Israel-Hamas War

The Israel-Hamas war, along with the rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the U.S. and around the globe, were named the top international and domestic religion stories of 2023 by members of the Religion News Association.

In the West Bank and Gaza, Christians are searching for ways to celebrate a subdued Christmas, with festivities canceled for the first time since the First Intifada in 1988. 

A group of local residents frustrated and horrified at what has been going on in Israel and the Gaza Strip over the last two months have banded together to create a new organization, the Inland Northwest Coalition for the Liberation of Palestine.

War shapes our lives, sometimes encouraging violence, verbal and physical. Outside war zones, ordinary citizens find ourselves drawn into taking sides. How can we create a better future for our children, ourselves, even for those we don’t know?

Chanukah brings light into the darkness and hope in times of despair. At least that’s what the Jewish congregations in Spokane County will demonstrate with their celebrations on Dec. 10.

Hanukkah, a joyous Jewish holiday, which in the United States has often tried to rival Christmas in buoyancy if not glamour, will not be the same this year. With the Israeli military in the midst of a destructive showdown in its war with Hamas, few are in the mood to celebrate the holiday that begins at sundown Thursday.

Bowing to weeks of mounting global pressure, UN Women released a statement “unequivocally” condemning “the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel” and calling “for all accounts of gender-based violence to be duly investigated and prosecuted.”