The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemns the vicious attack on innocent worshippers in the Saints Church in Alexandria, Egypt when a bomb was detonated at the conclusion of the celebration of a New Year’s midnight mass. As a result, at least 21 people have been killed and more than 80 injured.

World Council of Churches Web site, Jan 1, 2011

Christians constitute roughly 2 percent of the country’s citizens, or 153,000 people out of the 7.5 million population, according to figures released this week by the Central Bureau of Statistics ahead of Christmas Day on Saturday.

According to the figures, 80.4% of the Christians in Israel are Arabs and the rest are immigrants who arrived under the "Law of Return", since they had Jewish relatives. The majority of those in the second category of Christians arrived during the large waves of aliya from the former Soviet Union.

Jerusalem Post, Dec 23, 2010

After serving as a pastor in few Baptist churches in Britain for the last 35 years, Rev. Philip Hill moved with his wife Angela to Nazareth, Israel. Recently he became the pastor of the Local Baptist Church in Nazareth.Rev. Hill writes about his experience celebrating Christmas in Israel.Special for Come and See, December 24, 2010

The remains of an ancient Nestorian Christian monastery and church on Sri Bani Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates have been opened for public viewing, providing an important glimpse into the pre-Islamic history of the region.

The site was unearthed in the early 1990s and is believed to be the only permanent settlement ever established on the island, which is 160 miles southwest of Abu Dhabi.
 
Catholic News, December 15, 2010

The issue of Christians in Iraq really hits home, particularly the week before Christmas. These "Assyrian" or "Chaldean" Christians form one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, dating back to biblical times-long before the rise of Islam.

And, sad to say, the action or inaction of the U. S. government has played a major role in the situation.

Chuck Colson, December 17, 2010

The White House mailbox will be stuffed fuller than usual this holiday season as thousands of Christians in the United States send Christmas cards to President Obama pledging prayer for his efforts to broker peace in the Middle East.

Bob Allen, Associated Baptist Press, Dec 6, 2010

End times theology that equates the modern state of Israel with the Israel of biblical prophecy has caused some evangelical Christians to let eschatology trump ethics when it comes to the Middle East, a Palestinian-American Christian told a general session at the Global Faith Forum at NorthWood Church in Keller.

Henry Mikhail, a Jerusalem-born Arab who now serves on a peace and justice work group of the Reformed Church of America’s General Synod Council, rejected the notion that support for the Palestinian people makes a person anti-Israel.

By Ken Camp, Managing Editor, The Baptist Standard, November 15, 2010

Botrus Mansour,general Director of Nazareth Baptist School writes an article in the nationwide daily Haaretz about the discrimination of the ministry of education against Christian schools in Israel.

"Restricting these schools, which are firmly rooted in this land and are a success story is a blessing and an element of improvement for the clumsy and tired mechanism of the Ministry of Education, is like shooting ourselves in the foot"


Botrus Mansour, Haaretz, October 6, 2010

At least eight evangelical churches in northern Syria have been closed by the Syrian government.

According to International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org , the Syrian government ordered the closure of numerous 'house churches' for meeting in places the government deems inappropriate for worship.

Many congregations in Syria cannot afford to buy a plot of land and build a church, so instead they purchase an apartment and turn it into a place of worship. However, during the past few months, the government has enforced a law stating that congregations must only gather in buildings that resemble a church.

By Michael Ireland, www.persecution.org Sep 28, 2010