Palestine
Roll Jordan, roll—sort of
The Friends of the Earth Middle East scored a victory this summer when some 9 million cubic meters of fresh water per year started flowing into the Jordan River.
Israel’s Protestant friends
The Six-Day War, as Caitlin Carenen argues, represented a turning point in American Protestant views of Israel.
Praying for the Mideast
There's a broad consensus that peace between the Israelis and Palestinians depends on a two-state solution. So why doesn't it happen?
A land divided: The internal conflicts of Zionism
Is the goal of Zionism a democratic Israel with a Jewish majority? Or rule of the entire land, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan?
Jordan tour: Our driver from Ramallah
In Jordan, reports are mixed as to just how good relations are between the Muslim majority and the Christian minority. What's clearer is that the stronger divide is between native Jordanians and the many Palestinian refugees.
The two locals we spent the most time with, our tour guide and our bus driver, represent both differences.
River revival: Can the Jordan roll again?
The Jordan River is too shallow for Michael to row across, and the shore is a stinking pile of sludge. But something redemptive is happening.
Controversial dig: The politics of Israeli archaeology
Israelis take great interest in archaeology, as findings can validate Jews' ancient claims to the land. Of course, Palestinians have similar claims.
Investing in Palestinians
A rabbi and strong advocate for Palestinians’ rights told me this: "When you Christians start talking about divesting from Israel, it sounds to us as if you are undermining Israel’s economy and thus Israel’s existence. We close ranks."
Investment, not divestment: How to help the Palestinians
Boycott and divestment aim to punish Israel. A more constructive strategy is needed.
Anxious in Palestine
Palestinian parents don’t fret about drugs or drunk drivers. They worry that the Israeli soldiers will use their M-16s.
Adopt a settlement: Christian Zionists and the West Bank
At American synagogues, Israeli settlement leader Ron Nachman gets a lot of questions. At churches he gets big checks.
Gospel journey
With his imagination in overdrive, Bruce Fisk has created a fictional character to guide readers through the Holy Land and the thickets of New Testament scholarship.
Tough conversations
It is difficult for Jews to talk about the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. It's also difficult for Christians to talk about it with Jews.
Set apart: The Haredim in Israel
No week passes in Israel without an article being published—usually negative in tone—about the Haredi community.
Land battle: Settlements and Middle East peace
Attacks on Israelis inside or emanating from the West Bank are now almost nonexistent. Peace efforts are focused instead on settlements—because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a conflict over land.
Mapmakers for God
Three new books give fresh insights into the complicated history of
evangelical Zionism. Together they present a compelling argument that
the founding fathers of the modern state of Israel were not just
Theodor Herzl and his Zionist Congress, but American and British
evangelicals who exercised tremendous political and economic power in
the 19th century—power that modern-day evangelicals like Hagee and his
allies can only dream of.