Annual Holy Fire miracle spreads light under heavy Israeli guard

Clergymen told Ma’an on Saturday that the fire descends from the sky every year on Holy Saturday. They claimed that its appearance cannot be explained scientifically, and is thus believed to be one of the greatest miracles in the world, most significantly because of the flame’s non-material make-up. The fire does not emit warmth for the first 33 minutes of its arrival, and will not burn skin during this period, they said.

For full article, visit http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37200

Palestinian Christians Exodus

Jamal Khadr, a priest at the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

“They can’t easily adapt to the hardships associated with the stressful situation stemming from the Israeli occupation,” Dr. Jamal Khadr, a priest at the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, told IslamOnline.net.

In recent decades, thousands of Christians left the occupied West Bank for a new life abroad, especially in North and South America, Australia, Scandinavia and even Africa.

For full article, visit http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1237706083667&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

Christian housing faces Israeli encirclement

Residents of a Palestinian Christian housing project in the West Bank village of Beit Sahour say Israel is encircling their community with a security road to separate them from a nearby Jewish settlement.

“With this situation they will put us in a cage, a zoo,” said William Sahouri, 42, a resident and member of the project’s housing committee. “We will not be able to expand.”

The project lies close to Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, where the Greek Orthodox Sahouri family live in a modern three-bedroom home, with two flat-screen televisions and a small bar displaying a collection of whiskies and other liquors.

For full article, visit http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLB710547