FBI data underscores rising threat to places of worship

When a machete-wielding attacker walked into a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York, during Hanukkah and a gunman fired on worshipers at a Texas church 14 hours later, the two congregations in different regions of the country joined a growing list of faith communities that have come under attack in the US.

2019 saw attacks on houses of worship with alarming frequency worldwide

On December 1, a band of assailants opened fire on worshipers at a small-town Protestant church in Burkina Faso, an impoverished West African country where the Christian minority is increasingly a target of attacks. The victims included the pastor and several teenage boys; regional authorities attributed the attack to ‘unidentified armed men’ who, according to witnesses, got away on motorcycles.

On an ancient road to the Temple, archaeological innovation, mystery and dispute

Archaeologists and historians call the subterranean road the ‘Stepped Street.’ Those who prefer to link Jerusalem’s Jewish past to its present tend to call it the ‘Pilgrims’ Path’ or the ‘Pilgrimage Road.’ It was built starting in 20 CE by the Romans, said Levy, and completed under the governance of Pontius Pilate in about 30 CE. A recent study of coins collected at the site appears to confirm this dating.

‘We assume there are weapons stockpiles on the Temple Mount’

‘The Palestinians will never drop the matter of the Temple Mount. It’s a tool that they, and parts of the Arab and Muslim world, use to take on Israel,’ former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman and former head of the Shin Bet security agency MK Avi Dichter tells Israel Hayom in a special weekend interview.

The Temple Mount’s treasure trove

A small clay bulla, or seal, that was used to sign official letters in the days of the kingdom of Judea waited nearly 2,600 years amid the rubble at the foundations of the Western Wall to be discovered by Israeli archaeologists. For eight years, the rubble has been cleared away, one bucket after another, and taken directly to the site of the Ancient Jerusalem Sifting Project, which is run under the auspices of Ir David Foundation.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar condemn Israel over Temple Mount clashes

Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Sunday joined a chorus of condemnation of Israel for using force against Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount, after clashes erupted there between the Israel Police and Muslim worshipers earlier in the day.

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