holiest site

Muslim worshippers and Israeli police clashed Sunday at a major Jerusalem holy site during prayers marking the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. Palestinian medics said at least 14 people were wounded, one seriously, in the skirmishes with police at the site, which Muslims refer to as the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and Jews refer to as the Temple Mount. Police said...

When travelers shop at dozens of duty free stores at airports worldwide, they may be paying for more than a bottle of vodka or a box of chocolates. The Falic family of Florida, owners of the ubiquitous chain of Duty Free Americas shops, funds a generous and sometimes controversial philanthropic empire in Israel that runs through the corridors of power...

Mariah Carey, one of the world’s most celebrated artists, is performing in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for the first time, but there’s a growing chorus of Saudi women calling on her to cancel the concert to show support for detained women’s rights activists.

More than 2 million Muslims began the annual hajj pilgrimage at first light on Sunday in Saudi Arabia, circling the cube-shaped Kaaba in Mecca that Islam’s faithful face five times each day during their prayers. The five-day hajj pilgrimage represents one of the world’s biggest gatherings every year, and is required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life. The...

Vice President Mike Pence placed his hand on the hallowed Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on Tuesday as he wrapped up a four-day trip to the Mideast that ended with Palestinians still fuming over the Trump administration’s decision to recognize the city as Israel’s capital. On a solemn visit to the holiest site where Jews can pray, Pence tucked...

Jordan’s king appealed Sunday to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence to “rebuild trust and confidence” in the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, following fallout from the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Pence, in turn, tried to reassure the monarch that the Trump administration remains committed to restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and views...

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s upcoming visit to the Middle East comes at a time of intensely publicized friction between his administration and the Palestinian leadership, posing a dilemma for his Arab hosts — Egypt’s president and Jordan’s king — on how to safeguard their vital ties with Washington without appearing to ignore Palestinian misgivings. Both countries are heavily dependent...

Breaking with years of courting the U.S., Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday for the United Nations to replace Washington as a Mideast mediator and suggested he might not cooperate with the Trump administration’s much-anticipated effort to hammer out an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. At a summit in Turkey, Arab and Muslim leaders “rejected and condemned” President Donald Trump’s recognition of...

Large crowds of worshippers across the Muslim world staged anti-U.S. marches Friday, some stomping on posters of Donald Trump or burning American flags in the largest outpouring of anger yet at the U.S. president’s recognition of bitterly contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In the holy city itself, prayers at Islam’s third-holiest site dispersed largely without incident, but Palestinians clashed with...

Breaking with decades of U.S. policy, President Donald Trump on Wednesday recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a declaration that set off a wave of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces and drew sharp criticism from U.S. allies in the Middle East and beyond. Here’s a look at why U.S. recognition of the holy city as Israel’s capital...

President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Wednesday could have deep repercussions across the region. Recognition of Israel’s control over the city will be welcomed by Israel, a close American ally, and be popular with pro-Israel evangelical Christian voters who make up a key part of Trump’s base. But it could also trigger violence in the region,...

The White House says the president is expected to make an announcement on whether the U.S. Embassy in Israel will move to Jerusalem

President Donald Trump will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Wednesday despite intense Arab, Muslim and European opposition to a move that would upend decades of U.S. policy and risk potentially violent protests. Trump will instruct the State Department to begin the multi-year process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city, U.S. officials said Tuesday....

Has Banksy struck again in familiar territory? Two murals showing an oversized President Donald Trump appeared Friday on Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, just yards from where the elusive artist decorated a hotel earlier this year. The new drawings which resemble Banksy’s earlier art popped up on the edge of Bethlehem, the Palestinian city where the barrier largely consists of...

Muslim leaders told the faithful to return to pray inside a major Jerusalem holy site on Thursday after Israel removed security devices it installed outside entrances to the shrine following a deadly Palestinian attack at the compound. Thousands of Palestinians had been praying in the streets outside the shrine to protest the security measures since the crisis began. “After extensive...

Three Palestinian assailants opened fire on Israeli police from inside a major Jerusalem holy site on Friday, gravely wounding two officers before being shot dead, police said. The officers later died. The rare attack from within the contested site, revered by both Muslims and Jews, raised new concerns about an escalation of violence. Police identified the attackers as Arab citizens...

The U.N. cultural agency on Friday declared the old city in the West Bank town of Hebron as a Palestinian world heritage site, a decision that outraged Israeli officials who say the move negated the deep Jewish ties to the biblical town and its ancient shrine. The move was the latest chapter in Israel’s contentious relationship with UNESCO, an agency...

President Donald Trump’s two-day visit to Israel began Monday morning and there are five key issues that are expected to be the focus of his time in the country, NBC News reported. The most recent issue to come up is the security relationship between Israel and the U.S. It was reported that the intelligence Trump discussed with Russian officials came...

Demanding Middle East leaders combat a “crisis of Islamic extremism” emanating from their homelands, President Donald Trump tried to revise his previous anti-Muslim rhetoric while recasting the fight against terrorism as a “battle between good and evil” instead of a clash between the West and Islam....
Trump’s address Sunday was the centerpiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, his first...

President Donald Trump will use his first visit to the Middle East to call for unity in the fight against radicalism in the Muslim world, casting the challenge as a “battle between good and evil” and urging Arab leaders to “drive out the terrorists from your places of worship,” according to a draft of the speech obtained by The Associated...