Christian leaders in the Holy Land have condemned the latest attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank against Palestinians and European diplomats during the annual olive harvest. Source: NCR Online.
In a statement released yesterday by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the patriarchs and heads of the Churches in Jerusalem said the “wild attack” in Taybeh, one of the last remaining Christian villages in the West Bank, was “not an isolated incident”.
“In the past weeks, the Palestinian villages of the West Bank have been exposed to a wide-scale terror by settlers, which is reaching a peak during this time of the olive harvest, when families go to their lands to collect what they need to live and renew their generations-long bond with their lands,” the statement read.
The attack occurred on Saturday when a convoy of European diplomats from Belgium, Poland and France, as well as Palestinian civilians, were ambushed by masked settlers, the Reuters news agency reported.
The attack occurred just one day after settlers committed a similar attack against Palestinians during the olive harvest on October 16, setting fire to olive trees and throwing rocks, leaving several injured, including Heidi Levine, an American photographer for The Washington Post.
According to The Times of Israel, police are looking into a complaint against Rabbi Dov Lior, a hardline religious Zionist who issued a religious ruling on October 16 that allowed Jews to harvest olive trees on Palestinian property “in order to show to the public our ownership of the land, and in so doing one fulfills the (religious) commandment of conquering the land”.
The complaint was filed by Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli-based organisation composed of rabbis, as well as rabbinical students and leaders who advocate for civil and human rights in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
In their statement, the patriarchs and heads of churches regarded the religious ruling “as unfounded, very worrying and dangerous, and absolutely unacceptable” and expressed appreciation to the “rabbis and Jewish voices” who “have publicly rejected it.”
While expressing their gratitude to Israeli President Isaac Herzog for condemning the attack, the Church leaders stressed that verbal denunciations are not enough without legal consequences.
While acknowledging subsequent arrests made by Israeli police, the patriarchs called on authorities to ensure law enforcement can be carried out “in a serious and consistent manner”.
FULL STORY
Holy Land Church leaders condemn settler attack on Christian village, European diplomats (By Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News via NCR Online)
