Settler Attacks Damage Church Property and Cars in Taybeh, West Bank, Palestinian Territories

Israeli settlers have continued to attack the West Bank village of Taybeh, according to parish priest Fr. Bashar Fawadleh, who told Vatican News that “in recent days, we have suffered new attacks by settlers.” Taybeh is a small village a few kilometers north of Jerusalem and east of Ramallah. It is known as the last Palestinian village still entirely inhabited by Christians. The town has just over a thousand inhabitants and three churches: the Orthodox Church, the Melkite Church, and the Latin-rite Church.

Fr. Fawadleh, who has served as parish priest of Taybeh’s Latin church since 2021, described the recent damage. He said the settlers destroyed one of the buildings belonging to the parish and to a parishioner, along with two cars parked in front of it. “They slashed the tires, smashed the glass, the windows—everything,” he said. For the second time in two days, the village gas station was also destroyed and everything in it was stolen.

Fr. Fawadleh said these acts “are unacceptable and require a firm condemnation by Israelis.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had criticized the attacks carried out by some settlers in a West Bank village on Monday, describing those responsible as a “handful of extremists.” Fr. Fawadleh said these words “mean a lot,” and that “what is happening in the West Bank is truly a crime.” He presented the prime minister’s response as a sign of international pressure to stop the violence.

According to the report, Taybeh has endured attacks by Israeli settlers for a long time, although they intensified after 7 October 2023, especially at the start of the harvest season. Many Palestinians in the area must travel to reach their farmland at harvest time, but they are often hindered by roadblocks and violence. The Palestinian NGO ARIJ has said olive oil production, historically important in Palestine, is expected to drop sharply this year because of drought and settler attacks. “This is the third year we have been unable to reach our olive groves,” Fr. Fawadleh said.

Frequent assaults have left residents fearful and exhausted. “After the many settler attacks—not only in Taybeh but in the area east of Ramallah—many people are thinking of emigrating, of leaving the country because there is no security,” he said. He added that daily life in Taybeh “is subject to restrictions due to many closures and military barriers.”

Religious and civil leaders took notice of the village’s situation last July. The heads of the Christian Churches of the Holy Land, together with several diplomatic delegations, visited Taybeh on 21 July to express support and to make a simple request: peace. Fr. Fawadleh said the visit carried three messages: a “sign of unity among Christians” and of closeness, a gesture of diplomatic solidarity, and an attempt to pressure authorities to halt the settler attacks. He said those attacks had escalated to the point of starting a fire that reached the apse of the Church of Saint George. The visit stood as a picture of peacemaking (Matthew 5:9).

Fr. Fawadleh said that in this difficult time it is important “to keep praying,” because “prayer can work miracles, it can change people, it can transform these situations.” He also called for support for the Taybeh community, a small parish sustained by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The immediate goals are to create new jobs that bring stability and income to many families and to raise funds for a housing project. He said the Church is called, in place of fear, “to bring forth hope” in people’s hearts, the hope that it will be possible to live in peace and security. “My hope,” Fr. Fawadleh said, “is the hope of the Resurrection.”

Source: Read the original report