The competition — called “FIFA Unites: Women’s Series 2025” — had been originally scheduled to be played in Dubai with teams from Chad, Libya and the host nation UAE. FIFA confirmed that the tournament would instead be be played in Morocco, starting on Sunday, with a revised lineup that includes the Afghan refugee squad, Chad, Tunisia and Libya.
Read MoreWhile Vance emphasized “partnership” with Israel and pushed back on the notion that the Jewish state had become a “protectorate” of the United States, the underlying tensions in this evolving post-Gaza war framework reveals that the alliance has entered a new phase.
Read MoreWhen fans of the soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv were assaulted in the streets of Amsterdam after a game last November, the violence drew comparisons to pogroms. It even prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dispatch rescue planes to evacuate Israeli citizens. Once again there are fears of a repeat outbreak of violence, this time over a match in Birmingham, England.
Read More(REVIEW) Like most mainstream, organized religions, Islam is a big tent. Corralling the various ideologies, sects, divisions, major players and developments over the course of some fourteen hundred years into a digestible narrative is no easy job, and Tolan’s effort is both daunting and admirable.
Read MoreIn 2006, I was able to travel to Israel for the first time. Even as a child, I had learned from my father about the spiritual legacy of the Jewish people, the land God had given them, and how He had protected them. And, best of all, during that amazing year, I was able to set foot on the land myself. There I began to meet and come to know Israelis as friends and allies, and to see with my own eyes the biblical heritage I had inherited as a Christian believer.
Read MoreIf the president of the United States boards Air Force One for a dramatic trip to Israel — in the larger symbolic region often called the “Holy Land” — please consider putting at least one or two skilled religion-beat specialists on the airplane.
Read More(ANALYSIS) What’s striking about this ceasefire is not just how tentative it is, but how deeply entwined the experiences of Jews and Muslims have become — not in harmony, but in suffering. Both communities claim moral righteousness. Both grieve their dead. And both are trapped in narratives of fear and survival that often leave little room for compassion or compromise.
Read MorePresident Donald Trump celebrated the implementation of a Gaza ceasefire with the return of the last hostages after two years. “This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East,” he said. “After so many years … the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace, a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity.”
Read MoreThe plan, if adopted in full, would eventually end the two-year war that started when Hamas killed almost 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped about 250. Israel’s attacks on the Gaza strip, where the hostages were taken, have since killed at least 66,000 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry says, and left much of the enclave in ruins.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted, without a vote, a resolution on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, which is to strengthen accountability efforts in Afghanistan.
Read MoreNine months before she was killed by an Israeli airstrike, Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona started quoting “Shawshank Redemption.” “Hope is a dangerous thing,” she told Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi over a WhatsApp video call. Farsi and Hassona began talking in early 2024, after Farsi’s plans to make a documentary in Rafah were upended due to the closing of the border.
Read MoreTwo years after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the start of the Jewish state’s military campaign in Gaza, a growing number of Americans are expressing skepticism toward Israel’s actions and the U.S. response to the conflict, according to a new survey. It reveals that 39% of Americans say Israel is going too far in its military operations against Hamas — an increase from 31% a year ago.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Weakened militarily and politically after two years of war with Israel, Hamas is facing growing pressure — from both Palestinians and the international community — to accept a U.S.-backed peace plan proposed by President Donald Trump. The group has already agreed to release the remaining Israeli hostages and hand over control of Gaza to a technocratic Palestinian body.
Read More(OPINION) Two years since the terror attacks launched by Hamas on Israel, there appears to be a persistent moral ambiguity on how the world has responded to Israel’s plight. Should they be faulted at all for their call to get Israeli hostages back and to demand the disarmament of Hamas to finally end the war in Gaza?
Read MoreDead Sea Scroll fragments and hundreds of other artifacts will be on display starting Nov. 22 at the Museum of the Bible’s “Dead Sea Scrolls: The Exhibition,” brought in partnership with the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Read MoreThe upcoming “FIFA Unites: Women’s Series” marks the convergence of sports, politics, religion and human rights. For the Afghan refugee players, it’s a real chance to reclaim their place in the game. For FIFA, it’s a test of whether its commitment to women’s soccer extends beyond symbolic support — and whether it is willing to confront the contradictions within its own global family.
Read MoreU.S. evangelicals are as supportive of Israel as they were four years ago, Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter found in their latest poll, although findings portend a possible generational shift.
Read MoreFor nearly two years, the ongoing war in Gaza has disrupted one of the most sacred traditions for thousands of Christians worldwide — pilgrimages to the Holy land. Israel’s war in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, has led to the near collapse of a once-thriving pilgrimage and tourism sectors within Israel and the Palestinian territories. This disruption came some three years after the same pilgrimages were affected by the pandemic.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Recognition of a Palestinian state is likely to dominate proceedings at the U.N. beginning this week when world leaders will gather for the annual general assembly. Of the 193 existing U.N member states, 147 already recognize a Palestinian state. But that number is expected to swell in the coming days, with several more countries expected to officially announce such recognition.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A United Nations commission — the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel — concluded that Israel has committed acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.
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