The Briefing – June 2021
June 2021The results of two recent elections – in Iran and Israel – are set to have a major impact on the future of the region. In Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the country’s judiciary, will become the next president in August. Presidential elections on 18 June saw the lowest turnout since the founding of the Republic in 1979. But […]
Women’s show exposes “honour” killing in Iran
The horrifying prevalence of “honour” killings in parts of Iran and Afghanistan was exposed in a recent edition of SAT-7 PARS’ Insiders programme. Fariba*, a writer and activist involved in poverty eradication and empowerment in rural areas of Iran, spoke of women she knew who live with the threat of violence from relatives. Nor are they all young, as we […]
World Refugee Day: Iranian Christians “in exile”
June 2021“Iranian Christian refugees feel they are living in exile,” says Reza Jafari, Presenter of the SAT-7 PARS live programme Signal. In this blog written for World Refugee Day (20 June), Reza shares how the challenges Iranian Christians face do not end when they leave Iran, and how SAT-7 PARS is a lifeline to them. When I am asked what are […]
A witness for Christ in the Middle of a War Zone
June 2021Sister Nabila Saleh continues her Christian ministry in the middle of a war zone. As Principal of the Rosary Sisters School in Gaza, she was recently interviewed on SAT-7 ARABIC’s weekly current affairs programme, You are Not Alone, witnessing to Christ through her perseverance and service. “I ask for peace from God in the Middle East, in our hearts, homes, […]
Middle East Church leaders give thanks for 25 years of SAT-7
June 2021Senior church leaders from the Middle East have commended the work of SAT-7 on its 25th anniversary of broadcasting on 31 May. In a special Zoom meeting, His Eminence Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London and Papal Legate to the United Kingdom, shared his introduction to SAT-7 with 150 SAT-7 staff and trustees from around the world. In 1994 […]
EXPOSING MOTHERS’ LACK OF LEGAL PROTECTION: SAMIRA’S STORY
June 2021For five years and six months, Samira* shares, she was separated from her two young children with no recourse to see them or fight for custody. A recent episode of SAT-7 ARABIC’s You are Not Alone tells Samira’s story and highlights the lack of legal protections that can leave Middle Eastern women, and their children, very vulnerable. “I can’t express […]
Gaza residents speak to SAT-7
May 2021On the eve of Friday’s ceasefire in the Holy Land (21 May), SAT-7 ARABIC’s programme You are Not Alone dedicated a special episode to those living in what the UN Secretary General described as “hell on earth” and asked viewers for their support in prayer. “When a rock hits a house, we run to help the survivors and the injured. Our morale is very […]
Trailblazing TV ministry marks 25 years in the Middle East
May 202124 May 2021 On 31 May 2021 Christian satellite television and digital media network SAT-7 celebrates 25 years of broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa. Its first modest two-hour transmission was a trailblazer since it was the first time that Christians from the region had gone on television to share their faith publicly across the region. Twenty-five years […]