Conflicts in Sudan and the Holy Land are balanced this month by diplomatic changes that could bring greater stability to the region. Regional powerhouse, Türkiye, meanwhile, has had important elections. Above: Former Khartoum resident Bernadette Hanna tells Another Angle how fighting came to her area on Easter Day (in the Eastern calendar). She tells how God led her and her […]
The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll led the news in many Middle East states last weekend and prompted messages of condolence from national leaders. Jordan and Lebanon respectively declared seven and three days of mourning. The patriarch of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Christians, Pope Tawadros ll, led Christian tributes when he said he was “personally thankful for the interaction […]
This Easter, three Abrahamic faiths overlapped in celebrations of Ramadan, Passover and Easter. Different religious calendars aligned, and shared roots, lands and heritages became clear. Yet, the same week saw a fresh cycle of violence on the Temple Mount and Al-Azhar compound in Jerusalem. Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police clashed in scenes that saw rocks thrown at Jewish worshippers from […]
The 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 […]
Sister 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, […]
On 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 […]
Sadly, the Middle East only seems to get the world’s attention when there are heartbreaking events to report. The last week has been no exception. Protests over the threatened evictions of Palestinians in Jerusalem and violence at the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary made for a febrile atmosphere over the Ramadan festival. This escalated with the firing of missiles at Israeli cities […]
Passover, Easter and soon Ramadan will be marked in isolation in the Middle East this year. We look at how alarm over a string of man-made conflicts in the region has been overtaken by fear of a new enemy and how countries are responding. You could be forgiven for forgetting the fear that circled the globe following the US strike […]
New developments are taking us into some uncharted territories in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Yet the familiar cycles of violence and patterns of control prevail. The plight of Middle Eastern Christians has been highlighted this month by an interim report commissioned by the UK government, which warned that they face being “wiped out” from parts of […]
Simmering tensions and long-held mistrust have come to the surface this month in mass protests in Israel and continuing deadlock in the Gulf. After two months of sanctions on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, there has been no sign of a resolution. Despite previous tensions with Qatar, the current rift is the deepest ever. Diplomatic relations have […]
