A Palestinian Christian writes in an Israeli Paper about Pat Robertson's comments that God is punishing Ariel Sharon with his illness.

This article does not represent the opinion of "Come and See", but we bring it untouched, since it represents the thinking of many Christian Arabs, and shows how much such comments can be a stumbling block for Arabs and Jews alike to come to Christ

Ray Hanania, Ynet News, Jan 10, 2006

Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for "dividing God's land."

"God considers this land to be his," Robertson said on his TV program "The 700 Club." "You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.'"

Sharon, who ordered Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last year, suffered a severe stroke on Wednesday.

SONJA BARISIC, The Associated Press, Jan 6, 2006

Two thousand years after Jesus came to Taybeh, the dwindling population of this tiny West Bank community is determined to survive and pass on to future generations their unique heritage: the last all-Christian village in the Holy Land.

The villagers of Taybeh are fiercely proud of their Christian heritage. In the entire Holy Land, there are only about 200,000 Christians, less than 2 percent of the population -- 130,000 in Israel and 70,000 in the West Bank and Gaza. Other Christian towns such as Bethlehem and Ramallah now have Muslim majorities, but by strict tradition, only Christians may live in Taybeh or buy property there.

San Fransisco Chronicle, Dec 25, 2005

Pastor of Nachalat Yeshua Messianic Congregation in Beersheba writes to Israeli National Paper the Jerusalem Post in light of the events that took place last Saterday, December 24, when his congregation was mobbed by a crowd of ultra-Orthodox extremists.

"While extremists controlled the direction and tone of the demonstration, other participants seemed ashamed of the violent behavior. The "we" here are Messianic Jews and gentiles, including Arabs, who believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and the one who saves us from our sins"

Howard Bass, The Jerusalem Post, Dec 29, 2005

IRAQIS gathered for Christmas behind Kalashnikovs yesterday. Midnight Mass was cancelled because of bombing fears and curfews, but the country?s rapidly dwindling Christian minority turned out in their thousands for early morning services.

Protected under Saddam, Christians once numbered between 600,000 and 700,000 in Iraq, but church officials say that about half have now fled, especially from the south, where militias linked to Iraq?s ruling parties have waged a three-year campaign to Islamise the country at gunpoint.

From Stephen Farrell in Baghdad, Dec 25, 2005, Times Online, UK

Believers who came to the Shabbat Service at the Messianic Congregation at Beer Sheva to worship, were confronted by a throng of about 500 men, women, and children who had come to prevent the congregation from baptizing two believers. Apparently these people have heard the news of people coming to know Christ from Arad, a neighboruing town in the South of Israel, from which the two belong to the congregation there, and the plan was for a number of them in the congregation to come over to Beer Sheva and participate in the holy-day celebration, and the immersions would take place in the baptismal on the congregational property. The religious opposers of the good news forced their way into the grounds of the "Old House", creating a disturbance and claiming that they were going to rid Beer Sheva and Israel of Messianic Jews.

Special For "Come and See", Dec 25, 2005

By secular standards, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa has done spectacularly well in his career. Even from the perspective of the Catholic establishment, Pizzaballa is an unparalleled success story. In fact, being appointed custodian of the Holy Land at the age of 39 is quite a feat by any yardstick: In practice, Pizzaballa is the man in charge of all the Christian holy places in the Middle East.

By Lili Galili, Haaretz, Dec 24, 2005

If you travel around the Arab villages and towns in Galilee these days, you will be surprised to see billboards with the sign ?Jesus Christ is the Feast? (Jesus is the Reason of the Season) - This is the name of the campaign that the Life agape Ministry is leading with the cooperation of around 50 churches (Baptists, Nazarenes, Assemblies of God and Brethren). This campaign has been launched everywhere in the newspapers, billboards and the Internet.

Special for "Come and See", Dec 23, 2005

If pilgrims worshipping in the Church of the Nativity look up at the roof, they will see a battlefield threatening the future of one of Christendom's most holy sites.

Squabbling over crucial roof repairs between the three Christian communities who share custodianship of Jesus's birthplace is endangering the 1,500-year-old basilica.

By Tim Butcher, The Telegraph