West Bank Christian village prays for help after Israeli settler attacks
TAYBEH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Clerics and diplomats walked as if in a religious procession through the streets of Taybeh, a small Christian village in the occupied West Bank where residents blame Israeli settlers for a spate of recent attacks.
In cassocks and suits respectively, they answered the call from the local town hall and priests to meet residents affected by the violence and to see for themselves the arson damage on the remains of a Byzantine church.
“It became every day more clear that there is no law. The only law is power,” said Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
“Israeli authorities have a role to play in conducting the necessary investigations to find the perpetrators and charge them,” French Consul General in Jerusalem Nicolas Kassianides said.
As he walked through the village on Monday, a resident thanked the French diplomat for his presence at the previous olive harvest — a common practice for Israeli activists and foreigners hoping their presence will deter settler attacks on Palestinians.
The European Union’s representative in the Palestinian Territories, Alexandre Stutzmann, pointed to the sanctions imposed by the bloc on certain settlers and their organisations, and said attacks were “undermining the process for peace”.
– ‘Daily provocations’ –
The United Nations keeps a record of the routine violence committed by some of the nearly half a million Israeli settlers who live in the West Bank, excluding annexed east Jerusalem.
Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are deemed illegal under international law.
From July 1-7, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, documented at least 27 settler attacks against Palestinians.
In the villages and communities around Taybeh, Palestinian authorities reported that settlers had killed three people and damaged or destroyed multiple water sources in the past two weeks alone.
The July 7 arson attack on the remains of the Church of Saint George, which date back to the 5th century, was the last straw for many villagers.
“We struggle with daily provocations,” said Father Bashar Basiel as he described the damage done to village lands by the settlers’ livestock, or the aggressive visits by young hardliners.
“How long will these attacks last?” he asked.
On the sidelines of the visit, residents and officials exchanged photographs and videos of recent attacks and the damage done.
Many questioned how the situation could have got so bad in a quiet village known more for its beer festival and picturesque alleyways than political activism or confrontations with the Israeli army.
“We want peace,” local elders recited like a mantra from the sidelines of Monday’s procession.
