Israel seals off West Bank

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Israel sealed off the West Bank today amid tensions over Israeli plan to build new homes in East Jerusalem. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with The World’s Matthew Bell in Jerusalem.

Women of the Wall

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A group called ‘Women of the Wall’ holds monthly prayer meetings at the Western Wall. Recently, a woman was arrested for wearing a prayer shawl and reading the Torah at the Wall. The group is pushing for more women’s religious rights within Orthodox Judaism. And it’s getting some in Israel really angry, as Linda Gradstein reports. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Women of the Wall homepage

Rabbi imposes ban at Jerusalem’s western wall

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
There’s a battle of sorts under way at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The rabbi overseeing Judaism’s holiest site has banned new immigrant ceremonies at the Wall. The rabbi says it’s a noise issue. But the government says it’s about whether men and women can sit together at the wall. Reporter Linda Gradstein has the story.

East Jerusalem settlement controversy

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Reporter Linda Gradstein updates us on the ongoing controversy over a planned settlement in East Jerusalem.

Israel’s road sign debate

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Last month, Israel’s new transport minister Israel Katz proposed an overhaul to his country’s road signs. Israeli signs are trilingual: Hebrew, Arabic and English. But Katz wants to remove Arabic and English city names and replace them with transliterations of the Hebrew names. Daniel Estrin reports from Jerusalem. >>> See more photos. (Photo credit: Daniel Estrin)

Israel’s third temple movement

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Almost two thousand years ago, the second temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews in Palestine went into exile. Now some Jews in Israel today say it’s time to rebuild the temple. Problem is… they want to rebuild it on the location of Islam’s holiest site in Jerusalem. Linda Gradstein reports.

Parking battle in Jerusalem

Correspondent Linda Gradstein reports on tensions between ultra-Orthodox and secular Jewish residents of Jerusalem. One recent flashpoint is a local parking lot. Listen

Conflict among Israelis over settlements

The World’s Matthew Bell reports from Jerusalem on the rising tensions among Israelis about the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Some fear the growing anger could erupt into civil conflict. Listen

A day in the life of a Palestinian truck driver

Last week, President Obama described the situation for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as “intolerable.” The World’s Matthew Bell took a ride with a Palestinian truck driver today to get a sense of the challenges he faces trying to get his goods to Jerusalem. Listen View pictures from Matthew’s ride with a Palestinian [...]

Restarting the peace process

President Obama’s Middle East special envoy George Mitchell meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Bernard Avishai, author of The Hebrew Republic, about Mitchell’s prospects for bringing Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table. Listen