The town in the West Bank where the Magi are believed to have followed the star toward newborn Jesus is today a shrinking community of Greek Orthodox Christians. At a recent Christmas tree lighting, residents spoke about family members who have moved abroad, mostly to the United States, South America and Europe, leaving behind an ever-shrinking and aging community.
Read MoreThe prospects for peace in the Middle East nudged forward at the end of 2021 when Palestinian Authority security forces foiled two attempts to set fire to Joseph’s Tomb, a site revered by Jews, Christians, Samaritans and Muslims that has long seen sectarian violence.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This week, Samaritans are celebrating Sukkot — one month after Jews. The ranks of the once mighty Samaritan people reached 3 million in biblical times but were reduced by persecution and apostasy to 146 by 1918. Today they number 814: Half live on a mountaintop in the West Bank, and half live along coastal plains in Israel.
Read MoreThe group delivered ibuprofen, multivitamins, gloves, masks and snacks and also aided a group of 13 pilgrims from Alabama in a 14-day quarantine near Bethlehem to protect others from coronavirus. So far, 30 people in the West Bank and 147 in Israel have been confirmed to have COVID-19 infections.
Read More(OPINION) Israel ended a travel ban that now allows Gazan Christians to cross the border into Bethlehem and Jerusalem for Christmas, but the tiny (and shrinking) community continues to struggle under Hamas.
Read MoreSome 30,000 Israeli, American, British and French Jews thronged Hebron and the adjoining town of Kiryat Arba on Nov. 22 and 23 to celebrate the Torah reading of Chayei Sarah, which details how Abraham the Patriarch purchased a double cave in which to bury his wife Sarah.
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