The Religion and Ethics Report

Israeli settlers have again besieged the Palestinian town of Taybeh. It’s the last remaining Christian village on the West Bank. But this time the far-right Jewish youths also attacked a visiting Catholic Archbishop from France and European diplomats. Their violence has even triggered condemnation from a prominent Orthodox rabbi. 

And

It seems like every Israel election since the early 1990s, and the start of the stalled Oslo peace accords, has been historic or pivotal. But next week’s poll really does feel like a crucial choice for the country. Benjamin Netanyahu has committed his hard-right government to the expansion of Israeli territory and no statehood, ever, for Palestinians. Will Israelis endorse his vision?

Plus

Despite the tragedy of the Gaza war, civil society groups are making small but critical steps towards reconciliation. Project Rozana is a global charity, started in Australia, that brings Jews, Israelis, and Palestinians together to deliver health care in Palestine. It’s about to open a rehabilitation hospital in Hebron, backed by the Australian government.

Guests: 

• Father Bashar Fawadleh is the Catholic parish priest of Taybeh.   
• Dr Dahlia Scheindlin is a public opinion analyst and senior columnist with Ha’aretz.
• Panos Massouris is the chief executive of Project Rozana, a global charity 

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

It seems like every Israel election since the early 1990s, and the start of the stalled Oslo peace accords, has been historic or pivotal. 

But next week’s poll really does feel like a crucial choice for the country. 

Benjamin Netanyahu has committed his hard-right government to the expansion of Israeli territory and no statehood, ever, for Palestinians. 

Will Israelis endorse his vision?

GUEST:

• Dr Dahlia Scheindlin is a public opinion analyst and senior columnist with Ha’aretz. 

Despite the tragedy of the Gaza war, civil society groups are making small but critical steps towards reconciliation. 

Israeli settlers have again besieged the Palestinian town of Taybeh. 

It’s the last remaining Christian village on the West Bank. 

But this time the far-right Jewish youths also attacked a visiting Catholic Archbishop from France and European diplomats who were watching the olive harvest. 

GUEST:

• Father Bashar Fawadleh is the Catholic parish priest of Taybeh.  

Those with fond memories of our grandmothers will often say she “was a saint”. 

For Martha Hennessy, that will literally be the case. 

Her grandmother, the American Catholic writer and social justice activist Dorothy Day is on track to canonization. 

Dorothy Day died in 1980, almost 50 years after she co-founded the Catholic Worker newspaper, but Pope Benedict, Pope Francis and now Pope Leo have invoked her life and work. 

Martha Hennessy is currently touring Australia.

GUEST:

• Martha Hennessy is an American Catholic peace activist and member of the Catholic Worker Movement 

Pope Leo has had surgery to remove part of his lung, with doctors confirming they found a small cancer. Leo has become the world’s most prominent advocate for the poor and the migrant, and opponent of the wars started by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Ukraine and Iran.

The prognosis for his recovery is good but any absence from the world stage alarms millions of people hoping for a long papacy. 

Until recently, Kim Daniels served on the Vatican Dicastery for Communication. 

Kim is in Australia to speak at the Diocese of Parramatta, the Bishop Vincent Presents series

GUEST:

• Kim Daniels heads the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University in Washington DC.

Pope Leo has had surgery to remove part of his lung, with doctors confirming they found a small cancer. Leo has become the world’s most prominent advocate for the poor and the migrant, and opponent of the wars started by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Ukraine and Iran. The prognosis for his recovery is good but any absence from the world stage alarms millions of people hoping for a long papacy. Until recently, Kim Daniels served on the Vatican Dicastery for Communication. She’s in Australia to speak at the Diocese of Parramatta, the Bishop Vincent Presents series.

Those with fond memories of our grandmothers will often say she “was a saint”. For Martha Hennessy, that will literally be the case. Her grandmother, the American Catholic writer and social justice activist Dorothy Day is on track to canonization. Dorothy Day died in 1980, almost 50 years after she co-founded the Catholic Worker newspaper, but Pope Benedict, Pope Francis and now Pope Leo have invoked her life and work. Martha Hennessy is currently touring Australia.

GUESTS:

• Kim Daniels heads the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University in Washington DC.
• Martha Hennessy is an American Catholic peace activist and member of the Catholic Worker Movement 

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

In the three years since the gruesome Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, and included the documented use of sexual violence, Israel has responded with its own fierce bombardment of the Gaza strip. 

An estimated 70,000 people have died, mostly from Israeli air attacks. 

From the October 7 massacre, flowed twin tragedies: a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and a global explosion of antisemitism, most obviously the 2025 Hannukah massacre at Bondi Beach. 

GUEST:

• David Myers is a distinguished professor of Jewish History at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a lifelong activist for Israeli-Palestinian peace and human rights

They pose behind luxuriant, often ludicrous moustaches, smoke pipes and affect an air of genteel intellectuals.

But these so-called "theo-bros", as in theological, have very radical agenda to change America that hearkens back to the country’s worst times. 

Bob Smietana has been tracking this online group as it preaches a version of Christianity to lost young men. 

GUEST:

• Bob Smietana is a senior writer based in Chicago for the Religion News Service.

In the three years since the gruesome Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, and included the documented use of sexual violence, Israel has responded with its own fierce bombardment of the Gaza strip. An estimated 70,000 people have died, mostly from Israeli air attacks. From the October 7 massacre, flowed twin tragedies: a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and a global explosion of antisemitism, most obviously the 2025 Hannukah massacre at Bondi Beach. 

They pose behind luxuriant, often ludicrous moustaches, smoke pipes and affect an air of genteel intellectuals. But these so-called "theo bros", as in theological, have very radical agenda to change America that hearkens back to the country’s worst times. Bob Smietana has been tracking this online group as it preaches a version of Christianity to lost young men. 

GUESTS:

• David Myers is a distinguished professor of Jewish History at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a lifelong activist for Israeli-Palestinian peace and human rights
• Bob Smietana is a senior writer based in Chicago for the Religion News Service.