West Bank

Israel blocks law that keeps out Palestinian spouses
- Jul 6, 2021
Israel’s parliament early on Tuesday failed to renew a law that bars Arab citizens from extending citizenship or residency rights to spouses from the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

By Laurie Kellman
Technology eyed to help Bethlehem’s fragile economy emerge from pandemic
- Jun 14, 2021
Graduating in July as part of Bethlehem University’s first software engineering class, students Marianna Bannoura, Oriana Sabat, and Mariam Qumsieh already have a market-ready app under their belts.

By Judith Sudilovsky
‘We are all brothers,’ Franciscan in Jericho says of iftar gifts
- Apr 28, 2021
As his Muslim neighbors and fellow Jericho residents make their way home for the iftar, which breaks the daily fast throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Franciscan Father Mario Hadchiti hands out small bags of dates and water to passersby in front of the Franciscan Good Shepherd Church.

By Judith Sudilovsky

West Bank candle-making workshop helps Palestinian women support families
- Mar 8, 2021
Palestinian women are using spikenard — mentioned in several places in the Gospels as “nard” — as well as rose, jasmine, honey, ambra and other essential oils to infuse candles — and help support their families.

By Judith Sudilovsky

Bishops, visiting Holy Land virtually, see ‘less cause for optimism’
- Jan 22, 2021
Bishops who spent six days visiting virtually with Christians in the Holy Land said “it has become painfully clear that there is today less cause for optimism than at any time in recent history.”

By Judith Sudilovsky
With land mines gone, Mass to be celebrated at West Bank baptismal site
- Jan 5, 2021
For the first time in 54 years, a Mass will be celebrated Jan. 10, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, at St. John the Baptist Chapel on the banks of the Jordan River.

By Judith Sudilovsky
Coronavirus dampens Christmas joy in Bethlehem and elsewhere
- Dec 26, 2020
Bethlehem on Thursday ushered in Christmas Eve with a stream of joyous marching bands and the triumphant arrival of the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, but few people were there to greet them as the coronavirus pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened celebrations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus.

By Josef Federman and Jalal Hassan
Almost 7,000 people out of work in Bethlehem’s tourism sector
- Dec 6, 2020
It will be a quiet and subdued Christmas this year in Bethlehem, with almost 7,000 people involved in the tourism sector out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Bethlehem Mayor Anton Salman.

By Judith Sudilovsky