JERUSALEM (RNS) — For years, extremist Israeli settlers have tried to intimidate the small clusters of Bedouin — Muslim tribal desert dwellers — living on the outskirts of Taybeh, the only fully Christian town in the West Bank. In the past two years, as the Bedouin have fled the area out of fear, these lawless young settlers have begun to threaten the residents of Taybeh, located 7 miles east of Ramallah.
Now, an arson attack that threatened Taybeh’s cemetery, homes and an ancient church has drawn international interest to the community’s plight.
On July 7, a group of settlers set fires near Taybeh’s cemetery and the Church of St. George, which dates back to the fifth century A.D. and is “one of the oldest religious landmarks in Palestine,” according to a statement issued the next day by three priests, the Revs. Daoud Khoury, Jack-Nobel Abed and Bashar Fawadleh, who represent the town’s Greek Orthodox, Latin Catholic and Greek Melkite churches, respectively.
The incident “was not isolated but part of daily attacks,” noted the priests. The “ongoing and grave” attacks “threaten the security and stability of our town.”
Settler attacks on Taybeh and dozens of other West Bank Arab communities have escalated since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right-wing government took power in January 2023, and esp …