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Archive for the ‘Arabs’ Category

Following Jesus in a Land of Conflict

Posted in Arabs, Christians, Contentious Issues, Jews, Peace on December 6, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Day of Discovery has a very interesting program with a discussion between Nizar Touma, a born again Christian Arab (this is how he described himself), and Avner Boskey, a Jewish Messianic follower of Jesus. Both of them are Israeli citizens.

While I don’t fully agree with all of what they say the Bible teaches regarding the nation of Israel, I really appreciated the grace and love they showed to each other.

Both of them saw that the main problem in the region starts within.

Conflict is something that starts in me. – Nizar

The question in peace treaties and peace movements is how much is really going on in the human heart? – Avner

You can watch it in four parts:

Part 1, Taking Sides
Part 2, Seeking Peace
Part 3, Chosen People
Part 4, Israel’s Future

 

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Does Muslim = Arab?

Posted in Arabs, Muslims on November 11, 2010 | 1 Comment »

I often encounter people who assume that all Arabs are Muslims or seem to think that all Muslims are Arabs. Neither are true. There are Arab Christians and Arab Jews (and I’m sure there are Arabs who aren’t religious at all). Arab Muslims don’t even make up the majority of Muslims (the largest Muslim country is Indonesia, after all).

Here is a short article by Haoon Moghul pointing out the fallacy of such thinking: Why Arab and Muslim Are Not Synonymous.

HT: Avari

Related Post:
Arab Christians

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Cinema Jenin

Posted in Arabs, Jews, Peace on July 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

The cinema in Jenin is reopening. What a remarkable story.

“It will be a cinema for peace that will carry my son Ahmed’s message. Hopefully it will join a number of different nationalities together and hopefully by bringing people together it will bring peace.” – Ismael Khatib, father of Ahmed Khatib. Ahmed was killed when he was 11 years old by the Israeli military. He was carrying a toy gun, which was mistaken for a real gun. His father donated his organs to six Israelis, both Arabs and Jews.

“Heart of Jenin” is a movie that was made to tell the story of Ishmael meeting the children that had received his son’s organs. When the German filmmaker realized that the film couldn’t even be seen in Jenin he stopped making movies to restore the cinema.

Read the whole story.

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I Love This

Posted in Arabs, Blessing, Christians, Peace on July 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Lest you think I only hate things, I wanted to post something I love. Ali Elhajj is an Arab follower of Jesus who founded The Bethlehem Christmas Project: Bringing Israelis and Palestinians Together on Christmas.

They are bringing people together. They are blessing others. They are tearing down walls. They are making peace. I love it.

“I saw the joy and the love and it’s very unique to see all the people together giving gifts to Palestinian children and I was amazed to see their smiles,”Alex, an Israeli. Alex had never been to the West Bank before. He had never been on the other side of the wall. Understandably he was a bit afraid. I had tears in my eyes as I listened to him. Not only did he bring joy to the children he met, but he returned to Israel a changed man.

You can also read an article from a couple of years ago in Christianity Today. Here are some key quotes from it:

“When you come to Christ, you have to understand that he died for me to reconcile me to God,” Elhajj said. “How am I as a Christian, as a citizen of the kingdom, supposed to act? As a peacemaker.”

Elhajj told CT he believes that stereotypical perceptions of evangelicals being close-minded is just as unfounded as some evangelical stereotypes of Muslims. “If you’ll just engage people, you’ll find a wide range of beliefs and motivations. You try to find folks who are open, are ready to learn, and want to do the will of God.”

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Saudi Women Celebrate the World Cup

Posted in Arabs on June 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

But not everyone is happy about it.

HT: Muslimah Media Watch

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‘Among the Righteous:’ Arabs Saving Jews in the Holocaust | The Middle East Channel

Posted in Arabs, Life on April 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

From Mind, Body, Soul:

‘Among the Righteous:’ Arabs Saving Jews in the Holocaust | The Middle East Channel

“Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust in Arab lands,” is a new documentary I made in partnership with MacNeil-Lehrer Productions, airing tonight on PBS. It retells largely forgotten stories from World War II in North Africa of Arabs who saved their Jewish neighbors from the Holocaust — a story which Holocaust historiography has largely left untouched. The documentary digs into history to uncover not only cases of Jewish persecution in North Africa similar to the Jewish experience in Europe, but also stories of the “righteous” Arabs that protected Jews. Filmed in eight different countries stretching from Morocco to Israel, the documentary reveals surprising discoveries about the past that can help challenge how Arabs and Jews alike view this part of Holocaust history.

The documentary airs tonight on PBS at 10 p.m. eastern time.

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Peacemaking in Yemen

Posted in Arabs, Muslims, Peace on January 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

War and strife is common in Yemen. Revenge seems to be a way of life. Not only does almost everyone have a gun, most have three. So this story at Al Jazeera was really encouraging to see. Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Marwani is risking is life to bring peace to his people.

He says in the video to his colleagues, “You won’t find any act closer to God and his blessings, or more worthy of his mercy than what we are doing – spreading peace.” Later he says, “I would give my life if only the world could live in peace.”

HT: Cathrein B.

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A Boy, A Wall and a Donkey

Posted in Arabs on October 15, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Whatever you think of the Israeli/Palestinian problem (or the language), this short movie is a humorous portrayal of a serious issue.

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Mapping the Arabic Blogosphere

Posted in Arabs on July 17, 2009 | 5 Comments »

The Berkman Center for Internet Study and Security did a massive study on the Arabic blogosphere. Who blogs? What do they blog about? You can read the summary of the report at the Berkman Center site.

I found it interesting that they blog more about human rights than they criticize Western culture and values. That’s probably not what most would expect.

HT: Raising Yousuf and Noor

Full disclosure: My primary motive for writing this post is that I think the picture is cool.

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