The last time I saw Majdi Wadi, the owner of the Holy Land Brands in Minneapolis, and his daughter Lianne, we had our arms around one another, on stage in a synagogue auditorium. That was four years ago. The second time we spoke was Monday afternoon, as Wadi’s world was collapsing around him. Viciously racist…
The Jerusalem Temple may soon crumble – again. At least the monumental, half-scale, six-story replica of the facade built for the Holy Land Experience biblical theme park in – where else? – Orlando, the kitsch capital of the world. Trinity Broadcasting Network owns the 15-acre attraction, a recreation of first-century Jerusalem, which sparked controversy in…
(JTA) — Mickey Mouse or Jesus Christ? That was the choice I faced on a recent trip to Orlando to write a pair of stories – one about kosher vacationing at Disney World, the other about the biblical theme park Holy Land Experience. With a steady rain falling, I convinced my skeptical wife to postpone…
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will remain out of prison until he has exhausted his appeals, the country’s Supreme Court ruled. The seven other men also appealing their convictions in the Holyland affair will stay out of prison as well, the court ruled on Monday. Olmert was sentenced in May to six years in…
Mitt Romney may be the highest-profile Mormon to visit Israel but he is far from alone. Christians have traditionally dominated tourism to Israel and make up nearly two-thirds of visitors to the country, according to the Israel Ministry of Tourism, a figure that includes members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, or Mormons. Although…
In 2010, over two-thirds of Israel’s 3.45 million tourists were Christian, and nearly half were self-proclaimed religious pilgrims. It’s rare to find a discriminatory tourism industry these days — dollars are dollars — and fortunately for Israel, the Holy Land is holy for a lot of folks. Enter the Gospel Trail, the Israeli Tourism Ministry’s…
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Word from on high is that the Walt Disney Company is planning to open a theme park in Israel. Talk about bringing coals to Newcastle! For years, religiously-minded Americans had created facsimiles of the Holy Land on American soil. As early as 1881, a “miniature representation in relief and…
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are not new to controversy or gossip, but the latest rumors of Kutcher’s infidelities had them packing their bags and heading to Israel. Following reports of marital trouble, the Hollywood power couple jetted off to the Holy Land. The Jerusalem Post reported that the duo has already been spotted visiting…
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