Israel-Hamas War

Religion News Service selected 13 who made their mark this year, speaking out on a range of contentious issues and challenging the nation to live up to its values.

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.

PJALS will host a Candlelight Vigil on Dec. 14. They join other humanitarian and human rights organizations in calls for a permanent cease-fire, an end to Israel’s current blockade of Gaza and the 16-year siege and the return of all hostages and political prisoners by Hamas and Israel.

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.

We live now in a very weary, very un-peaceful world. We are especially made weary, and perhaps cast into despair, by the war in the land where Jesus was born. His birth there is one reason the land is deemed “holy.” Can we celebrate a “Holy Night” when an un-holy war rages in this holy land?