This is my last Stepping Out of the Boat blog post. I am back in Scotland having said a bitter-sweet goodbye to colleagues and friends in Tiberias, Jerusalem and beyond. It is a momentous week for other much bigger reasons too. On 7 th October the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on festival goers and kibbutzim was marked. For families of hostages, alive and dead it is a painful anniversary. For Palestinians, the loss of life in Gaza and the increased pressure on Pal

There hasn’t been a blog here from me for some time. That’s partly because words seem to have had little or no effect on the horror...

On Wednesday I attended an extraordinary and sweet event at the Sindyanna of the Galilee Visitors’ Centre. Twelve women who have learned...

Pope Francis’ last plea for peace Many stories have been told about the piety and pastoral faithfulness of the late Pope Francis, but the...

‘Protect civilians. Facilitate aid. Release hostages. Renew a ceasefire.’ This is the final line in an unprecedented press release issued...

At the beginning of February there is a Jewish holiday called Tu Bi Shvat. It is a tree planting ceremony made popular through the...

‘I’m sorry my father is not here to greet you,’ said our seventeen year old guide. And then, after a pause: ‘He’s gone to Hollywood to...

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. The image of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, in a clean white coat, walking through the rubble of...

A keffiyeh. The media focussed on a keffiyeh which had been tucked at the last minute around the manger scene from Bethlehem which was...