Amram Mitsna, former leader of the Labor Party and mayor of Haifa writes about Maghar: "The rumor alone was ample pretext for the assault on the Christian villagers, simply because they were Christians. Can it be that in Israel, the state of the Jews - a people with much experience with persecution and pogroms in the name of religion - there could be such a thing as violence committed in the name of religion?"

"In the next day the media, whose function it is to reflect reality and place urgent social problems on the public agenda, described the events as if they had occurred in some foreign country, with emphasis placed on the teenager and his concocted story, and not on the violence or the religious aspect. How would the media and the political establishment have reacted, what would the Israeli agenda look like had the people under attack been Jews?"

Haaretz, Feb 16, 2005

A 16-year-old Druze boy admitted Monday to spreading a rumor that sparked violent weekend clashes between Druze and Christians in the mixed village of Maghar in the Galilee.

Dozens of Christian businesses were burned to the ground and many Christian families fled the village during riots that began Thursday evening after a rumor spread that Christian youths had placed pornographic pictures of Druze girls on the internet.

Jacky Khoury, Haaretz, Feb 14, 2005

Clouds of smoke were visible above the village of Meghar in the western Galilee as violent clashes between Druze and Christians resumed Saturday.

The renewed clashes broke out after a group of Christian Arabs held a quiet protest in front of the church against what they perceive to be a slow police response to Friday's violence.

Jack Khoury, Haaretz, Feb 11, 2005

As'ad Halul, a garage owner from the Galilee Christian village of Gush Halav (Jish), doesn't understand what people want from him. Two years ago, he decided to stop paying rent for the building which housed his garage, but instead bought land in the village to build a bigger repair shop there.

What turns out later is that the land belongs to the Jewish National Fund, and therefore, cannot be allocated "to anyone who is not Jewish.

This is one of the reasons why Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided yesterday that all land managed by the Israel Lands Administration, including land owned by the Jewish National Fund, will be marketed without discrimination or limits including to non-Jews.

Haaretz, January 27, 2005

Half a million dollars in donations raised by American Christian Evangelical supporters of Israel for Jerusalem's needy has been held up for the past year and a half due to a long-running feud between the head of the charity and the Jerusalem Municipality over a photo-op with the mayor, the city and the organization said Tuesday.

Etgar Lefkovitz, the Jerusalem Post, Jan 11, 2004

Former US President Jimmy Carter found time in his trip to the Middle East to drive north to Nazareth, Saturday afternoon, the 8th of January to visit a full-scale replica of a first century village in Nazareth called ?Nazareth Village?.

President Carter and wife Rosalynn have been honorary chairs for Nazareth Village since the inception of the idea in 1997 - but this was the first time Carter actually visited the site.

Special for Come and See, Jan 11, 2005

An Armenian priest was assaulted by four yeshiva students in the Old City of Jerusalem Thursday afternoon, in the second such attack in the last three months, police said.

The altercation began when one of the yeshiva students spat on the priest, Father Avedis, in front of the Armenian Monastery where he lives in the Armenian Quarter, the priest said. The Jewish assailant refused to go to police with the priest, and the two got into a scuffle.

Etgar Lefkovits, THE JERUSALEM POST, Jan. 6, 2005

On 24 December 2004, the Haifa District Court rejected Adalah's request for an immediate injunction, filed on behalf of the Arab Students? Committee, ordering Haifa University to permit the placement of a Christmas tree in the University's Main Building. The request for injunction was filed urgently in the hope that the tree would be erected in time for 25 December, Christmas Day. Judge Ron Socol ruled that although there exists a "suspicion" of unacceptable discrimination, since the University approved the placement of a Channukah lamp in the Main Building, the inequality in this case does not justify the Court's intervention in the University's decision.

Special for Come and See, Dec 30, 2004

Irineos I, the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church in Israel, has withdrawn and nullified a lawsuit he filed against the Maariv newspaper to the tune of four million shekels.

Irineos filed the suit several months ago because the newspaper had accused him of expressing anti-Semitic sentiments. Earlier this month, however, Irineos withdrew his suit, and even agreed to pay 10,000 shekels ? plus Value Added Tax ? to Maariv to cover its legal expenses. Sources say that a sense of humiliation pervades the Church.

From Arutz 7, Dec 24, 2004