 |  | March 21st News Bulletin Here’s what’s upcoming and what you may have missed at CMEP and in the news. | | | | Israel declares ceasefire 'over' as it launches airstrikes in Gaza killing hundreds NPR “Israel has declared the ceasefire in Gaza over, with a surprise wave of devastating airstrikes in Gaza Tuesday. The barrage killed more than 400 people including many women and children, and injured at least 500, according to Gaza health officials. "Israel is returning to intensified fighting in Gaza," according to an internal Israeli government memo obtained by NPR. The new offensive is dubbed "Operation Strength and Sword." | | | | | | | | Israel resumes ground operations in Gaza after deadly air strikes BBC "Israel says it has resumed its ground operations in Gaza, after launching a wave of air strikes that the Hamas-run health ministry says killed more than 430 people in two days. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had moved in up to the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the north and south of the Strip. The renewed assault on Gaza marks the end of the fragile ceasefire deal that had been in place since January.” | | | | | | | | UN staff member killed in central Gaza blast, five others injured UN News "At least one UN staffer has been killed and at least five others injured – several very severely – following an explosion at two UN guesthouses in Deir al Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday." | | | | | | | | Dozens of Syrian Druze make a rare visit to Israeli-controlled Golan Heights AP News "Dozens of clerics and others from Syria’s minority Druze community crossed into the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights Friday for the first time in decades. The nearly 100 Syrian Druze crossed the heavily-fortified border area in three buses, escorted by members of the Israeli military. They are expected to visit a religious shrine on the Israeli side of the border." | | | | | | | | Call to Prayer: Layan Nasir We remember the 10 months Layan spent under Administrative Detention in Israeli prison and pray that on April 23, 2025 her case will be completely resolved and that she will not return to Israeli prison. Join on on Wednesday's for our weekly prayer sessions where we will pray for Layan as well as peace in the Middle East. | | | | | | | | Come, Walk With Us Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) is pleased to present this Lenten devotional series entitled “Come, Walk With Us” which is available for a suggested donation as a downloadable PDF for you or your church group. This devotional collection contains stories and reflections written by participants in the recent Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimages for Ash Wednesday, each Sunday of Lent, and each day of Holy Week. Each devotion will also be on our Prayers for Peace blog throughout the Lenten holiday season: https://cmep.org/p4p-blog/ #CMEPLent2025
As you participate this Lent, share about your calls and prayers on social media using #GCPilgrimages and tag @ChurchesforMEP | | | | | | Archon Religious Freedom Symposium at the University of South Carolina His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America (Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate), His Eminence Cardinal Christophe Pierre (Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from the Holy See of Rome), and the Reverend Dr. Mae Elise Cannon (Executive Director of Churches for Middle East Peace, Ordained Pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church) will address a Religious Freedom Symposium, “God Created Us to Live In Harmony (Romans 12:16)” at the University of South Carolina’s Pastides Alumni Center, (900 Senate Street, Columbia, SC 29201) on March 22nd, 2025, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The symposium mission is to look through the lens of the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant faith teachings to better understand how our loving God has protected His flock and the issues facing Christians today. Get your FREE ticket on EVENTBRITE. For additional information, please visit www.archons.org/2025USC. For questions, please contact Symposium322@gmail.com. | | | | Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac Book Launch in Washington, DC Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) is pleased to invite you to join us on April 1-2, 2025 for the Washington DC launch of Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac's new book "Christ in the Rubble" in Washington DC/ In this impassioned and incisive book, Munther Isaac challenges mainstream Christians’ uncritical embrace of the modern State of Israel.
Writing from Bethlehem with close-up knowledge of conditions on the ground, and rooted in a commitment to nonviolence and just peace, Isaac challenges readers to realign their beliefs and actions with Christ—who can be found not among perpetrators of violence, but with victims buried under the rubble of war. | | April 1: Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac Book Launch- Busboys & Poets | | | | April 2: Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac Book Launch- The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (will be live streamed- link to be shared later) | | | | | | A Call to Conscience: Bonhoeffer's Wisdom for Today's Traumas in Israel and Palestine Join Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), Evangelicals4Justice (E4J), and the Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East (NEME) on April 3rd for a conversation on Middle East peace through the eyes of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. CMEP Executive Director Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon will join expert speakers Andrew DeCort and Rabbi Or Rose to discuss how we can respond faithfully in these desperate times in the Middle East, taking wisdom from Bonhoeffer's life and legacy. | | | | | | | | Mark your Calendar: April 27th "Faith, Remembrance, and Resilience: Standing Together for Justice and Peace in Commemoration of the Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide." Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) will be hosting a commemorative event at St. Mary's Armenian Church in Washington, DC on April 27th. The event will have an ecumenical service starting at 1pm followed by speakers and a children's performance including dance and song. Mark your calendars! Registration page and more information coming soon! | | | | | | | | In Lebanon, Israeli strikes point to a precarious ceasefire Reuters "As Israel resumes heavy strikes in the Gaza Strip, escalating Israeli attacks in south Lebanon have killed five Hezbollah members in the last few days, according to security sources in Lebanon, underlining the fragility of a U.S.-backed ceasefire.
The war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon marked the deadliest spillover of the Gaza war, rumbling across the frontier for months before escalating into a devastating Israeli offensive that wiped out the group's command and many of its fighters, along with much of its arsenal." | | | | | | ‘Don’t trust anyone’: Have Syria’s Alawites lost faith in new government? Al-Jazeera "On March 8, Ibrahim was abducted in front of his two boys and wife by fighters who had stormed into the coastal city of Jableh, Latakia. The fighters, nominally aligned with Syria’s new government, had descended on the region and were looking for Alawites – a religious minority to which Syria’s former leader Bashar al-Assad belongs – and Ibrahim was Alawite." | | | | | | | | Trump says Iran will suffer 'dire' consequences for any more Houthi attacks ABC News "President Donald Trump on Monday said that further attacks or retaliation by the Houthis would be considered an attack by Iran and it would face “dire” consequences. Trump’s threat comes after the United States launched a new series of airstrikes against the Yemeni group beginning Saturday. The Houthis on Sunday claimed to have thwarted “a hostile attack the enemy was preparing to launch against our country.” A U.S. official told ABC News that the Houthis fired 11 drones and one ballistic missile at the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier group in the Red Sea on Saturday, none of which came close to hitting any U.S. vessels." | | | | | | | | At the king of Jordan's interfaith iftar, Orthodox and Catholic leaders attack Christian Zionism Religious News Service "King Abdullah II’s annual iftar has become a highly anticipated Ramadan event where members of the royal family, religious leaders and local notables, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and key members of his government, are all invited to break the daily fast with a dinner at the royal palace. With the Muslim fasting season coinciding with Christian Lent this year, the usual contingent of Christian leaders was especially august on March 11, with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and William Hanna Shomali, an auxiliary bishop of the Latin patriarchate, joining Muhammad Hussein, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, at the meal, which included customary Lenten dishes for the Christians." | | | | | | | | Contact Us Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
110 Maryland Ave NE, Suite 505
Washington, District of Columbia 20002
(202) 543-1222 info@cmep.org | | | | | | | |
