Settler Violence Isolates a Christian Town in the West Bank: Taybeh Faces a New Reality
Attacks by Israeli settlers have led to a West Bank town being closed to non-residents.
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that Taybeh, a town in the West Bank, would be closed to people who do not reside there. It said the measure was intended to prevent the growing number of attacks carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians across the West Bank.
The military said the order applied only to Israelis and was not directed at Palestinians.
It said the decision to designate Taybeh as a closed military zone had been taken « due to some violent attacks by Israelis in the area ».
In a statement, the military said that « once a report of a violation of the order is received, Israeli soldiers are dispatched to the area and work to disperse gatherings and detain suspects in order to protect local residents and maintain public order ».
Taybeh is one of the few remaining Christian towns in the West Bank. Last year, it was visited by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch and the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Jerusalem.
The town is also home to Taybeh Brewery, widely regarded as the oldest microbrewery in the Middle East.
Several Western countries have announced sanctions against groups of settlers over violent attacks against Palestinians.
Last June, Israeli settlers prevented Palestinians from reaching an area where they were attempting to extinguish a major fire near Taybeh in the West Bank, according to members of the Palestinian Civil Defense firefighting teams. A priest in the area described the incident as « a persistent pattern of intimidation and unjustified violence », saying that it undermines the fundamental rights of residents.
A United Nations investigation published last Tuesday indicated that Israeli authorities were directly involved in settler attacks that resulted in the killing, injury and displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank.
The Israeli mission in Geneva rejected the report’s findings, saying that Israeli authorities, including the president and prime minister, had repeatedly condemned violence against Palestinians.
Parts of Taybeh are located in Area B, where the Palestinian Authority exercises civilian administration while being required to coordinate security matters with the Israeli authorities.
Around 50,000 Palestinian Christians live in the West Bank and Jerusalem. They belong to a religious community whose presence in the region dates back to antiquity, an area that contains many of Christianity’s most important holy sites and sanctuaries.
