Religion News on the Web
Selected religion-related news from around the Web
December 27, 2011
- The Washington Post
Wash. Post: Religious limits on women spur controversy in Israel
A sign outside a row of synagogues directing women to walk on the other side of the street has turned this town near Jerusalem into a front line of a raging national debate about the imposition of strict social codes by ultra-Orthodox zealots.
December 27, 2011
- The New York Times
NYT: Israeli girl, 8, at center of tension over religious extremism
The latest battleground in Israel’s struggle over religious extremism covers little more than a square mile of this Jewish city situated between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and it has the unexpected public face of a blond, bespectacled second-grade girl.
December 22, 2011
- The Times
Times: Ancient text brings the Three Wise Men to life
An ancient document found in the Vatican archives casts new light on the story of the Nativity and the Three Wise Men who came to offer gifts to the infant Jesus, according to researchers.
December 21, 2011
- The Associated Press
AP: In Israel, a higher profile for Christmas
The founders of Neve Shaanan, a neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv,
planned their streets in the shape of a seven-branched candelabra - a
symbol of their Jewish faith.
December 20, 2011
- The New York Times
NY Times: Mass march by Cairo women in protest over abuse by soldiers
CAIRO — Several thousand women demanding the end of military rule
marched through downtown Cairo on Tuesday evening in an extraordinary
expression of anger over images of soldiers beating, stripping and
kicking female demonstrators in Tahrir Square.
December 13, 2011
- The Associated Press
AP: Algeria's Islamists hope for election victory
Algeria's
Islamists, buoyed by election victories of their brethren across North
Africa over the past two months, are looking to triumph themselves next
spring in nationwide polls.
December 13, 2011
- The New York
NYT: U.S. leaving Iraqi comrades-in-arms in limbo
Meeting various neighbors and supplicants on a recent evening, America’s staunchest ally in Iraq, Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, sat in a tent sipping tea from an implausibly tiny glass cup. He greeted each new visitor with a hearty outburst of “dear one” and a kiss on the cheek.
December 12, 2011
- The Korea Herald
Korea Herald: Opinion: Palestinians’ next ‘invention’ will be a state
In November 1947, shortly after the United Nations voted for partition
of the Holy Land into separate Arab and Jewish states, Chaim Weizmann
was cited by the New York Times as saying that “the most important work
now was to build Palestine.”
December 10, 2011
- The Economist
Economist: Everywhere on the rise
REVOLUTION sweeps away a hated tyrant, unleashing a joyous jumble of
hopes. Amid the cacophony a faint but steady drumbeat grows louder.
December 10, 2011
- The Economist
Economist: It’s on the rise too
WHEN revolutionary Zionist pioneers first pitched up in Palestine,
they tended to look askance at the existing Orthodox Jews as dusty
museum pieces.
December 10, 2011
- The New York Times
NYT: In Egypt, a conservative appeal transcends religion
Voters attending a political rally by
ultraconservative Islamist sheiks might expect a pious call for strict
religious rule — banning alcohol, restricting women’s dress, cutting off
the hands of thieves.
December 09, 2011
- Bloomberg
Bloomberg: Jerusalem orders Mosque ramp shut
Jerusalem's city engineer has ordered the closing within a week of
the Old City's Mughrabi ramp, which leads to the hilltop compound that
contains the al-Aqsa Mosque, saying it is "a threat to public safety."
December 08, 2011
- The Associated Press
AP: Palestinians' statehood bid part of Christmas
At Christmas time the world looks to Jesus' traditional birthplace of Bethlehem, and this year the Palestinians hope to use some of that attention to boost their quest for independence.