News of John Paul II's appointment of an auxiliary bishop of the Latin patriarch for Hebrew-speaking Catholics has stirred considerable public interest in the Holy Land.

Msgr. Gourion who was raised Jewish and became Catholic at the age of 23 denied information as if was in competition against Monsgr. Michel Sabbah making a political issue out of this appointment".

Zenit.org, Aug 19, 2003

Nazareth village launches an exciting new program for visitors. The program includes a play and a first century full-course meal.

Nazareth Village is a full creation living musem located in the heart of the city of Nazareth

Special for Come and See, Aug 12, 2003

The editorial coordinator of Christian History in "Christianity Today" writes about the history of Palestinian Christians:

"They've called the Holy Land home for centuries, but they've never actually governed themselves"

Steven Gertz, Christianity Today, Aug 8, 2003

The Sharon government voted against the law depriving Palestinians married to Israelis of the right to Israeli citizenship and forced the Knesset to accept its position and to enact a law that grossly discriminates against Israel's Arab citizens.

This new law is critical to the small Christian Community that lives in Israel and Palestine. What God Has Joined - Israel tries to seperate.

Parts of an Article by Uzi Benziman, Haaretz, August 3, 2003

Ninety-five retired Southern Baptist missionaries who served in the Middle East and North Africa recently signed a resolution calling for Christian leaders in America to refrain from making inflammatory statements about the faith of the people in the mostly Muslim area

By Hannah Lodwick, Associated Baptist Press, July 25, 2003

The Israeli town of 3,000 Arab Christians, with few jobs and no Internet access, is to receive a computer center from Jewish and Roman Catholic leaders in Chicago.

BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL, Chicago Sun Times, July 23, 2003

The Vatican will build the biggest church of the Middle East in Jordan near the site where scholars believe Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, ASSIST News Service (ANS) has learned from official sources.

According to "Come and See" Editor, the biggest Church in the Middle East nowadays is the Church of Annonciation in Nazareth.

ASSIST News Service, July 17, 2003

Siham Qandah has been assured by a Jordanian prince that he will personally ensure that she is not sent to prison, while her lawyers continue to fight for justice.

Siham?s tragic case began with the death of her husband in 1994. When she tried to claim her widow?s pension from the army she was astonished to be told that he had allegedly converted to Islam and therefore under Shari?ah and Jordanian law as a Christian she could not inherit from him. In April 2002 Siham was ordered by court to give up custody of her children, so the family went into hiding.

Barnaba's Fund Web site, July 14, 2003

In Israel, Tourism Minister Benny Elon is considered too extreme, so he complains that he cannot get his ideas through "since the media here is closed to me. From the other side, when I go to the Congress and meet with Tom Delay or Sam Brownback, and these men take me seriously. The Christian Coalition is highly supportive. I am closely tied to Pat Robertson and Gary Bauer. And they have a lot of power".

Parts of an interview with a racist minister who his biggest supporters are Pro-Israel Evangalicals in the US

From the Jerusalem Post, July 15, 2003