 2003

Muslim immigrants are pouring into Europe, but most churches there are unaware or unconcerned about the implications -- and the opportunity they have to reach Islamic nations.

Christian mission organizations based in London has so far been unable to raise support for reaching Muslims.However, several ministries and churches headed by former Muslims are reaching out to the immigrants.

Charisma News Service, Jan 13, 2003