Church leaders appeal to international community as Jewish settlers attack Taybeh residents

(OSV News) -- In the West Bank, Christian leaders in Taybeh -- the region’s only entirely Christian Palestinian village -- are sounding the alarm over escalating settler violence.

On July 8, the Latin, Greek Orthodox and Melkite parish priests denounced attacks on Christian residents, farmland and historic sites, urging international and church missions to document the damage.

"These assaults threaten the security and stability of our town and aim at undermining the dignity of its residents and the sanctity of its sacred land," the priests said.

Known as the ancient town of Ephraim -- the location mentioned in the Gospel of John where Jesus took refuge after the resurrection of Lazarus -- Taybeh is where the Christian community has extremely ancient roots.

The village is home to three churches, Latin, Greek Orthodox and Melkite, whose pastors, Fathers Bashar Fawadleh, Jack Nobel Abed and Daoud Khoury, issued an appeal July 8, calling on Israeli authorities to prevent further settler violence, which so far has largely occurred all under the watch of Israeli soldiers, the priests said.

On July 7 a group of Jewish settlers set fires near the Byzantine Christian cemetery and at the Church of Al-Khader (St. George), dating back to the fifth century -- one of the oldest and most venerated places of worship for Christians in Palestine. Arson attacks followed a series of violent acts against the town’s Christian residents, which have been escalating in recent weeks. The settlers have also damaged olive groves -- Taybeh’s primary source of income -- and are preventing farmers from accessing and working their land.

"In a scene that has become provocatively routine, settlers continue to graze their cattle in Taybeh's agricultural lands, including family-owned fields and areas near residential homes, without deterrence or intervention from the authorities. These violations go beyond provocation; they cause direct harm to olive trees -- a vital source of livelihood for the people of Taybeh -- and prevent farmers from accessing and cultivating their land," the church leaders' July 8 statement said.

The eastern part of the town, the three priests lamented, "has effectively become an open target for illegal settlement outposts that expand quietly under military protection. These outposts serve as a base for further assaults on the land and its people." The priests are calling on the international and church communities to send missions to the area to document the damage and the progressive deterioration of the situation.

In recent weeks, settler terrorism has targeted not only Taybeh but also several other Palestinian villages near illegal settlements, such as Ein Samia and Kafr Malik, where settlers have set fire to homes, vehicles and crops.

On June 26, the rampage resulted in the deaths of three people from Kafr Malik, the Palestinian health ministry said. In Ein Samia, located along the Jordan Valley, settlers attacked and destroyed the local aqueduct -- the spring that, through a Roman-era canal system, still provides water to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, all the way to Ramallah.

Taybeh is located in the central Ramallah highlands at almost 2,800 feet above sea level, where both the lights of Jerusalem and Jordan’s Al-Salt mountains are visible at night. The Christian residents of Taybeh live peacefully alongside Muslims from neighboring villages.

Their troubles began in 1977 when the Israeli government confiscated dozens of acres of nearby land and illegally established a settlement called Rimonim. Large agricultural areas were taken from Taybeh's farmers to build roads connecting various Jewish settlements. In the days leading up to the July 7 attacks on Christian sites, settlers had already targeted the village outskirts, setting fire to a house and several cars. Hundreds more acres of Palestinian land are at risk of confiscation to further expand settlements.

The greatest concern of Taybeh-Ephraim’s Christian residents today is that -- with global attention focused on the immense tragedy in Gaza -- the increasingly serious threats to the survival of the world’s oldest Christian community may not be fully grasped by the international community.

The advocacy website reliefweb reported July 9 that "Palestinian communities are being displaced and dispersed across the occupied West Bank as settler violence, backed by Israeli authorities, forces families from their land. One community has just been emptied. Others may soon follow."

The website reported that the Norwegian Refugee Council warned that "the recent uprooting of families from Muarrajat East could soon be repeated in Ras Ein al-Auja, where sustained settler attacks and mounting restrictions on water and grazing access are making it nearly impossible for families to remain."

"These are not isolated acts" but a part of "broader strategy of coercion," the group said, which is "marked by settler violence, the spread of illegal outposts, and state complicity -- that is rendering life unviable for Palestinians. The resulting displacements amount to forcible transfer, a grave breach of international humanitarian law."