Church leaders urge Israeli authorities to stop attacks on West Bank Christians
Radical Jewish settlers have been attacking the Christian town of Taybeh with increasing violence, while the Israeli military and police ignore requests for help.
The leaders of the main Christian churches in the Holy Land are questioning the complicity of the Israeli authorities in the face of the escalating attacks on the West Bank city of Taybeh by radical Jewish settlers.
Taybeh is the last fully Christian town in the Holy Land. Over the past weeks, groups of radical Jewish settlers have been harassing and attacking the community and its landmarks, including trying to burn down the historic church of Saint George, which dates back to the fifth century.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) spoke to the Latin Rite parish priest of Taybeh, Fr Bashar Fawadleh, who described the growing level of aggression the community has been suffering. “Every morning, for almost one month, a settler would come to graze a large herd of cows among our olive groves, which are very famous for their quality. Here people live mainly from the sale of olive oil. The cows have been destroying the trees and will ruin the harvest season, which is in October. Without the harvest, there is no life in the town.”
“Then, one day we were very surprised when more than ten armed settlers attacked the very holy and important church of St George, or Al-Khadr, as we say in Arabic. They lit a fire beside the church, which dates back to the 5th century, and behind the cemetery. We were shocked, but more than 20 young people rushed with me to the site and managed to extinguish the fire, while they just stood by and watched”, he explains to ACN.
The priest states: “They have also blocked some streets with their cars, not letting us use them, while the main roads in and out of Taybeh continue to be blocked by army checkpoints and barriers.”
These incidents followed similar attacks on the nearby Muslim village of Kafr Malik, which left three young Palestinians dead. In case the motives of the settlers were unclear, they recently erected a billboard directed at the residents of Taybeh, reading “There is no future for you here”.
Asked by ACN if they had called the authorities, Fr Bashar nodded. “Twice we called the centre for coordination between the Palestinian Government and the Israeli Government, they said they were coming, but they never came. They didn’t protect us, they didn’t stop the settlers, and this is because they protect the settlers, because a lot of the soldiers come from the settler communities, and they are encouraged by the fanatical elements in the Government.”
Call for an immediate and transparent investigation
In a statement issued Monday, 14 July, following a visit by the heads of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Greek Melkite Church and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Church leaders spoke in one voice requesting that “these radicals be held accountable by the Israeli authorities, who facilitate and enable their presence around Taybeh. Even in times of war, sacred places must be protected. We call for an immediate and transparent investigation into why the Israeli police did not respond to emergency calls from the local community and why these abhorrent actions continue to go unpunished”.
“The attacks by the hands of settlers against our community, which is living in peace, must stop, both here in Taybeh and elsewhere throughout the West Bank. This is clearly part of the systematic attacks against Christians that we see unfolding throughout the region”, the statement adds.
The heads of Churches “ask diplomats, politicians, and church officials worldwide to provide a prayerful and outspoken voice for our ecumenical community in Taybeh, that their presence may be secured and that they can live in peace to worship freely, grow crops without danger, and live in a peace that seems to be in far too short supply”, while calling on the global community, especially Christians, “for prayers, attention and action”, regarding these incidents.
Taybeh used to have as many as 15,000 residents, but the vast majority have since left the Holy Land due to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Ten families left since the new phase of the war. Fr Bashar says to ACN that those who remain are committed to staying on their land, and that despite being abandoned by the authorities, “we believe in ourselves, that we can stop them with help from God, the Virgin Mary and especially our patron, Saint George.”
