One the most iconic images of the Holy Land is the fish and loaves mosaic in the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

One the most iconic images of the Holy Land is the fish and loaves mosaic in the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It can serve as a reminder that Advent is the season of anticipating miracles. Miracles can come in many forms. This mosaic commemorates feeding thousands with very little and this Advent we may be praying for other miracles. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! 

 

“‘We only have five loaves and two fish’, the disciples said. ‘Bring them to me’, Jesus replied.’” Matthew 14:17-18   

St. George's College Jerusalem

Palestinian artist: Ibrahim Hijazi- “Arab Village- Galilee”

Palestinian artist: Ibrahim Hijazi

Instagram: hijazi.iba  https://www.instagram.com/hijazi.iba/

“Arab Village- Galilee”

One the most iconic images of the Holy Land is the fish and loaves mosaic in the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

One the most iconic images of the Holy Land is the fish and loaves mosaic in the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the shore of the Sea of Galilee

St.George's College Jerusalem

Advent Calendar Day 12

 

One the most iconic images of the Holy Land is the fish and loaves mosaic in the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. 

 

It can serve as a reminder that Advent is the season of anticipating miracles. Miracles can come in many forms. This mosaic commemorates feeding thousands with very little and this Advent we may be praying for other miracles. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! 

 

“‘We only have five loaves and two fish’, the disciples said. ‘Bring them to me’, Jesus replied.’” Matthew 14:17-18

 

Christmas Carols & Lessons with Bethlehem, Praying for Peace in the Holy Land and celebrating hope - December 16th 2023 at 10am EST & 5pm Bethlehem time

 Join Bishop Gutiérrez  for the 17th annual Service of Christmas Lessons and Carols simulcast live between the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral in the United States and the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Palestine,  on Saturday, Dec. 16th at 10 am EST and 5 pm Bethlehem time.  Hear familiar carols and readings in Arabic and English, and a word of hope preached by by Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Arabic.

 

For those that can't make it in person, please join us online.  

Burqin Church (كنيسة برقين), considered the fifth holiest place for Christians worldwide, and the third oldest church in the world. It is located in the village of Burqin in Palestine’s Jenin Governorate (جنين) in the West Bank, Palestine

Entrance to Burqin Church (كنيسة برقين) Photo by @feryal27

Hidden Palestine

Entrance to Burqin Church (كنيسة برقين), considered the fifth holiest place for Christians worldwide, and the third oldest church in the world. It is located in the village of Burqin in Palestine’s Jenin Governorate (جنين) in the West Bank.

 

It is currently in use by the Palestinian village's small Christian (Greek Orthodox) community, as well as Palestinian Christians from Jenin and the surrounding cities. It is also a popular attraction for pilgrims visiting Palestine from around the world.

 

The church was built on top of a cave in the 4th century, during the Byzantine period in Palestine by Saint Helena. According to Christian tradition, the cave was the site of a miracle:

 

Jesus was passing through on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem when he heard cries for help from ten lepers in the cave, who were living isolated nearby. He encountered them and told them to present themselves to the priests, although they were not yet cured. On their way their leprosy disappeared. Since this miracle, the church became a station for many Christian pilgrims.

 

The church was repeatedly expanded and renovated during the early Muslim period and then during the Ottoman Empire. Today, the church is composed of the lepers' cave and an 18th-century hall and nave.

A rare picture of the harvest season from the Bin Amer Meadow located between the Galilee region and the Nablus Mountains in the north circa 1930 PALESTINE

A rare picture of the harvest season from the Bin Amer Meadow located between the Galilee region and the Nablus Mountains in the north circa 1930.

Bin Amer's lawn, which was 90 thousand 364 acres, was described as a "bread basket without mud" because of the abundance of wheat and grain cultivation in it

Al Majdal Palestine circa late1800s to early 1900s... On the shores of the Sea of Galilee with the Shrine of Muhammad Al-Ajami in the foreground

Israeli settlers set a Catholic Church in Galilee on fire

Dec 20,2019

 

In recent years, mosques and churches have been targeted by vandals in similar attacks. They are always attributed to extremist Jews in West Bank settlements.

 

The Galilee church where Jesus was believed to have performed miracle of feeding 5,000 followers was set alight in arson attack carried out by extremist Jewish settlers.

 

Hebrew graffiti was also scrawled across the walls of Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish.

An adviser to the Catholic Church blamed Jewish extremists for the “deplorable” attack after Israeli police said there is a “strong possibility” the fire was started deliberately.

The current structure was built on the remains of a fifth-century Byzantine church at Tabgha on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where many Christians believe Jesus fed 5,000 followers with just five loaves and two fish.

Police confirmed there was extensive damage to both inside and outside the building after the fire broke out in the middle of the night.

A monk and a church volunteer were hospitalised from smoke inhalation, but the incredibly, the prayer area was unaffected.

“It's deplorable, absolutely deplorable,” Father Gregory Collins, head of the Order of Saint Benedict in Israel, said. “I consider such an attack to be not just an attack on a religious site, on a sanctuary, but also on one of the most visited places in Israel.”

“It is also an attack on freedom of speech, democracy and the right to live here,” he added.

This incident, which happened in June 2015, was not the first such attack to be carried by the extremist Jewish settlers against Palestinian Muslim and Christian holy sites.

In recent years, mosques and churches have been targeted by vandals in similar attacks. They are always attributed to extremist Jews in West Bank settlements.

Such attacks have been on the rise because the perpetrators, who are being backed directly by the Israeli government, go unpunished.

#Jewish Settlers #Jesus #Galilee #Al Jaleel #Church #Catholic Church #Arson Attack

Please always go to the original link to read the story in full. Each click on a link helps tell a newspaper or website what people are interested in reading.

 https://ppost24.com/post/567/israeli-settlers-set-catholic-church-in-galilee-on-fire?fbclid=IwAR2XkfZzfgxM1LJbZKOf_y3iwwLAmFk3UicM7_kS6c8GAzb9pU7yiExQMgc

 

"The chaplets of coins are thought by some to have inspired the halo in sacred art."... Color photos of Palestine from the December 1926 issue of National Geographic magazine (Vol L, VI), "In the Birthplace of Christianity,"

The Institute for Palestine Studies Color photos of Palestine from the December 1926 issue of National Geographic magazine (Vol L, VI), "In the Birthplace of Christianity," recently donated to IPS's private library. Original captions included in the photo descriptions. 

 

"Palestine is a land of comely young women and handsome old men. The years which affect the fleeting beauty of the former bring dignity and character to the faces of the latter, who are at their best when in repose, gossiping among themselves, soaking up the sun, or lazily spinning a handful of snowy yarn."

"Moslem and Christian Neighbors of El-Bireh and Ramallah. Among the peasants and small-town dwellers of Palestine, the veil is seldom used for concealment. But convention makes it difficult to obtain photographs of women. This convention, which has a religious significance for the Moslems, is often equally strong among Christians. The woman here is a Moslem matron of El-Bireh. The chaplets of coins are thought by some to have inspired the halo in sacred art."

"A Turbaned Patriarch. Palestine is a land of comely young women and handsome old men. The years which affect the fleeting beauty of the former bring dignity and character to the faces of the latter, who are at their best when in repose, gossiping among themselves, soaking up the sun, or lazily spinning a handful of snowy yarn."

"Moslem and Christian Neighbors of El-Bireh and Ramallah. A schoolgirl of the Christian town of Ramallah."

"Palestine's Tourist Port As Seen from Mount Carmel. The curving bay between Haifa and Acre, historic harbor for a vast hinterland, is poorly protected and often rough. But the former has displaced Jaffa as a passenger port to the Holy Land. Haifa is rapidly growing up the side of Carmel and contains most of the few factories that Palestine possesses. The automobile highway connecting the seaport with Tyre and the Phoenician coast runs on the white sands that cut like a shining sickle blade around the blue bay. In the background are the hills of Galilee, beyond which, on clear days, Mount Hermon lifts its snowy head."

“An Arab Shepherd of Palestine. His headgear consists of a square of white cotton secured by a thick, double black cord of goat’s hair. His aba, or cloak, is folded up, so as to leave his legs free for climbing.”

“A Christian schoolgirl of Ramallah. A scarf such as that worn by this young woman may have served Ruth when she gleaned an ephah of barley in the fields of Boaz. It is heavy with silk embroidery and fringe. The dark gown is that worn on workdays or by those in mourning. Among the four main types of costumes seen in Palestine, those of Ramallah are the most attractive. “

“A Mohammedan Sheik of El-Bireh. Intent on his string of beads, the adult Moslem’s chief toy, this patriarch rests amid the wild flowers which intrude into his vineyard. Behind the field where he sits in silent meditation, two football teams are being coached by an American athletic instructor.”

“Moslem women weeding a grain field of Samaria. Dominating the south end of the plain of El Makhna is Huwara, whose women are remarked for their fanaticism and their beauty. The most beautiful women arouse the greatest jealousy and hence are kept in the closest seclusion. These agriculturists are pulling the tares from the young wheat, for it is not until the grain is high that wheat and tares are allowed to grow together until the harvest. “

“The Softly Rolling Slopes of Galilee. It was in such flower-carpeted fields, gently dropping away to curving valleys and commanding distant views of the Sea of Galilee, that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and attracted his Disciples. The Galilee landscape, setting for so many homely but deathless parables, makes a poetic appeal to the knowing eye and the understanding heart.”

The Institute for Palestine Studies

"Olives" photograph from 1918-1935

"Before Their Diaspora" A photographic history of the Palestinians, 1876-1948, by Walid Khalidi

See more photographs: http://ow.ly/e10oA http://ow.ly/i/Y92H

Gorgeous Pictures Of The Holy Land From 120 Years Ago

The Damascus Gate, built in its current form in 1537, is the main entrance to the Old City.

Click here to see the pictures »

 

A visitor to the Holy Land between 1890 and 1900 would have encountered a place that looked a lot like the pastoral setting described in the Bible and the Quran. 

A glimpse of this era is preserved through photochrom prints from the Library of Congress.

We invite you to put aside your political views (note: we've turned off comments) and enjoy these vintage pictures of "the land flowing with milk and honey."

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

 

 http://www.businessinsider.com/palestine-in-the-19th-century-pictures-2013-10?op=1#ixzz2nGB2kPsZ

This print, called the Route To The Station, may show a road leading to the first railroad station, built in 1892.

Capernaum, a fishing village that was home to several Apostles

the Temple of the Sun in Baalbek

The ruins of an ancient colonnade in Samaria

The birthplace of Mary Magdalene in Magdala.

The Tomb of Lazarus in Bethany

Relaxing outside Lydda

Making Bread

A fisherman's boat on the Sea of Galilee by Tiberias

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/palestine-in-the-19th-century-pictures-2013-10?op=1#ixzz2nGIlGT7N

For First Time Since 1948, Christmas Tree Lit In Displaced Village

For the first time since Israel was established in the historic land of Palestine in 1948, and the destruction and displacement of hundreds of villages and towns, a group of Palestinians managed to set up a Christmas Tree in the displaced village of Kufur Birim, in the Galilee.

Sonara News Agency photo of this year's Christmas Tree in the displaced village of Kufur Birim, in the Galilee

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

http://imemc.org/article/66547
Thursday December 12, 2013 09:06 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Sonara News Agency has reported that, despite the extreme cold and the snowstorm especially in mountain areas, and despite repeated empty promises by Israeli officials including the Minister of Minorities, the remaining displaced villagers were never allowed back.

Four months ago, a group of young Palestinians started sleeping in the village, as part of an extended campaign to affirm their right in their own lands, and recently installed a Christmas tree in the yard of a local church, affirming their Right of Return following 65 years of displacement.

Talking to the Sonara News Agency, Zatam Zahra, a member of one of the displaced families, said that this Christmas tree, the first in 65 years, is a symbol for the Right of Return of all refugees, displaced from their lands, villages and towns.

He added that the tree is also a symbol of hope to the millions of externally displaced refugees living in dozens of refugee camps in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and several Arab countries.

“We demand a solution to Kufur Birim refugees”, he said, “The Right of Return is a right not only to the living, but also to the dead”.

"The way forward must be based on acknowledging the rich religious diversity that is the heritage of the societies of the Arab East. Simplistic formulas that ignore this reality aren't the answer." Zogby

 The Storm on the Sea of Galilee
Rembrandt's only seascape 1633, stolen from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts in 1990

http://www.aaiusa.org/dr-zogby/entry/invisible-victims/

Dr. Zogby

Invisible Victims

Monday August 26, 2013

For decades now, Christians have been the "invisible or ignored victims" of conflicts in the Middle East. At best, the US has paid scant attention as once thriving communities of indigenous Christians in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt have been attacked, threatened, or forced to endure indignity and hardship.

There are many reasons for this lack of attention to the situation of Arab Christians, with one principal factor being ignorance. Most Americans have so little knowledge of the Arab World, its history and people that they are unaware that these Christian communities even exist. This must be remedied, since without an understanding of the role played by Christians in the Arab societies of the Middle East, there can be no reasoned discussion about the past, present, and future of this region.

One striking example of this ignorance comes to mind. I once hosted a press breakfast in Washington for a visiting Palestinian priest from the Galilee. Since I had invited only reporters who covered religion issues, I hoped for an informed and thoughtful exchange.

A set of initial questions from the AP's religion reporter established, early on, that the conversation would not be as productive as I had assumed. His questions made it all too clear that he was simply unaware of the existence of a Palestinian Christian community. He began by asking, "You say that you are an Arab Christian. But how can that be - aren't they two different groups?". He followed up by asking "When exactly did you and your family convert to Christianity?".

The clergyman from the Galilee, without missing a beat or cracking a smile, replied quite simply "My relatives converted about 2000 years ago." He went on to describe the continuous Christian presence in the Holy Land since the time of Jesus, the role they have played in the region's history, and their shared struggle with their Palestinian Muslim brethren.

I have found that not only reporters were ignorant or dismissive about Christians in the Arab World. About two decades back, a high ranking State Department official told me that he was off to Syria and high on his agenda was his intention to challenge "Assad's and the Ba'ath's persecution of Christians". I cautioned him to drop that issue from his "to-do list" informing him that, in fact, Christians had been among the founders of the Ba'ath party and, for better or worse, saw the Assad regime as supportive of their rights—a history that had to be known if one was to understand Syria's political culture and society.

Just a few years ago, I had another disturbing conversation about Syria's Christians with a senior official—this time from the White House. We were in agreement about the brutality of the Assad regime and the need for fundamental change in Syria. But when I raised concern about the vulnerability of Syria's Christians, his dismissive response was "Maybe it's time for them to just pack their bags and leave". He said this without any sense of concern for this community or for what Syria's future might be like were it to lose its Christian population.

Even when their presence is known, the Christian's plight is ignored in our political discourse and press commentary either because acknowledging their situation might muddy up a simplistic story-line or conflict with what has been identified as a larger policy objective.

And so, for example, the West has been silent about the precipitous decline in the Christian population of the Palestinian West Bank and Jerusalem out of deference to Israeli sensitivities. Pro-Israel right-wing Christian groups from the US frequently make pilgrimages to the Holy Land to show their support for Israel, while completely ignoring the existence of an indigenous community of Christians and the hardships they are forced to endure with the rest of their Palestinian brethren living under occupation. "They come", a Palestinian cleric told me, "to look at the places where Jesus walked and don't even see that we are here. We are invisible to them"...READ MORE

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]