Wave of settler violence targets Palestinian Christian village
By Joseph Tulloch
Over the past month, residents of the Palestinian village of Taybeh – the last entirely Christian village in the West Bank – say they have come under repeated attack.
On the night of June 25th, fires were lit near the village entrance. A few weeks later, a fire broke out next to the ruins of the 5th century Church of St George. Residents and clergy blame the fires on Israeli settlers, a claim supported by available online.
Much of that footage was collected and shared by Ihab Hassan, a Palestinian Christian activist originally from the West Bank.
The attacks
Hassan – who grew up in nearby Ramallah – told Vatican News that Taybeh is “a small village of about 1,300 people”.
Violent attacks by settlers in the region are not new, he said – and in fact around ten families have already left the village because of them.
Recently, Hassan said, the violence has escalated, and there have been “constant, daily” attacks on the villages surrounding Taybeh.
A month ago, on the 25th June, settlers the village of Kafr Malik, in a raid that left three Palestinians dead. Footage posted by Hassan suggests that they then moved on to attack Taybeh, which is nearby, setting vehicles on fire near the village entrance.
In a number of subsequent attacks, settlers herded cattle to graze on property belonging to residents of the village, according to residents and clergy. "They literally invaded the back yards of these people", emphasised Hassan.
A fire was also lit near the graveyard attached to the ruins of the 5th-century Church of St George. Footage shared by Hassan suggests that settlers were responsible.
Taybeh: ’The most peaceful, quiet town’
Hassan noted that violence by Israeli settlers is sometimes justified – however unfairly – on the basis that it is a response to Palestinian aggression.
In the case of Taybeh, he stressed, it is impossible to make such an excuse. “The Christian village of Taybeh is really the most peaceful, quiet town in the entire area,” he said. “These are peaceful, lovely people.”
“It’s the settlers who are extremists”, Hassan emphasised, noting that many Israeli officials share this judgement. A number of them are so militant, he pointed out, that they were once placed under administrative detention by ex-Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant - who has himself been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
Accountability
On the 14th July, a delegation of Christian leaders, including the Latin and Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Jerusalem, made a visit to Taybeh to condemn the violence. They were accompanied by a group of diplomats, among them representatives from France, Belgium and Italy.
On the 19th, the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, visited. “What has happened here is an absolute travesty,” he said, emphasising that he would “do everything possible” to make sure that the perpetrators are “found and prosecuted”.
Hassan said he is “optimistic” about the potential of such visits, and the press coverage they have generated – particularly, but not only, in Catholic media.
“What is need is for the settlers to be held accountable for their violence,” he stressed. “If they’re not, then this will just keep happening.”
Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here
