Category Archives: Religion

Operation “Prayer Shield” for Israel

Arab/Israeli Conflict, Religion

by Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post

What a difference a few minutes can make.

That thought must surely be running through the minds of dozens of parents and teenagers at the HaNativ HaYeshivati high school in Sderot, after a Palestinian Kassam rocket slammed through the roof of a classroom there this past Sunday.

The day had started like any other, with students attending morning prayers in an adjacent synagogue and then staying behind to hear their teacher deliver a schmooze – a brief discourse on a Torah-related subject.

The classroom was still locked, and some of the students had begun gathering at the door, where they were waiting for their teacher to bring the key. Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the building, as the uninvited projectile punched its way through the ceiling and detonated inside.
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Apocalypse Soon?

Religion

This talk was given to The Freedom Association on 23rd May 2006 by AFI patron Revd Dr Peter Mullen.

A few years ago – certainly before 9/11 – I was at a US Liberty Fund conference and we were discussing the Cold War. In the final session someone tried to bring together the various strands of our conversation and said, “Well at least we can be grateful that the longest confrontation in modern times is over”. Whereupon Professor David Martin replied ever so softly, “The longest confrontation in modern times has been going on for 1400 years. 300 years ago the enemy were at the gates of Vienna, and if they get the chance they’ll be there again”.
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YMCA warned to vacate Hamas town

Arab/Israeli Conflict, Christian Churches, Religion

After 6 years of operation, Christian organization being booted by terror group

by Aaron Klein, WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM — The leadership of a West Bank Palestinian city now controlled by Hamas has warned a local Young Men’s Christian Association to close its offices and leave town or face likely Muslim violence, WorldNetDaily has learned.

The move highlighted long-standing fears Hamas would use its win in last January’s Palestinian parliamentary elections to impose an anti-Christian, anti-Jewish hard-line Islamist regime in the West Bank and Gaza.

“The face of the new Hamas government is coming to the forefront now that they finally took over and have a lot more confidence. They want to create a territory free of Christians and Jews,” said a Christian leader associated with the YMCA in Qalqiliya, a West Bank town under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.

Yesterday, major Muslim organizations in Qalqiliya in conjunction with local mosques, the city’s Mufti and municipal leaders, sent a letter to the interior minister of the Hamas-led PA accusing the YMCA of missionary activities and demanding the Palestinian government immediately shut down the Christian offices.

Read the full report »

Love Transcendent

Christian Churches, Religion

by Dr Irene Lancaster

A shorter version of this appears in the April 15th edition of the Tablet, p. 24-25 to coincide with the Pope’s first anniversary.

Reading the Pope’s Encyclical on ‘Christian Love’ from a rabbinic perspective, it is remarkable in how many echoes there are. From the outset the Pope emphasizes the primacy of experience in religious encounter, an emphasis echoed by the great 11th-century Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet, Judah Halevi, who in defining Judaism to the King of the Khazars, stated that Judaism is not an ideology, or ethic, but based in the revelation experience of every man, woman and child at Mount Sinai, as depicted in Exodus 20:18.

The Pope reiterates the Jewish view that love of God, as described in the affirmation of Jewish faith, the Shema (Deuteronomy 6: 4-5), goes hand in hand with the equally important injunction to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18). This injunction tells us that to love your neighbour, you must first learn to love yourself. This is not merely a one-time ‘command’, but a practice in awareness which is part of our daily lives.
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The role of religion in conflict

Middle East Politics, Religion

A message from Canon Andrew White, Chief Executive of the Foundation for Reconciliation in the Middle East

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Spain. I am just departing here to return to Jerusalem via London. The Rabbis and Imams conference was not positive. Despite there being 350+ people present many of whom I knew the programme and organization was probably the worst I have ever experienced. Despite the difficulties the fact that I was able to meet with so many people was positive. Many of our Gaza colleagues were present including Imad Fuluji who heads up the Adam Centre in Gaza. I hope to see him in Gaza this weekend.

What was obvious in discussion with the Islamic leaders was that there are really only two subjects on their Agenda, Palestine and Iraq. These are the main issues we are trying to deal with. The Islamic delegation came from all around the world yet their concerns were the same. In discussions with both the Islamic and Jewish delegates it became clear that both felt that the issue of religion and its role in conflict and conflict resolution is not taken seriously enough by the international governmental community. On this point I totally agree with them.
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