The events of the last few days could bring about the collapse of the tourism industry, in what had looked like a record year for tourism up to now.

The hotels and guesthouses in the north emptied out on Friday and Saturday, and travel agencies began to receive cancellations from abroad.

Irit Rosenblum, Haaretz, July 17, 2006

Prisoners are likely to be transferred from Megiddo Prison to make way for archaeologists and tourists, after the discovery of an ancient Christian prayer house - considered the oldest in the world - at the site last year.

In the spring of next year, the first stage of a new plan will be implemented and the four-dunam area of the prayer house will be placed outside the prison boundaries and opened to the public.

A plan to develop the site, which is in Wadi Ara, is shortly expected to be approved by the government.

By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz, July 10, 2006

Biblical history flows through the nation of Jordan, from the cave where Lot is said to have lived after his wife turned into a pillar of salt to the archaeological park where many believe John the Baptist baptized Jesus.

Abraham passed this way as he traveled from Mesopotamia to Canaan, and Moses climbed Mount Nebo to look out upon the Promised Land. In Jordan's northwest corner at Umm Qais, called Gadara in the New Testament, Jesus performed the miracle of the Gadarene swine. Near Amman is the legendary Cave of the Seven Sleepers, where legend holds that several persecuted Christian boys found shelter and slept there for 309 years.

By Cecile S. Holmes, July 7, 2006 - Religion News Service

Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar on Tuesday sent a letter to The Holy See. What's in the letter? Neither a request for world peace nor a common prayer for merging Judaism and Christianity into one faith. In the letter, the rabbi asks Pope Benedict 16 to assist in efforts "to thwart the event of the world gay parade which will take place next month in Jerusalem."

"We were shocked to hear of plans to hold the world Pride Parade in the Holy City," rabbi Amar wrote, "The city which the entire world looks up to due to its holiness and glory, is now being attacked by evil people who wish to violate its honor and humiliate its greatness with deeds that theTorah despises, as well as all other religions. There is no need to elaborate about their plans and evil actions that bring humanity's dignity to the ground."


YnetNews, July 5, 2006

According to Stephen Sizer, Don Wagner and Ann Helmke, the fundamentalist Christian doctrine, which does not recognize the rights of the Palestinians, does not contain any form of concern for the welfare of the State of Israel.

Sizer argues that behind the love of Israel, the Zionist Christians are concealing an intense anti-Semitism.

Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz diplomatic affairs analyst, meets Christian leaders who are not automatic supporters of Israel and come to the conclusion that not all Evangelicals or Christians are "in Israel's pocket", as many people tend to believe.

Akiva Eldar, Haaretz, July 4, 2006

A group of 50 pro-Israel Christian tourists came under attack Wednesday from some 100 residents of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea She'arim in Jerusalem.

Three of the tourists and a police officer were wounded in the attack. They received treatment at the scene.

The tourists arrived at Mea She'arim wearing orange T-shirts with the words "Love your neighbor as yourself" printed across them.

Jonathan Lis, Haaretz, June 28, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI has said violence is forcing Christians to flee Israel, the Palestinian territories and other countries of the Middle East.

The pontiff also called for respect between cultures and religions.

"The serious difficulties encountered by the Christian community" in Israel and the Palestinian territories "because of lack of security, work, restrictions on movements and poverty are a source of anxiety for us", he said on Thursday.

Al-Jazeera, June 22, 2006

Christian Palestinian have expressed dismay at a resolution submitted to the House of Representatives by Texan congressman Michael McCaul, which claims that they are being persecuted by the Palestinian Authority.

Open Bethlehem's chief executive Leila Sansour, a Christian from Bethlehem, has sent a letter to congress expressing her community's shock at the "gross misrepresentation of the real threat facing Christians of the Holy Land" and has urged congress to "pay heed to the real threat to the oldest Christian community in the world.

Independent Catholic News, June 20, 2006

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) national assembly on Wednesday revised a 2-year-old policy on Middle East investments that had provoked protest from grass roots churchgoers and Jewish groups.

To vigorous applause, delegates agreed to a new statement that says Presbyterian holdings pertaining to both Israel and Palestinian territory should "be invested in only peaceful pursuits."

The 2004 assembly authorized "phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel" because of its policies toward Palestinians. Jewish organizations had criticized that action as unfairly one-sided but were content with the new wording.

The Associated Press, June 22, 2006