The appeal of the parish priest of Taybeh, Christian village of West Bank, faced with the violence of the colonists
On July 8, with the other Taybeh priests, the parish priest of the Melkite parish and that of the Greek-Orthodox parish, you disseminated a call for help in French, English and Italian. What’s going on in Taybeh?
For more than two years, Israeli settlers have been attacking the inhabitants of our village and their property. In the fall of 2023, at the time of the olive harvesting – which ensured most of the farmers’ income, a group of settlers attacked villagers, making five injured, including an elderly couple. Four or five other incursions took place then, in particular during the collection of olives in 2024. Today, the aggressive activity of the settlers is intensifying in our villages in the east of Ramallah.
In Kafr Malek, a ten kilometers away, three Palestinians were killed on the night of June 25 to 26 while dozens of settlers attacked the city. The previous night, a house was burned out at the exit of Taybeh. Since these events, incursions have multiplied in our village. The colonists wear weapons. One of them leads his cows almost every day in olive plantations where their damage compromises the harvest. Her father, Neria Ben Bazi, animates the networks of extremist settlers in the region. On July 7 and 8, they burned down the surroundings of the ancient Saint-Georges church, whose vestiges date from the 5th century. On July 11, after our call, they lit a new fire.
What impact had your call?
It has been heard. Less than a week later, on July 14, the Council of Patriarchs (including the Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pizzaballa) and the heads of the Churches of Jerusalem came to Taybeh, for a “day of solidarity”, as well as twenty members of the diplomatic missions present in Jerusalem: those of the countries of the European Union, of Great Britain
Their joint declaration indicates that the Israeli police did not respond to the emergency calls of the Christians of Taybeh and in request. The Greek-Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos read a declaration by King Abdallah II of Jordan. But as early as July 17, the son of Neria Ben Bazi led the cows to the sacred place of the vestiges of the ancient church, where the patriarchs had gathered, in an obvious intention to desecrate him. For the first time, the police arrested him.
Will this day of solidarity have a sequel?
I hope so. We plan to largely invite all those who want to support us to come to Taybeh at the time of picking olives, between mid-October and mid-November.
We also rely on the presence of the French diplomatic mission. So the colonists will not be able to act, and the olive harvest can become what it is in our culture: a moment of joy.
