In anticipation of the Pope's upcoming Mideast trip, AFP is rolling out preliminary coverage. Today's reports about the May 8-15 pilgrimage demonstrate a faulty grasp of both Jewish and Christian issues in Israel. 
A Unitarian-Universalist Pastor in Massachusetts makes a great show of acknowledging the Holocaust, but fails to acknowledge anti-Jewish hostility in the Middle East. 
CAMERA's Christian Research Analyst Dexter Van Zile was interviewed on Steel on Steel radio program, hosted by John Loeffler (left), about former President Jimmy Carter's new book We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work. 
Two recent commentaries about the fighting in Gaza embody the tendency of Christian churches and NGOs to engage in escapist fantasy when confronted with unpleasant realities. 
Rev. Samuel Kobia, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches has issued his fatwa: Israel must stand down in the face of incessant rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. WorldVision, a Christian organization that promotes child welfare, uses a distorted narrative about the Arab-Israeli conflict to raise funds for its work in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza. 
The Mennonite Central Committee has issued a deceptive and naive statement defending its sponsorship of a recent dinner with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches and John Thomas, president and general minister of the United Church of Christ, acknowledge that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an inappropriate partner for interfaith dialogue.
Updated, September 5. The World Council of Churches will scrutinize Biblical teachings regarding the "Promised Land" at a conference later this month.