Staying In Their Ancestral Lands

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 with 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 lost their market share in China after they had been made to close their factories there. And it was all for nothing. Perhaps the American imperium really is the successor of Perfidious Albion 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 honour, 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 Romy Haber writes:

Lebanon is asking the Vatican to stand with Christian villages in the southern part of the country. In recent days, these communities were widely praised across Lebanese and international media after residents chose to remain in their homes despite the dangers around them. Caught between Hezbollah infiltrations and Israeli strikes, villagers insisted on staying in their ancestral lands.

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister, Youssef Raggi, said on Tuesday he had contacted the Holy See to raise concerns about the situation. In a phone call with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, Raggi discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the difficult conditions facing border villages in the south.

He also asked the Holy See to intervene and mediate in order to help preserve the Christian presence in those villages, whose residents, he noted, have consistently supported the Lebanese state and its official military institutions.

Gallagher, for his part, affirmed that the Holy See is making the necessary diplomatic contacts to help halt the escalation in Lebanon and prevent the displacement of citizens from their lands. He also assured that Lebanon remains in the prayers of Pope Leo.

A worsening crisis for southern Lebanon’s Christian villages

The foreign ministerʼs appeal comes as the situation for Christian border villages grows increasingly dire.

On Monday, Father Pierre Rahi was killed in an Israeli strike on the Christian village of Qlayaa. According to local reports, Hezbollah militants had infiltrated the town, turning it into a potential target. Residents alerted Father Rahi, who reportedly went to confront the armed men and asked them to leave the village. The strike that followed killed him.

His death shocked Lebanon and drew attention across the Catholic world, where many saw in him as a hero and shepherd who chose to remain with his community despite the dangers.

It was not the first such tragedy. The day before, Youssef Al-Ghafri, a Christian farmer, was killed in the town of Alma al-Shaab in similar circumstances.

On Tuesday, United Nations peacekeepers from UNIFIL escorted residents of Alma al-Shaab out of the village as they evacuated their homes. The residents had hoped to remain and had appealed for the Lebanese army to deploy and protect the town, but the protection did not materialize, forcing families to leave.

There are now growing fears that other Christian towns along the border could face the same fate. The mayor of Rmeish, for example, said he received a warning call from an Israeli officer stating that the town itself is not considered a target, but that it would become one if Hezbollah militants entered it.

The problem, residents say, is that these villages lack the presence of the Lebanese army needed to prevent such infiltrations, making it extremely difficult for local communities to control the situation.

Caught between Israeli strikes and Hezbollah’s military adventures, Christian villagers fear they are paying the price of a conflict they oppose — at risk of becoming not only collateral damage, but also pawns in a wider regional confrontation.

According to reports from An-Nahar, the Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Paolo Borgia, has scheduled a visit to the Christian border villages next Friday in a gesture of solidarity with their residents and in rejection of any plans that could lead to the displacement of those who remain. The visit aims to encourage villagers to remain in their homes and on their land despite the growing dangers.

In addition, according to MTV Lebanon, the United States has intervened, in coordination with Israel, to help protect Christian villages in southern Lebanon. However, the sources said the main challenge remains the absence of the Lebanese army in these areas, which has made it difficult to prevent Hezbollah militants from entering the villages and turning them into potential targets.