The disturbing spectre of interracial conflict came to the fore in parts of the Middle East and North Africa this month. It was most extreme in reports of genocide from Darfur, Sudan, but evident too in events in Tunisia and in the ongoing conflict in the Holy Land. The conflict in Sudan that has displaced nearly 3 million people has […]
Elections in regional big player, Türkiye, and a humanitarian disaster brought on by fighting in Sudan dominated this month’s Middle East news. Above: Nadia Adel’s family lived near the airport on Khartoum which quickly became a target of fighting. She and her daughters Lobna and Neama tell how God protected them during their escape to Egypt. Intense fighting between the […]
Christian communities in the Middle East and North Africa have been celebrating the unchanging message of Easter this month against a backdrop of changing political tides and economic and environmental pressures. One of the largest displays of the region’s Christian presence was in the Nineveh plain of Iraq. There, tens of thousands processed through palm-decorated streets in the Christian town […]
A week after twin earthquakes in Türkiye destroyed buildings across an area the size of Germany the human scale of the disaster was becoming clear. By Sunday the combined death toll in Türkiye and Syria had passed 33,000, the number of lives claimed in Türkiye’s 1939 quake. Reports spoke of towns where 80 per cent of buildings had been levelled […]
At the start of a new year, what countries and developments should we be watching? Where should we be focusing our prayers? High in our concerns this year must be the nation of Iran. “In the midst of all the bad news we are hearing there is only one piece of good news. It is that Christ is the Lord […]
UK Christians have joined believers from around the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in a Christmas carol music video to highlight how believers in the region are silenced and unable to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Musicians and singers from Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Türkiye, Cyprus and the UK collaborated in recording a multi-language version of “Silent Night” for an Advent […]
Protests in Iran have entered a fourth week. The country is still raging over the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was detained for incorrectly wearing the hijab. Since then, young women who courageously removed and set fire to their headscarves have inspired protests in many parts of the country, uniting people of diverse religious, ethnic and cultural […]
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 […]
Tensions with Iran are producing unlikely alliances in the Middle East, while the importance of religious freedom was highlighted this month at a major international conference in London. Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) was a major focus this month when nearly 700 politicians, faith leaders and activists from over 100 countries gathered in London for the fourth International Ministerial […]
Last weekend (15 May) citizens of Lebanon voted in parliamentary elections, for the first time since the 2019 “17 October Protests” over economic mismanagement and the unaccountability of political elites. There was much uncertainty over this election despite the wholesale anger with sitting politicians who are blamed for Lebanon’s economic crisis and its 2020 Beirut explosion. Former Prime Minister Saad […]
