| | CMEP Weekly Bulletin: As Attacks on Christians Become More Frequent, a Crisis Looms for Israel A look at the weekend air strikes, attacks, and more news in this week’s bulletin. CMEP’s Bulletin is a weekly round-up of news from the Middle East and represents an array of perspectives on the issues we cover. CMEP does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in the articles, and they do not speak on CMEP’s behalf. | | As many within the Christian community have just celebrated Holy Week, and we are in the midst of the Orthodox Holy Week, all at CMEP would like to wish a blessed Easter and Eastertide to those who are celebrating. | | | | | |  | Image: Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa leads the Easter Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, April 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) | | | Holy Land Christians say attacks rising in far-right Israel AP News “Simmering tensions in the community came to a head over Orthodox Easter rituals as Israeli police announced strict quotas on the thousands of pilgrims seeking to attend the rite of the ‘Holy Fire’ at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Citing safety concerns over lit torches being thrust through massive crowds in the church, authorities capped Saturday’s (April 15) ceremony at 1,800 people. Priests who saw police open gates wide for Jews celebrating Passover, which coincided this year with Easter, alleged religious discrimination on Wednesday (April 12)." | | | | | |  | Image: Israeli police detained some Palestinians after raiding the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem on April 5. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) | | | Tensions boil between Israel and Jordan over Jerusalem Axios “Escalating tensions and violence at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound over the last few weeks have exacerbated the already strained relations between Jordan and Israel, two U.S. and two Israeli officials said. Why it matters: Jordan’s King Abdullah II is the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. Because of Jordan's huge Palestinian population, any tensions in Jerusalem, and specifically at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, immediately become a domestic political issue." | | | | | |  | Image: Armenian soldiers take up positions on the border with Azerbaijan (Photolur) | | | Seven Deaths reported In fresh Armenian-Azerbaijani border skirmish Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty “The defense ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan reported a total of seven deaths among members of their armed forces in renewed fighting at one of the sections of the restive border between the two South Caucasus nations. The Armenian Defense Ministry said on April 11 that four Armenian soldiers were killed and six wounded ‘as a result of the Azerbaijani provocation from the Armenian side,’ while the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported three Azerbaijani soldiers died.” | | | | | | | | | | | |  | Register Now! Join Churches for Middle East Peace for our first in person Advocacy Summit since 2019. On April 20 we will hear from keynote speakers and panelists from Israel/Palestine and the U.S. including Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, and Rev. Dr. Jack Sara. Participants will have the opportunity to take the stories they have heard and advocate on behalf of human rights in Israel and Palestine with their Congressional offices on Friday, April 21. We hope you will consider joining us for fellowship, learning, and the chance to raise your voice on Capitol Hill this April. Registration is now open! | | | | |  | Join the largest Israeli-Palestinian peace event in history. On April 24, 2023, we will gather in Tel Aviv to call for peace, freedom, and human rights for all. The Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony is hosted by Combatants for Peace and The Parents Circle–Families Forum, providing a unique opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians to grieve and heal together. We are proud that Churches for Middle East Peace is an official sponsor this year. By unifying our pain and longing for peace, we demonstrate to the world our power to co-create a safe and free future. | | | | |  | | | Faces from Palestine: Fellowship, Narratives, and Advocacy. Please join Churches for Middle East Peace and St. Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church (Potomac, MD - in person only) on Sunday, April 30th at 1pm for this unique opportunity to connect with Palestinian and American Christians in the D.C. area that are working for peace and justice in Palestine and Israel. The event will provide opportunities to hear stories from Palestinian Americans and learn about opportunities to engage in advocacy from CMEP staff. A light, traditional Middle Eastern lunch will be served at the start of the event. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Support CMEP: CMEP wishes all a blessed Easter and Eastertide. | | | | | | | | | | CMEP in the News Jerusalem Churches refuse Israeli restrictions on annual Easter vigil, Mondoweiss, April 13, 2023. "Mae Cannon, Executive Director of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), said, 'Placing such a severe limitation on worship during one of the holiest times for Christians is unacceptable.'" | | | | | | | | | |  | Image: Israeli settlers hold a protest march from Tapuach Junction to the Israeli settler outpost of Evyatar, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 10, 2023. (Reuters/Nir Elias) | | | Thousands of Israelis march to illegal West Bank outpost as tensions mount Reuters “Thousands of Israelis, including ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government, marched to an evacuated Jewish outpost in the West Bank on Monday (April 10) in support of settlements viewed as illegal under international law." | | | | | |  | Image: Smoke and fire rises from an explosion caused by an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City early Friday (April 7) (Adel Hana/AP). | | | Attacks in West Bank, Tel Aviv as tensions remain high following Israeli strikes
CNN “Separate attacks in the West Bank and Tel Aviv killed three people on Friday (April 7) after Israel struck Palestinian militant targets in southern Lebanon and Gaza, concluding three days of rising tensions in the region following police raids on the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. The Israeli strikes came hours after dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, an attack the Israeli military blamed on Palestinian militants. The barrage from Lebanon was the largest since a 2006 war between the two countries." | | | | | |  | Image: Firefighters try to extinguish a fire caused after a rocket fired from Lebanon hit near the Israeli town of Shlomi, April 6, 2023. (Flash90/ Fadi Amun) | | | Israel is closer to war than calm, IDF intel warns government Jerusalem Post “The IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate warned the political echelon in recent days that war is closer than calm, according to information Walla! received on Tuesday (April 11). According to intel estimates, security tensions will not disappear after the end of the month of Ramadan, and the security trend could lead to war.” | | | | | | | | | | CMEP's Bulletin is a weekly round-up of news from the Middle East and represents an array of perspectives on the issues we cover. CMEP does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in the articles, and they do not speak on CMEP's behalf. | | | | Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
110 Maryland Ave NE, Suite 505 | Washington, District of Columbia 20002
(202) 543-1222 | info@cmep.org | | Please note our offices have changed locations to 110 Maryland Ave NE #505 | | | | | | | | | |
