Starting from this school year, high school students will be able to take matriculation exam in 'Christian religion.' Program currently open for Arab students only, but Education Ministry says will consider allowing Jewish pupils to take it as well

The new curriculum is fruit of work of a committee including Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Maronites and Anglicans ? with a Moslem representative as well. Evangelicals in Israel were excluded from this new work.

Moran Zelikovich, Ynet, Oct 7, 2006

A previously unknown Muslim group calling itself "The Army of Guidance" pledged on Tuesday to strike at Christian targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for recent remarks by the pope deemed offensive by many Muslims.

In a lecture in Germany last week, Pope Benedict XVI cited a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."

In response, St. Perfidious, a 1,400-year-old Greek Orthodox church in Gaza, was lightly damaged Friday in an attack by unknown assailants.

AP, Sep 19, 2006

Unknown assailants attacked two churches in Rafidia village west of the West Bank city of Nablus late on Friday at night.

The first attack targeted a Protestant church at midnight, the church was hit with several firebombs. Several hours later, more cocktail bombs hit the Greek Orthodox Church in the village, both churches were damaged, but no injuries were reported.

Ghassan Bannoura, Saed Bannoura - International Middle East Media Center, & Agencies - Saturday, 16 September 2006

Palestinian gunmen today attacked and set fire to the Young Men's Christian Association headquarters in Qalqiliya, a large West Bank city controlled by Hamas.

Local government sources identified the attackers as members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, saying the identities of the gunmen are "well known" to Qalqiliya's security forces, which are controlled by the Hamas government.

WorldNet Daily, Sep 9, 2006

In its extreme form, the Christian Zionist program identifies the Gospel with "the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism" and is "detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel", say Jerusalem bishops in a hard-hitting statement.

The statement, signed by Catholic Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Michel Sabbah (pictured), and leaders of the Syrian Orthodox, Episcopal and the Evangelical Lutheran churches in Jerusalem, directs its attack at a belief among some Christians that the defence of the State of Israel is in accordance with Biblical prophecy.

Catholic News, Zenit, Aug 30, 2006

Maronite Catholics attacked a newly-built, independent Baptist church near Beirut this month, mauling churchgoers preparing to host war refugees from southern Lebanon.

The violence flared up after of several weeks of tense public debate between Maronite and Baptist clergy. More than 20 men from Ajaltoun village attacked Christ Bible Baptist Church on August 2, slashing car tires, breaking the church door and windows, stealing computer and sound equipment, beating men and groping several women.

Compass Direct, Aug 22, 2006

Bernard Lewis, a professor emeritus at Princeton, called attention to Aug. 22 in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal earlier this month. In it, Lewis warned that, because of the date's historic significance to Muslims and because Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has referred to it within the context of nuclear development, Aug. 22 could be a time for more terrorist attacks against the West.

BY MICHAEL GARTLAND, The Post and Courier, Charleston, Aug 22, 2006

In February, the Palestinian Bible Society in Gaza City received a terrorist threat: close and leave Gaza by the end of the month or be bombed. The Bible Society staff counted the cost, surrendered their lives to Christ and did not leave despite the real threat of death. Labib Madanat, a Jordanian Christian who is the director of the Palestinian Bible Society, explains that the Bible Society is called to serve the Palestinian people ? including the Muslims. The Society's commitment to love and to serve their ?beloved? Muslims continues, uninterrupted.

Open Doors Press Release, Aug 15, 2006

Apart of a few moments of alarms and rocket strikes in the vicinity of the city, the Sunday before the cease-fire was mostly sad and quiet in Nazareth's deserted tourist center. This place is one of the most visited, interesting and beautiful tourism sites of the Galilee; an attraction drawing pilgrims from all over the world. In its center lies the Annunciation Basilica, which according to tradition stands above the ancient house in which Mary, mother of Jesus, has had her conception announced (yesterday, August 15, marked the catholic holiday of the virgin mother, celebrating the day she rose to the heavens).

Orna Coussin, Haaretz, Aug 16, 2006