Christmas is becoming increasingly popular among secular Israelis. It spreads a festive atmosphere that promotes understanding between people of different faiths. Orthodox Jews, however, view the holiday as a threat. By Joseph CroitoruMore
Palestinian Christians are an integral part of the Palestinian national movement. This is the conclusion reached by the Chilean-born Palestinian political scientist Xavier Abu Eid. Interview conducted by Andrea KrogmannMore
Jesus – Issa in Arabic – doesn’t merely enjoy the highest place among the prophets in the Koran. He is also revered in Islam’s mystical tradition for his message of love and mercy. By Aziz FooladvandMore
With her puppet theatre "Bubales“, the artist Shlomit Tripp gives audiences a light-hearted taste of Jewish life in a bid to build bridges between religions and cultures. She was presented with the Obermayer Award for her work in January. Ceyda Nurtsch met her and her cast of colourful charactersMore
Christmas in Bethlehem is usually a festive and colourful season. This year, festivities in the Palestinian town are set to return – but the COVID-19 pandemic is still casting a shadow on celebrationsMore
Haifa is known for being Israel’s exemplary model of relative harmony between Jewish and Palestinian citizens. Its unique "Holiday of Holidays" is a joyous, multicultural event that has become a major player in domestic tourism. After a two-year break due to the pandemic, Noam Yatsiv writes from this year's festivalMore
More than 2,000 years since Mary and Joseph made the arduous journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, checkpoints and political divisions greet pilgrims retracing their steps through Israel and the occupied West BankMore
Beirut in December was once a shopping extravaganza, where day-long traffic jams clogged streets decked out with flashing Christmas lights and building-sized billboards advertising champagne and jewelleryMore
In the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Christmas season is giving a boost to a small women’s business that produces pandemic face masks decorated with holiday symbolsMore
As historian Wiiliam Dalrymple writes in his essay, scholars are only now beginning to realise the extent to which the Mughal emperors adopted what most would assume to be outrightly Christian devotions.More
Beirut usually sparkles and dazzles at Christmas time. This year, marked by major protests, however, everything has been turned on its head: there is a distinct lack of Christmas in Beirut, while in Tripoli, a Christmas tree has been erected for the first time ever on the main square, Sahat an-Nour. Hanna Resch reports from LebanonMore
″Christmas and the Qu′ran″, Karl-Josef Kuschel′s scholarly examination of the Christmas story in the light of the New Testament and the Koran, digs deep to deliver a message of hope. Lucy James read the bookMore
Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol′s latest book ″The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews became a prophet of the Muslims″ is a thought-provoking read, challenging not only the Church′s ascription of Godhead to Jesus, but also the Islamic fixation with God′s law rather than His intention. Lucy James read the bookMore
Just like all Christians in Islamabad, 45-year-old Akram and his family celebrate "the night of the new moon" also known as "chand raat", every year on 24 December. Nusrat Sheikh joined himMore
In northwestern Mauritania lies Chinguetti, a historic trading post and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city still has several libraries with Arabic manuscripts – many of them from the late Middle Ages.
