The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem visited the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Taybeh, a village in the West Bank, to express their solidarity after a fire broke out in the church and town cemetery last week.
In their announcement, the leaders of the Christian denominations stated, “These actions represent a direct and deliberate threat not only to the local community, but also to the historical and religious heritage of our ancestors and our sacred sites.”
They issued a call for support of the region in the face of repeated, systematic attacks by radical extremists, noting that such attacks are becoming increasingly frequent.
The leaders also stressed that the church has maintained a continuous presence in the area for 2,000 years. Furthermore, they hold the Israeli authorities responsible, stating that they “enable and allow the presence of violent agitators in the city of Taybeh.”
Finally, they called for an end to attacks by settlers against the Taybeh community and throughout the West Bank because “these attacks are part of systematic assaults targeting Christians across the region.”
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