Action Alert: please sign today!

Please join the Jerusalem Inter-Church Centre's petition to stop Israel's wall cutting through the Cremisan Valley. Sign petition.
 

Bethlehem Bible College founder in Australia

Dr Bishara Awad, founder of the Bethlehem Bible College has just arrived in Australia and has a speaking tour stretching across Victoria, South Australia and NSW.  
Click here for full events listings.
 

Letter of love and solidarity to Palestinian Christians from Asia to Palestine

In partnership with the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Foundation and other organisations around Asia, PIEN was pleased to gather signatories for a letter of love solidarity to Palestinian Christians.  The letter was signed by PIEN, Pax Christi, the Uniting Church of Australia, and three Ecumenical Councils.

 

News from and about Palestine

Partnering with Palestinians
Article in the Uniting Church magazine Crosslight about Rev Joan Fisher's time in Palestine with EAPPI.

Christians in Israel threaten to close churches
Arab Christians in Palestine have threatened to close their churches in retaliation for Israel’s cutting of the budget allocated to community faith schools, which forced these schools to shut down as a result of their inability to continue providing their educational services.

Clashes in Al-Aqsa compound sparks tensions
Clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli police who stormed Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound...Muslims fear Israel will seek to change rules governing the compound, which is located in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.

Palestinian flag raised at the UN as Abbas addresses the UN
The Palestinian flag was raised in the UN today for the first time, following a recent General Assembly resolution giving authorisation.  Abbas's speech at the UN declared that Palestine can not be bound by the Oslo agreements and that Israel must abide by its obligations as an occupying power.

Israeli Terrorists, Born in the U.S.A.
The New York Times
ON July 31, in the West Bank village of Duma, 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh was burned alive in a fire. All available evidence suggests that the blaze was a deliberate act of settler terrorism. More disturbingly, several of the alleged instigators, currently being detained indefinitely, are not native-born Israelis — they have American roots.
 
Israel steps up efforts to expel Area C Palestinian communities
B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories 
The extensive demolitions are part of Israel’s overall policy toward Area C – which comprises 60% of the West Bank – based on its perception of Area C as meant primarily to serve Israeli needs. 
 
Most Palestinians Now Oppose Two-state Solution, New Research Reveals
Haaretz
Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (65 percent) said they did not believe the two-state solution was any longer practical because of Israel's settlement expansion in the West Bank. 

East Jerusalem streets given Hebrew names amid tensions
+972 Magazine
The move is part and parcel of efforts to ‘Judaize’ the eastern half of the city, which Palestine claims as its future capital. 

After Arson Murders, West Bank Village Waits in Vain for Justice
Forward
The conviction among Palestinians and among Israeli critics of the occupation that there is a dual system of justice in the West Bank was reinforced by comments reportedly made September 10 by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. Security officials, he told a closed meeting of Likud activists, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz, know exactly who committed the arson killings in Duma. But they will not indict the perpetrators because of the need to “protect” intelligence sources.