Resist Yielding

Is the licence payer footing the bill for Raffi Berg to sue Owen Jones? Will the Telegraph retain Lobby access now that it had ultimate overlords who had pledged allegiance to a foreign state, and that not even their own? The IDF has dropped the criminal charges against its soldiers who filmed themselves gang-raping a male Palestinian detainee, charges that had prompted riots in Israel by those who did not deny that the offences had been committed, but instead regarded the rapists as national heroes precisely as rapists; Chairman Mao used to have soldiers who had done that disciplined in the villages where they had committed their crimes, and then he would have them executed, since he regarded even a Nationalist or Japanese soldier more humanely than Israel regards a Palestinian civilian.

Speaking of Japan, the United States has today redeployed Marines from there to the Middle East to which, earlier this week, it had redeployed its THAAD and Patriot interceptors from South Korea. Whatever the reason for war in Iran, it is clearly not to deter China or North Korea. Since 2017, hosting THAAD has cost South Korea its relations with China, including billions of dollars in exports and billions more in tourism. China banned K-Pop. Kia and Hyundai and Kia lost their market share in China after they had been made to close their factories there. And it was all for nothing. Imperial Britain was said to buy its enemies but sell its friends. Perhaps the American imperium really is it successor after all?

Still, Fr Pierre El-Rahi is being hailed as a martyr in a classic example of the popular cultus that is the first step to canonisation. Unless I am very much mistaken, then he would be the first to be raised to the altars for having been martyred at the hands of the State of Israel, in his case during one of its trademark double taps, which are a war crime. While they were unarmed and delivering humanitarian aid, the IDF bombed the British veterans James Kirby, James Henderson and John Chapman were triple tapped, bombed three times to make sure that they were dead. Put them on the banknotes. Certainly put them on the stamps In their honours, always fly the Union Flag and the Palestinian flag alongside each other. Raise a glass of Arak to Fr El-Rahi while invoking his intercession. And make ubiquitous the products of the Taybeh Brewing Company, as Roberto Cetera writes:

Violence by Jewish settlers in Palestine has now also struck the residents of Taibeh, the only entirely Christian Palestinian village. Taibeh is the ancient Ephraim, the location mentioned in the Gospel of John where Jesus took refuge after the resurrection of Lazarus (Jn 11:54), and where the Christian community has extremely ancient roots. The village is home to three churches—Latin, Greek Orthodox, and Melkite—whose pastors, Fathers Bashar Fawadleh, Jack Nobel Abed, and Daoud Khoury, issued an appeal last night calling on Israeli authorities to prevent further settler violence, which so far has largely occurred in the presence of passive Israeli soldiers.

The attack on Taibeh

Yesterday, a group of Jewish settlers set fires near the Byzantine Christian cemetery and at the Church of Al-Khader (St. George), dating back to the 5th century and one of the oldest and most venerated places of worship for Christians in Palestine. These arson attacks follow a series of violent acts against the town’s Christian residents, which have been escalating in recent weeks. The settlers have also damaged olive groves—Taibeh’s primary source of income—and are preventing farmers from accessing and working their land.

Appeal to the International Community

The eastern part of the town, the three priests lament, "has become an open target for illegal Jewish settlement outposts that are quietly expanding under the protection of the Israeli army." The priests are calling on the international and Church communities to send missions to the area to document the damages and the progressive deterioration of the situation.

Israel’s economic interests and the threat of annexation

In recent weeks, settler terrorism has targeted not only Taibeh but also several other Palestinian villages near illegal settlements, such as Ein Samia and Kufr Malik, where settlers have set fire to homes, vehicles, and crops. At the end of June, four young Palestinians trying to resist the violence were brutally killed. In Ein Samia, located along the Jordan Valley, settlers attacked and destroyed the local aqueduct—the spring that, through a Roman-era canal system, still provides water to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, all the way to Ramallah.

Risk of new land confiscations

Taibeh is located in the central Ramallah highlands at 850 meters above sea level, where both the lights of Jerusalem and Jordan’s Al-Salt mountains are visible at night. The Christian residents of Taibeh live peacefully alongside Muslims from neighbouring villages. Their troubles began in 1977 when the Israeli government confiscated dozens of hectares of nearby land and illegally established a settlement called Rimonim. Large agricultural areas were taken from Taibeh’s farmers to build roads connecting various Jewish settlements. In the days leading up to yesterday’s attacks on Christian sites, settlers had already targeted the village outskirts, setting fire to a house and several cars. Hundreds more hectares of Palestinian land are at risk of confiscation to further expand settlements.

The greatest concern of Taibeh-Ephraim’s Christian residents today is that—with global attention focused on the immense tragedy in Gaza—the increasingly serious threats to the survival of the world’s oldest Christian community may not be fully grasped by the international community.

And the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has issued this statement:

The recent decision by the Israeli Police to ban Christian worshippers from participating in the sacred services of the Feast of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, citing the absence of requisite government approvals and licenses, has led to the regrettable closure of this holy site to thousands of faithful congregants.

This decision, reminiscent of last year's similarly timed disruption, has left the Patriarchate of Jerusalem with little recourse. The recurrent Israeli portrayal of Christian prayers and religious ceremonies as private events necessitating security measures-an approach distinctly detached from the spiritual essence of these occasions-serves as a persistent excuse to impede Christians from exercising their faith. Such actions dismiss the integral role of Christians within the societal fabric, imposing undue restrictions rather than fulfilling the state's duty to facilitate the practice of religious practices.

This regrettable stance is not isolated; comparable obstructions have also marred other sacred events, including Saturday of the Holy Light in Jerusalem. It is incumbent upon the Israeli authorities to uphold the inviolable rights of freedom of worship, access to holy sites, and the unimpeded performance of religious ceremonies-rights that are both inherent and guaranteed by international law to the indigenous Christian community in the holy land.

In anticipation of avoiding a repetition of last year's events during the Feast of the Transfiguration, the Patriarchate had proactively communicated with the Israeli Minister of Interior over a month ago. However, the police's decision has unexpectedly thwarted the natural right of believers to worship. The Patriarchate earnestly hopes that Israeli authorities will reassess their stance towards non-Jewish religious practices, affirm the fundamental rights of Christians, and resist yielding to dominating radical tendencies.