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"A Ruler from Bethlehem" (Micah 5:2-5a) So which is it? "Too little" or "by no means least"? We're talking about Bethlehem here. On the one hand, the prophet Micah says that Bethlehem is "too little to be among the clans of Judah." But then on the other hand, in Matthew 2, we hear the chief priests and the elders saying that Bethlehem is "by no means least among the rulers of Judah." So what gives here? This sounds like two opposite views about Bethlehem: on the one hand, "little," and on the other hand, "by no means little." Well, there...

On June 30, 2015, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ voted to single out Israel for an economic and propaganda war. Ignoring the violent state of affairs in an unstable region, the plague of terrorist groups, and the victimization of millions of Christians and other minority groups, the UCC elected to boycott Israel, the only functioning democracy in the Middle East. Giving a pass to Hamas rockets aimed at Israeli children and the prohibition of any Jews to enter Palestinian-controlled territory, the UCC jumped on the bandwagon of slander to demonize Israel. Deletion and Replacement of Jews...

Palpably illustrating its indifference to the Arab Christian population’s fate, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) unity government on Tuesday largely brushed off the detailed threat by an Islamic State (ISIS) affiliate in Jerusalem to “purify” the city of Christians. The ISIS announcement was posted in the eastern part of the capital city last Thursday, and in it the ISIS affiliate threatened to murder all Christians in the Muslim Arab neighborhoods during the month of Ramadan, starting with Shuafat and on to the Muslim sections of the Old City. It also threatened an attack against the Church of the Nativity located...

When it comes to tomorrow, Christians need to think while watching the Star of Bethlehem which will appear after an absence of roughly 2000 years. Tomorrow (June 30th, 2015) the Star of Bethlehem will be making a return. Will this mean that the signs of the end is beginning to unfold? And what did this sign mean? Is it a time of joy or suffering or both? How could King Herod's own advisors have been unaware of a star so bright that it could have led the wise men to Jerusalem? According to Professor David Weintraub, this may be because...

The Vatican on Friday signed an historic first accord with “Palestine,” two years after officially recognizing the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a state. The accord, a treaty covering the life and activity of the Church in Judea and Samaria, was the first since the Vatican made the controversial step of recognition in February 2013. It also recognizes the PA as having authority in eastern Jerusalem, the undivided capital of the Jewish state. […] Signing international treaties unilaterally is a breach of the 1993 Oslo Accords which created the PA. […]The agreement appears to ignore the fact that Christians have been...

The New Testament says Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, but one rogue Israeli archaeologist says it is far more likely the Christian savior was born in Bethlehem of the Galilee, more than 60 miles from Jerusalem. Aviram Oshri spent nearly eleven years excavating artifacts in Bethlehem of the Galilee — an ancient biblical village near Nazareth that was later settled by German Templers — which he believes show that the traditional account of Jesus’s birthplace may be wrong. But when he produced his findings for his employer, the Israel Antiquities Authority, he found his proposal dismissed and called...

Jerry Golden "REPORT" PO Box 10268 Jerusalem 91102 Israel www.TheGoldenReport.com Published 8/4/2003 The Fence the Wall and more. Yesterday I was in the back area of South Jerusalem near Bethlehem, not a real safe place to be these days. But then how else can I get you these nice pictures. There has been a lot of talk about the fence so I thought I'd show it to you from an angle you may not have seen on TV News. In this first picture you can see the new security fence that separates the southern part of Jerusalem from Bet Sahur...

WASHINGTON -- "I'm not spreading propaganda," George Stephanopoulos' orthodox-nun sister vows, but Israeli soldiers last week "defecated" on the floors of a West Bank medical clinic they raided. They're also looting Palestinians' homes there, claims Sister Maria Stephanopoulos, a nun at the Convent of St. Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem. A Russian Orthodox Christian (she converted from Greek Orthodox), Stephanopoulos runs a school for Palestinian girls there, and is pleading with priests here, via e-mail, to "get on the phone and ask your congressman and senators why the United States government is backing this invasion of Israeli forces into sovereign (Palestinian)...

Mosab Hassan Yousef worked as an Israeli agent for about ten years. When I met him, he was a young and wild Palestinian. Over the years, I watched him become one of the most important players in the bloody intelligence game in the West Bank. Mosab was never a yes-man. He had strong beliefs and character, and he never made any attempt to flatter anyone. Last week, I read an article by one, Walid Shoebat, who claims to have been a PLO terrorist who bombed Bank Leumi in Bethlehem. Yet, I never heard his name before, never saw his name...

PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARYOF THE MEETING BETWEEN POPE PAUL VI AND PATRIARCH ATHENAGORAS IN JERUSALEM(24-26 MAY 2014) HOLY MASSHOMILY OF POPE FRANCISManger Square (Bethlehem)Sunday, 25 May 2014Video “This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12).What a great grace it is to celebrate the Eucharist in the place where Jesus was born! I thank God and I thank all of you who have welcomed me on my pilgrimage: President Mahmoud Abbas and the other civil authorities; Patriarch Fouad...

The Palestinian Authority (PA) plans to modify history by modifying classical art, in an exhibit it commissioned to show Pope Francis during his visit to Bethlehem next Sunday, which presents Jesus as a “suffering Palestinian.” The Palestinian Museum arranged exhibit features an array of collages mixing classical paintings of Christian art with photographs of what are to be taken as “oppressed” Palestinians. […] One work on the display is a modification of Raphael’s “The Deposition” (1507), which depicts the dead Jesus being brought to his tomb. The PA version weaves in a wounded Arab man being carried away as an...

Some of the 11 Jewish ossuaries from Second Temple period still held bones, featured Hebrew script listing names of those interred. The Antiquities Authority and police cooperated last Friday to arrest suspects who allegedly stole ornate stone ossuary burial chests, which were used by Jews in Israel during the Second Temple period roughly 2,000 years ago. The suspects were caught while in possession of eleven ossuaries, some of them still containing skeletal remains. The suspected grave robbers, who were arrested and brought in for questioning, came from the Arab village of Abadiyah in Judea, located near Bethlehem, as well as...

As Christians of every stripe in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth begin to again take a real stand for their faith, local Muslims are warning them not to overstep the boundaries of their traditional place in the Middle East (hint: they must remain dhimmis, or second-class). A large billboard hanging at a central point in Nazareth features a picture of an Israeli stop sign, along with the English translation of a verse from the Koran cautioning Christians (and Jews) to speak only the "truth" regarding Allah. The poster (and Koran 4:171) reads: "O people of the Scripture (Christians)! Do not exceed...

Palestinians hurled two improvised grenades at Israelis in Bethlehem on Monday evening in two attacks, injuring one civilian. An explosive was thrown at Rachel's Tomb, causing injuries to one man, who was evacuated to hospital by paramedics. Earlier, an explosive was thrown at an IDF base in the area. No injuries were reported in that attack. Monday's events are the latest indication that Palestinian violence is on the rise, though Israeli policymakers and defense experts remain doubtful that we are on the cusp of a third intifada. Last week, news outlets learned of a secret report by one of the...

Alice C. Linsley There is a beautiful psalm of David concerning the Ark's removal to Zion. Not many are aware that the Ark rested in David's royal city of Bethlehem. Psalm 132:1-7 makes this clear. O Lord, remember in David's favor his extreme self-denial, how he swore to the Lord, vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, 'I will not enter my house, nor will I mount my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, an abode [mishkanot- footstool] for the Mighty One of Jacob.'...

Palestinian Authority Muslims, who have been fully in charge of life in Bethlehem since the 1993 Oslo Accords were implemented, have successfully hounded most of the city’s Christians into leaving the city—but a London exhibition shows that their overseas propaganda in the West still manages to blame Israel for the Christians’ alleged suffering from Jewish “occupation.” The “Bethlehem Unwrapped” festival opened Dec. 23 at St. James’ Church, London, and its centerpiece is a reproduction of a section of the security wall Israel built several years ago, as protection from a horrific onslaught of Muslim suicide bombers who targeted Israeli civilians....

- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com - Israeli Christians Moving in a New DirectionPosted By Joseph Puder On October 21, 2013 @ 12:22 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 22 Comments Israeli Christians surveying the current situation faced by Christians throughout the Arab Middle East have come to the realization that the Jewish State of Israel is the only country in the region that protects its Christian minority.  It prompted a recent conference in Jerusalem titled, “Israeli Christians: Breaking Free? The Advent of an Independent Christian Voice in Israel,” that took place on Monday, September 23, 2013. The speakers included Father (Fr.)...

A mysterious First Temple-era archaeological find under a Palestinian orchard near Bethlehem is increasingly gaining attention — despite attempts to keep it quiet. In February, a tour guide leading a group through an underground tunnel in the rural West Bank, not far from Jerusalem, was surprised to stumble upon the remains of a unique carved pillar. The pillar matched monumental construction from the 9th or 8th centuries BCE — the time of the First Temple in Jerusalem. That signaled the presence of an important and previously unknown structure from that period. Buried under earth and rubble, the pillar was now...

Bethlehem’s PA governor, Abdel Fattah Hamayel, on Sunday issued an order banning Palestinian institutions in his district from having any direct contact with Israel. The order applies to all municipal and village councils in the Bethlehem area, as well as Palestinian NGOs and trade institutions. The governor justified the ban by arguing that Israeli authorities have been avoiding dealing with Palestinians through the Palestinian District Coordinating Office [DCO]. “In wake of repeated Israeli calls to deal directly with Palestinian municipalities and institutions and hold meetings and conferences with the Israeli side, it is forbidden to have direct contact or coordination...

A song I wrote for Christmas.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isuu9EiFU_E