Children of the Middle-East

A Celebration of Imago Dei from a Church Mural


Girl of Iran.


Boy from Iraq.


Girl from Egypt. Details of a Mural by Laney Riley and Bob Kirchman.

Looking beyond the news, and praying for the peace of this region, it helps if we remember that the world is primarily populated by beautiful individuals, not idealogies.

The "Land for Pieces" Scheme Exposed

History Refutes the Effectivenes of 'Land-for-peace'


'Love' in Hebrew, by Robert Indiana. This sculpture is at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Photo by Talmoryair.

Israel willingly gave up Gaza in a good faith move designed to move the Middle East closer to peace. A visit to the Southern Israel city of Sderot is an eye-opening illustration of just how effective land-for-peace really can be.

The residents of Sderot are mostly Russian Jews. They are not rich and lack the resources to move away from Sderot. Why would they want to leave? Gaza is now the launching point for hundreds of rockets that rain death and destruction on the city on an almost daily basis.

School children playing outside in Sderot have thirty seconds to find cover when the rockets are detected. Playgrounds may include large concrete pipes for them to run into.

Israel turned Gaza over to its residents with a well established agricultural economy. Large greenhouses provided work for Jews and Arabs alike. Today the greenhouses are largely destroyed -- and rockets are fired freely across the border.

The Land-for-peace Hoax [click to read] is explored further by Caroline B. Glick in Jewish World Review.

The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Yusuf Qaradawi, in 2009 "called for the Muslim world to complete Hitler's goal of eradicating the Jewish people." -- Caroline B. Glick. It would seem that those who would promise peace in international negotiations should carry the same message home with them.

The Forgotten Christians of the East

Egypt's Copts Struggle Under Persecution


One of the world's oldest churches, the Coptic church, is under siege.

The American News is saturated with the 'anti corporate' protesters. There was even a protest in Staunton, conveniently staged on a Federal holiday. The News Leader took great pains to tell us how 'nice' the mob was. Corporationa are evil. I HAVE a corporation (the rendering and model studio). OK, main stream media, I'm evil and greedy already. Let's move on.

On Sunday night, Egyptian Coptic Christians staged what was supposed to be a peaceful vigil at Egypt's state television headquarters in Cairo. The 1,000 Christians represented the ancient Christian community of some 8 million whose presence in Egypt predates the establishment of Islam by several centuries. They gathered in Cairo to protest the recent burning of two churches by Islamic mobs and the rapid escalation of state-supported violent attacks on Christians by Muslim groups since the overthrow of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in February.

As many as forty of them were killed by soldiers and muslim thugs. They were beaten, dragged through the streets and run over by military vehicles. They are my brothers.

Caroline B. Glick has This Report [click to read] in Jewish World Review.

Understanding Events in Egypt

Jewish World Review Offers Plenty of Helpful Insight


A gull visits a sandcastle pyramid. Photo by R. S. Kirchman

Egypt and the 'Freedom Agenda' [click to read] by Jeff Jacoby in Jewish World Review.

"Yes, supporting freedom is the best policy. Not just because freedom is better than stability. Not just because tyranny breeds extremism. But because it is unworthy of a nation as great and free as ours not to promote the values it most esteems. It shouldn't take an upheaval in the Arab street to remind us that it is always in America's interest to promote liberal democracy." -- Jeff Jacoby

Mubarak's Supporters Struggle to be Heard [click to read] by Timothy M. Phelps in Jewish World Review.

"For the most part, the subset of Mubarak supporters consisted of those with something to lose, such as engineers, government employees and shop owners. Though one man said he was a driver and another an auto mechanic, there was an air of class distinction in the marchers' comments." -- Timothy M. Phelps

A Look at the Major Players in Egypt's Crisis [click to read] by Jonathan S. Landay and Miret El Naggar in Jewish World Review. To fully grasp what continues to happen in Cairo, there's a necessity to understand who the world is dealing with.

"Started by Hassan al-Banna in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood is one of Egypt's oldest political organizations and its largest, most cohesive opposition movement." -- Jonathan Landay

Will the dominoes continue to fall? [click to read] By Borzou Daragahi and Stephen Starr in Jewish World Review.

"The dramatic political unrest in Egypt, long a pivotal nation in the Arab world, has intensified demands for change across the region and spurred attempts at reform by nations long ruled by autocrats." -- Borzou Daragahi and Stephen Starr

Thirty-two Years Ago Today

The Return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Tehran


The return of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.

Abolhassan Bani-Sadr was the Iranian President in the post-revolution days. Thirty-two years later he says an open future for the Arab world could mean the flowering of democracy -- or resurgent dictatorship. To keep a new strongman from taking over, certain conditions must be met: His Thoughts [click to read] in Jewish World Review today.

The Muslim Brotherhood [click to read] by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. in Jewish World Review.

Resentment toward US Growing in Egypt [click to read] by Edmund Sanders in Jewish World Review.


What have we learned... thirty-two years later?