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Peace Not Walls

Message from the Protestant Churches in Egypt

Today, Rev. Andrea Zaki, Ph.D., Vice President of the the Protestant Community in Egypt, issued a statement from the churches on the recent violence in their country. This statement follows a similar declaration from the Coptic Orthodox Church, with which...

Egypt We are Praying for You

  We express our sincere sympathy and pray for the people of Egypt and the Coptic Church who have suffered recent violence and death arising from religious discord.   The Rt. Rev. Munib Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and President of...

US Accompanier Chris Cowan: This is Living Under Occupation

In the mix of the muddle over the Palestinians’ UN statehood bid, something often gets lost.  The US – and others – are adamant that the only way to Palestinian statehood is negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, probably brokered by...

Recent Announced Expansion of Gilo Settlement Shows Larger Plan

  The recent 1100-unit expansion announced for the south of the Gilo settlement – on the heels of the US and Quartet plea to resume negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis and that neither side should carry out provocative...

UNESCO Supports Palestinian Membership, Latest CMEP Bulletin

Despite strong opposition from the US and several European countries, UNESCO has shown initial support for Palestinian membership.  The US has hinted at reprisals based on prohibitions on granting membership to those who do not meet certain requirements for a state....

Palestinian UN Statehood Bid & Facts on the Ground

The Palestinian UN bid has been sent to a UN committee for consideration, but the US has vowed to veto the proposal. For more on the UN statehood and analysis, see: BBC Article Overview An Israeli View (BBC) A Palestinian...

Continued Regional Developments

In this past week of tremendous political drama surrounding Israel and Palestine, it is tempting to forget that the entire region is in the midst of profound change. NYT: Fearing Change, Many Christians in Syria Back Assad This report in...

Bishop Hanson to Obama: Don’t block Palestinian Statehood

In a letter today, the Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, urged President Obama not to block the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN.  US officials have vowed to use the US veto power to block the Palestinian initiative asking for full member...

CMEP: Palestinians at UN & the Situation on the Ground

The most recent CMEP bulletin from September 16 focuses on the events leading up the Palestinian request for statehood and full inclusion at the UN. It gives some background of the different positions and statements made by leaders in the...

“Budrus” film shown free online Wednesday night Sept 21

The award-winning documentary “Budrus” will be made available for free online for 24 hours at http://mubi.com/films/budrus on September 21st, the International Day of Peace, accessible by anyone living in the US. Budrus is an award-winning feature documentary film about a Palestinian...