Holy Land: Israeli settlers attack Christian village - again

Taybeh - Wiki image

The Palestinian Christian community in the West Bank has suffered increased attacks by Israel settlers in recent months.

On 26 June, more than a hundred illegal Israeli settlers attacked several homes in the ancient Christian village of Taybeh. They also lit a fire at the entrance to the village, then rampaged through the neighbouring village of Kafr Malik destroying several homes and vehicles and killing three people. They put up large billboards that read: "There is no future for you here.'

Nadim Khoury, owner of the famous Taybeh Brewery and Winery, (the first brewery in Palestine), whose family has lived in Taybeh for over 700 years, said settler violence has grown in severity since the war in Gaza began, with settlers encroaching on Taybeh agricultural land with their sheep and cows, preventing farmers from reaching their crops.

He told OSV news: "Settlers have been coming to Taybeh property and grazing their sheep and cows on the wheat and barley crops the people of Taybeh have planted. No one is stopping them… We can't do anything. Everybody is afraid and panicked but don't know what to do. Taybeh depends on its agriculture and olive trees. People don't know what to do or who to complain to if the government is with them, what can we do?"

Asked what his hopes are for the future, Khoury said: "Nothing is left for us except hopes. We pray so hard for peace and prosperity in this area. We have deep roots in this area. We cannot give it up. We must keep fighting for it."

Palestinian farmers and campaigners, including Rabbis for Human Rights, who support them, say that soldiers and police who are deployed to such incidents rarely do anything to stop the settlers and in fact seem to be supporting them.

Father Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of the Latin Rite Church of Christ the Redeemer in Taybeh, told ACI MENA: "The town, which the Gospel of John (11:54) refers to as 'Ephraim' - the place Jesus withdrew to before his passion - is no longer safe for its people today… We do not live in peace but in daily fear and siege. Since last October, more than ten families have left Taybeh due to fear from ongoing violence and harassment."

Fr Bashar said: "Alongside these attacks, Israeli authorities have installed iron gates at the town's entrances, severely disrupting residents' access to work and essential services. These limitations, combined with mounting agricultural restrictions, have worsened unemployment and deepened the economic crisis, leading many to consider emigration."

He added: "These days, settlers are grazing their cows on a hill planted with olive and barley fields right next to people's homes. Locals see this as part of a systematic effort to strangle them economically and push them out."

"These days, we are living under the fire, barbarism and brutality of the settlers … and under the direct protection of the Israeli occupation army," Father Bashar wrote in a post he sent out to journalists. "We will win with hope. We are Palestinian Christians. We resist with our faith."

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

The settlements are illegal under international law - a position supported by an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year.

LINKS

Read more about Taybeh: www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/taybeh

Friends of the Holy Land: www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/

Taybeh Parish Church: https://lpj.org/en/the-patriarchate/diocese/parishes/palestine/taybeh-parish-christ-the-redeemer-church