Kameel Majdali's Road Ahead

                                                   Introducing the ‘Ship of Dreams’ It had ... and still has ... all the ingredients of a legend. Imagine a 46,000 gross ton British luxury ocean liner, 11 stories high and four city block long, the largest ship of its kind at that time. A technological wonder, it also replicated society as a whole since it was, in essence, a floating city. Of course, there were the poor Irish peasants at the bottom, hoping to have a new start in the New World. Yet the rich and famous also booked passage on the maiden voyage: the Astors, Guggenheims, Morgans, and other high society folk. They would lose none of their opulent creature-comforts: bone china, the finest sterling silver, crystal chandeliers, and carpets so thick you felt you were on velvet quicksand. Prestigious French cafes graced the top decks, instead of ...

" I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim ." - Sahih Muslim 19.4366 (statement attributed to Muhammad from the Hadiths). ‘ Destroy the churches’ bellowed the decree from the influential figure. Who said this? And when? • Genghis Khan? • Some Muslim caliph from the Middle Ages? • Head of the politburo of the now defunct Soviet Union? No, the statement to ‘ destroy the churches ’ was uttered on March 12, 2012, from a supreme religious leader of one of the United States’ great allies: the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Abdulaziz al Shaikh made this statement (fatwa) in response to a Kuwaiti delegations question of whether their nation should prevent the construction of new churches. The Grand Mufti’s reply: yes, you should prevent the construction of new churches in Kuwait. Then he went even further: infact, all churches in the Arabian peninsula that already exist should be destroyed....

Many Christians want to visit the Holy Land. The main motivation is to ‘walk where Jesus walked.’ Pilgrim number are growing: in 2010, Israel had a record number of tourist arrivals: 3.5 million. Two-thirds of these were ‘Christian.’ A minimum of one million tourists came for the express purpose of pilgrimage. But unlike ancient or pre-modern pilgrimage, most Christian pilgrims don’t walk where Jesus walked ... they take a large tourist bus. While this is understandable and necessary, a new innovation to an ancient practice has emerged ... walking the ‘Jesus Trail.’ Thanks to the collaborative efforts of American David Landis and Israeli Maoz Inon in 2007, a 65 kilometre (40 mile) trail has been launched between Nazareth to Capernaum to retrace the steps of Jesus. Why these two cities? Because Jesus grew up in Nazareth, was rejected by the locals, and then made His headquarters in Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in ...

At first glance, this would seem to be a preposterous question. Libya overthrew the government of an eccentric, flamboyant, tyrannical and brutal dictator who ruled over them with a rod of iron for 42 years. The ‘Arab Spring’ has toppled another autocratic regime in the 22 nation Arab world. Democracy is on the march on this, the world’s most undemocratic region ... or so we think. Before we start popping the champagne corks, here are some things we need to consider: 1.     Revolution: The ‘Arab Spring’ could very well be a misnomer. The term was created by the western media to describe a series of grassroot, youth-driven, internet-fueled protests throughout the Arab world demanding freedom and democracy. While protests and uprisings are not a new thing in the Arab world, the scale of the current one is unprecedented. The West calls it ‘Spring’ as if to say the long winter slumber of autocracy and police states in the Arab world is over. Yet note: the Arabic language press ...

White River, Kruger National Park, Cape Town ... these beautiful places were the location of my recent ministry trip to South Africa. Indeed, you can subdivide Africa into 3 parts: Part One: North Africa, which is Arab; Part Two: Sub-Sahara Africa, which is predominantly black; and Part Three: South Africa, the ‘rainbow nation,’ as Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu called it. South African Flag Without question, South Africa is the most prosperous and powerful nation on the continent, well-endowed with a wealth of natural resources (including diamonds and gold), and excellent infrastructure left by the former white minority government. South Africa has another unique distinction: overtly Christian sportsmen, including rugby greats like Pierre Spies and Victor Matfield. Ministry in South Africa is a very rewarding experience as well; the singing alone will make you feel you’re in the ‘heavenly places.’ But there was one hitch to my otherwise flawless trip: to get there, I had to fly f...