Opinion

Continuing his week-long pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday called for a “sovereign Palestinian homeland” and identified with Palestinian “suffering” during a one-day visit to Bethlehem and other parts of the West Bank.

The pontiff stood alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as he delivered his strongest public support yet for Palestinian statehood.

“Mr. President, the Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbors, within internationally recognized borders,” the pontiff said. “I know how much you have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of the turmoil that has afflicted this land for decades,” he added.

In an effort to help Internet users discover Israel’s holy places and modern sites, the Consulate General of Israel in New York has released a Facebook application of the Holy Land.

Holy Land Trivia: From Creation to Creativity, offers a pictorial encounter with many significant places in Israel, and gives users the opportunity to share newly-gained knowledge with Facebook friends.

The application, designed to appeal to users of all backgrounds and especially to Christians, contains three multiple-choice quizzes about different locations of interest throughout Israel. The questions cover knowledge on holy sites in Israel, modern Israel, and a combination of the two.

I love Jerusalem! I love it because it’s a beautiful city and because it is where Messiah taught, laid down His life for the sins of mankind, and was resurrected, triumphing over death. It is the city of the great kings David and Solomon, and the place where the prophets and other great Bible heroes came to worship God in the temple.

From a human perspective, Jerusalem would not rank as one of the world’s most important cities. Even when biblical history was being written in Jerusalem’s streets, the city was not as significant as Alexandria, Rome or Athens.

Still, 3,000 years after King David’s reign, most of the world’s population believes that Jerusalem is the most important city on earth. There is only one possible reason: It is important to God and to His plans for the last days.

As the state of Israel recognizes Independence Day this month, Israelis around the world pause to celebrate 61 years of freedom. Click below to watch video. {youtube}1dGz-q2qzBA{/youtube}

British Midland Airways Limited (BMI) reportedly omitted Israel from in-flight charts on flights bound for the Holy Land, according toTimes Online. “Passengers were shocked to discover that Israel had been wiped off the map by Britain’s BMI airline, which omitted the Jewish state from its digital charts on flights from London to Tel Aviv. Neither

Vowing that it will “never forget,” a California church is today unveiling an interactive exhibit honoring the 6 million Jews who died during the Holocaust.

Built by Cornerstone Church in Fresno, the Holocaust Experience will guide visitors through scenes of 12 major events that took place between 1933 and 1945. The scenes span from the rise of Adolf Hitler to Kristallnacht, or “the Night of Broken Glass,” when nearly 1,000 synagogues were set on fire across Germany, to Hitler’s decision to execute genocide as “the final solution to the Jewish question.”

The exhibit, which will be on display until Sunday, is housed in the church’s 10,000-square-foot educational facility and cost nearly $10,000 to build.

My trip to Israel took me to many interesting and fascinating places. On the second day of my travels, I toured Caesarea, an ancient port built by King Herod. There I saw ruins of an ancient vomitoruim (my tour guide, Tison Ben David, explains the meaning of the name in the clip) and a reconstructed Roman theater. When biblical history meets archeology, the Bible truly comes to life.