(Photo: Aid to the Church in Need)
Amid escalating tensions in the West Bank, Taybeh, the sole Christian enclave in the region, is grappling with a troubling trend: a growing exodus fueled by relentless attacks from Israeli settlers. This small village now finds itself in a precarious situation as its future hangs in the balance.
According to Father Bashar Fawadleh, the parish priest of Taybeh, these attacks have become alarmingly frequent. Residents report incidents of vandalism, attempts to set their church ablaze, and damages inflicted on cars and olive groves, exacerbated by cattle grazing and deliberate fires set by settlers.
In a bid to safeguard the community, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) designated the village as a “closed military zone” in August. This measure restricts entry to Israelis and foreigners, with an IDF spokesperson explaining it was implemented to “protect residents in the area” following “several violent attacks by Israelis in the region.”
Father Fawadleh, during a recent event in London hosted by the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, disclosed that Taybeh has lost 16 families and numerous individuals in the past three years, accounting for a 10% reduction in its population of 1,200. He warned, “People will go from this land. One day it will be empty of Christians and Christianity will lose its roots.”
The priest emphasized the community’s plea for fundamental rights, stating, “We don’t ask for any privilege for Christians. We ask for basic human rights. Our problems are the threats, that we are stuck in our homes and can’t get to our land, and migration.”
However, the closure of the military zone has also hampered economic activities, significantly disrupting the daily lives of the villagers. “I can’t spend seven hours a day just getting to and from my home,” Father Fawadleh lamented.
He described the settlers as fanatics and echoed concerns from the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem. These church leaders have criticized certain Jewish leaders for allegedly inciting these attacks by asserting that Israeli Jews have legitimate claims to the land, which they argue entitles them to harvest olives from Palestinian-owned groves in the West Bank. The patriarchs described such assertions as “unfounded, very worrying and dangerous, and absolutely unacceptable.”
This article was originally written by www.christiantoday.com
