'Day of recreation' ends in tears for Christian campers

2009 August. Racism alleged.Children from northern Israel, as well as from abroad, take part in the Jish church summer camp every year. It is considered the most successful summer camp among the Christian community in Israel. However this year the children were reduced to tears.This year, as always, the camp planned a day of recreational activities at the swimming pool at the country club in Katzirn, a city in Northern Israel. But 250 children from Jish church's summer camp left the country club in tears after the club's manager refused to allow the counselors to play Arabic music. 'We can't have every sector coming to the pool and playing whatever music they want,' manager explainedThe Jish church summer camp director, Jadi Sliman, said the country club manager's conduct was "insulting and racist". Sliman says he explained to the manager that Arabic was the summer camp children's mother tongue, "but he refused to listen and said, 'l am the manager here and I decided. There will be no music in Arabic here."Adib Halif, one of the children's father, told Ynet News that this was a first-class act of racism. "I couldn’t believe that here in Israel there are such open expressions of racism. My child was very disappointed. This is no way to treat children."Separately an Israeli court ordered the operator of municipal swimming pool in Ofakim to pay fine of NIS 10,000 (NIS = New Israel Shekels) for not allowing family to enter place, claiming mother's veil would 'drive customers away' The municipality was not fined.

In the Holy Land: Religion in Public Schools Decreed

2009 August. The Palestine News Network reports that in Gaza, the government is requiring all high school girls to comply with a new dress code requiring that they cover their hair and wear leggings under their dresses. Supporters refer to it as “legitimate Islamic dress”, and as part of the program to “feminize” schools.
The Director of Education called on girls to “wear Islamic dress.” He said it is a decision for the entire school district for the “feminization of schools”, a program that includes ridding all girls’ schools of any male teachers or administrators. "The Muslim society and Islam requires us to differentiate between the brother and sister after the age of seven, let alone in the school,” the Education Director said.
An official at a school in western Gaza City that "Islamic dress is compulsory for all students and must be adhered to and that is what we have asserted this morning, all students will not be allowed as of tomorrow to enter school without a new dress."The measure is being described as a new phases on the road to turning Gaza into its own entity. Critics note the recent decision by the Interior Ministry to impose robes and head scarves on female lawyers while in the court room.
Meanwhile YNET News reports that Israeli Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar responded to fears expressed by the Arab sector regarding his plans to teach Zionist subjects in schools by saying "I have no intention of 'Judaizing' anyone and no one has heard me say I would impose the national anthem on the Arab schools," However he also said "I mean to start a new program in grades 4-9 called Heritage and Israeli Culture, in which students will study the Hebrew calendar, the flag, and the national anthem."

n Nazareth: Inauguration Bible Society for Arabs

2009 July in Nazareth: Inauguration of the Bible Society for ArabsIn July 2009 Bishop Elias Chachour, leaders and clergy from various Christian denominations and others met in Nazareth to inaugurate the Bible Society for Arabs in Israel. Anglican Pastor Bilal Habibi offered a prayer and 12 year old Muslim violinist Yamen Saadi entertained. All viewed their presence celebrating making the Bible accessible, available and affordable as a sign of hope for all those living in the Holy Land. Yamen Saadi, entertained. All viewed their presence celebrating making the Bible accessible, available, & affordable as a sign of hope for all living in the Holy Land.

In Jordon: Sodom found?

2009 Aug East of Jericho, Palestine is Tall el-Hammam in Jordan, which may be the location of Sodom.One archeologist believes that the site fits perfectly with the geographical profile outlined in Genesis 13-19. The archeologist, Steven Collins, arrived at this conclusion using a a scientific methodology he developed called "criterial screening." His conclusion is that Genesis is reliable for geographical profiles, and therefore can be used to locate sites.He came to believe that the traditional site of Sodom (in the southern region of the Dead Sea) was wrong based upon the geographical indicators and text in Genesis. Based on those indicators he concluded that the site of Tall el-Hammam was the site of Sodom. He noted that the site has 25 geographical indicators that align it with the description in Genesis. This compares Jerusalem which has only 16 and other sites that have only 5 or 6. “So, this site has many times more indicators than any other Old Testament site” he says. Pottery, architecture and destruction layers uncovered during his diggings also fit the timeframe profile indicated by Genesis. Collins also reports that he has secured internationally recognized experts to review his findings and that their conclusions reflect that his findings are correct“Though we are still digging and uncovering a plethora of material and artifacts, and much research still needs to be conducted, I feel that the evidence for this being the ancient city of Sodom is increasing by the day” says Collins.

Christian and Druze teenagers fight in the streets

2009 Aug 17 in Northern Israel Last week, Christian and Druze teenagers fought in the streets of Shfaram, a town in northern Israel, following rumors of a posting by Christians on the Internet of a video dishonoring the memory of the late Druze spiritual leaders Amin Tarif, showing Tarif's head attached to a pig's body. Leaders of the Christian and Druze communities intervened to stop the fights. During the brawl several homes and vehicles were set afire, and shots were fired at police trying to restore order. No injuries were reported. A few days later a youth, a resident of the western Galilee, was arrested as a suspect in the posting. The suspect is neither a resident of the town, nor a member of the Christian community. Police have released no other details due to fears of renewed violence.

Nazareth HS Students Meet with Nobel Prize Winners

2009 June: For the second year in a row, a delegation from Nazareth Baptist School BS participated in the annual meeting for Nobel prize winners held in June in Lindau in Germany in June. Two 12th graders of NBS, Wisam Haddad and Hanna Khalil, were invited to participate as part of the “young researchers” group in this conference. Dr. Ousama Moalem, NBS principal and Physics teacher was invited to be a distinguished guest in the conference.NBS is the only school in the world to that was invited to participate in this event that 22 Nobel laureates in Chemistry participated with more than 600 “young researchers” who hold masters and doctorates from 67 countries. The invitation was the result of the large number of prizes that NBS students received in recent years in the international contest for Physics research. The purpose of the conference was to expose young researchers to the failures and successes that the Nobel laureates dealt with, bringing them closer to one another and also presenting the research possibilities in Europe in general and Germany in particular.The conference included also lectures given by the Nobel laureates as well as young researchers on the issue of the raise in the temperature of the earth and water problems.

It’s time to become part of the solution

With the fighting over in Gaza, at least for the time being, rather than supporters of each side looking to reconciliation, the first blush of hope fades as energies turn to efforts to demonize the "other" side. "They" are evil and "we" are pure. "Their" requests/demands are unreasonable and "ours" are just. "They" must demonstrate contrition. The "discussions" are truly amazing. "You did this. Yes but because you did that. Yes we did that but only because you did . . .." in an endless regression. And the Christian communities living in the Holy Land are caught in the middle.

Christians have a large stake in seeing this madness end.The fact is until both sides learn that both sides are right and both sides are wrong, until they become less concerned with claiming victory and trying to assign blame and until we all learn to focus on how things can be made better for everyone (even before deciding who "wins"), those living in the Holy Land in general, and the Christian communities living there in particular, will suffer.

They say those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. But perhaps it is more correct to say that about those who remember it too well.

What can you do about all this? First of all you can refuse to participate in "blame games" and urge people to focus on the future and not the past. You can learn about the plight of Christian communities in the Holy Land and then find ways in which you can engage with them and support their efforts to make lives better for Christians living in the Holy Land. Start by visiting www.UnitedChristianCommunities.org