It has been a month of high pressure for two major players in the region – with Saudi Arabia facing diplomatic censure and Iran experiencing a new economic squeeze. The Christians of Egypt, meanwhile, were grieving after another terror attack that security forces were unable to prevent. The fallout from the brutal murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi continues. […]
A SAT-7 children’s show visiting Syria found churches full of displaced people learning about Jesus for the first time. Almost a thousand children – including hundreds from non-Christian backgrounds – gathered in the Syrian cities of Tartus, Bloudan, and As-Suwayda to meet presenter Mina Awny and the SAT-7 production team of Family of Jesus. The popular children’s show mixes music, […]
The United Nations has urged Syria, Russia and Iran to avoid a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Syria’s Idlib province as Syrian forces and allies are poised for an offensive on the country’s last remaining rebel stronghold. The latest stage in the Syrian war is about to start with an imminent military operation against the rebel held city of Idlib. Over 60 […]
Trade wars and new political tensions this month added to the challenges already faced by a region still blighted by warfare in Yemen and Syria. The nosedive of the Turkish lira that began in April accelerated this month as the US announced 50 per cent and 20 per cent taxes respectively on Turkish steel and aluminium products. Since the start […]
As this year’s World Refugee Day arrives (20 June), the Middle East retains the unenviable record of being both source and host of the largest number of displaced people in the world. But amidst their hardships, large numbers of refugees who have been shown practical love by Christians are finding a new relationship with God. In Greater Amman, Jordan, SAT-7 […]
Children affected by conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) can feel miserably lonely and vulnerable. With Family of Jesus, a new live prayer and worship show, SAT-7 KIDS shows these and other isolated young people that with Christ, they never have to be alone. Across the MENA, childhoods are in crisis. Conflicts in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq […]
Syria again took centre-stage in the Middle East after a suspected chemical attack threatened to spark a wider international confrontation. On 7 April, a suspected chemical attack on Douma, the last rebel-held area in Eastern Ghouta, triggered the latest crisis in the conflict in Syria. After an intensified bombing campaign by Syrian and Russian forces, rebel groups had already […]
SAT-7 and partner organisation LFAN were the first to film in the Syrian city of Raqqa after its liberation from so-called Islamic State (IS). Here, some of Raqqa’s residents share their stories of hope after destruction. “Ninety percent of this place is filled with landmines. It’s not safe here.” Khalil is speaking to Maysaa Saloum, part of a Christian film […]
Spring is around the corner! On 21 March many Middle Eastern communities will mark the Norouz new year festival, an ancient day shared by many as the start of the Spring and a time of hope and renewal. Yet the region feels further from renewal than it was even a year ago. By the end of last year, we thought […]
New complications in the region’s conflicts are threatening to divide powerful allies. At the end of last year, there was an emerging view that the Syrian war had reached its peak and was starting to de-escalate. The last few weeks, however, have pointed in the opposite direction, with some of the fiercest aerial bombing campaigns by forces loyal to Assad […]
