Author Archives: wallwritings

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About wallwritings

From 1972 through 1999, James M. Wall was editor and publisher of the Christian Century magazine, based in Chicago, lllinois. He was a Contributing Editor of the Century from 1999 until July, 2017. He has written this blog, wall writings.me, since it was launched April 27, 2008. If you would like to receive Wall Writings alerts when new postings are added to this site, send a note, saying, Please Add Me, to jameswall8@gmail.com Biography: Journalism was Jim's undergraduate college major at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. He has earned two MA degrees, one from Emory, and one from the University of Chicago, both in religion. He is an ordained United Methodist clergy person. He served for two years in the US Air Force, and three additional years in the USAF reserve. While serving on active duty with the Alaskan Command, he reached the rank of first lieutenant. He has worked as a sports writer for both the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, was editor of the United Methodist magazine, Christian Advocate for ten years, and editor and publisher of the Christian Century magazine for 27 years. James M Wall died March 22, 2021 at age 92. His family appreciates all of his readers, even those who may have disagreed with his well-informed writings.

Benevolent US Father Exposed; Favors Prodigal Son Over Elder Brother

by James M. Wall The Al Jazeera collection of  secret documents from US, Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators, paints a highly negative picture of the three participants. We will need a biblical parable to help explain how these three governments fell … Continue reading

Posted in Middle East, Religious Faith | 5 Comments

Medvedev’s Palestine-Jordan Trip Promoted Religion And Independence

by James M. Wall When Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev arrived in Jericho, Palestine, last week, he was received by an honor guard and by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Medvedev came to Palestine to reaffirm his country’s support for a … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Media, Middle East Politics, Politics and Elections, Religion and politics | 8 Comments

Obama Needs His Own White House “Viziers With Moral Imaginations”

by James M. Wall When President Obama spoke in Tucson Wednesday night, he called on Americans to . . . expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves … Continue reading

Posted in Media, Middle East Politics | 7 Comments

Two Timeless And Relevant Films: “Nashville” and “The Apostle”

by James M. Wall In Tony Judt’s final book, The Memory Chalet, he wrote as a historian looking back on his own life. Judt, who finished his final work a few months before his death, defined the task of the historian … Continue reading

Posted in Movies | 1 Comment

“A Family in Gaza”: Two Years Later

by James M. Wall A Family in Gaza is a short film made and distributed by Jen Marlowe. It tells the true story of what happened to one family in Gaza, two years ago. Given its theme, it is a … Continue reading

Posted in Middle East Politics, Movies | 5 Comments

The Long Struggle for Peace, Which Began with Carter, Starts Over in 2011

by James M. Wall On May 17, 1977, four months after Jimmy Carter was sworn in as US president, Israeli voters elected a right wing government for the first time in modern political history. Menachen Begin, a former Israeli underground “terrorist” … Continue reading

Posted in Middle East Politics | 11 Comments

Behind a 30-Foot Prison Wall, “Merry Christmas” Becomes a Media Lie

by James M. Wall If you relied on your local newspaper to tell you how things went in Bethlehem this Christmas season, don’t believe what you read. Newspapers across America relied heavily on an Associated Press story to inform their … Continue reading

Posted in Media, Middle East Politics | 15 Comments

The “Little Town of Bethlehem” Still Waits for Its Stolen Democracy

By James M. Wall A new Palestinian parliament was elected in the Occupied Territories on January 25, 2006.  One month from this Christmas, Palestinians should have been celebrating the fifth anniversary of that democratic, internationally-monitored, election. There will be no … Continue reading

Posted in Media, Middle East Politics | 9 Comments

Humiliating Israeli Rejection Leads to Further US Diplomatic Isolation

by James M. Wall Leave it to linguist Noam Chomsky to provide a precise description of President Obama’s latest diplomatic failure. Washington’s pathetic capitulation to Israel while pleading for a meaningless three-month freeze on settlement expansion—excluding Arab East Jerusalem—should go … Continue reading

Posted in Media, Middle East Politics | Comments Off on Humiliating Israeli Rejection Leads to Further US Diplomatic Isolation

Could Israel Be Using Wikileaks to Prepare US for Air Strike Against Iran?

by James M. Wall Could Israel be using Wikileaks to prepare the US for an Israeli air strike against Iran? This nation is moving toward a repeat of the US rush to invade Iraq in 2003. Mass media coverage of … Continue reading

Posted in Media, Middle East Politics | 5 Comments