The Bishop of Norwich joined the bishops of Southwark, Chelmsford and Gloucester to call on the UK Government to hold Israel to account for settler violence in the West Bank.
In a letter published in The Guardian newspaper the four bishops said the violence and intimation of Palestinian families threatens the continued presence of Christians in the Holy Land.
Describing settler violence as state-sanctioned violence they said successive Israeli governments have used it as a way of taking Palestinian land.
They wrote: “As a rule, the military prefers to remove Palestinians from their land rather than confront settlers. Complaints are difficult to file. Few investigations are opened. Where indictments are made, it is for minor offences. Where convictions occur, the penalties are token. This culture of impunity rewards settler violence. There is no plausible deniability here – settlers aren’t defying the state; they are doing its bidding. Settler violence is state violence by any other name.”
The letter also referenced attacks by settlers at Taybeh, the last-remaining Christian-majority town in the West Bank. Last week Israeli settlers carried out an arson attack close to the town’s 5th century church and cemetery.
Today, Monday July 14, the Council of Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of Jerusalem, visited Taybeh in solidarity with the local community.
In a statement the Council asked for ‘the prayers, attention, and action of the world, particularly that of Christians globally,’ and said:
“The Church has had a faithful presence in this region for nearly 2,000 years. We firmly reject this message of exclusion and reaffirm our commitment to a Holy Land that is a mosaic of different faiths, living peacefully together in dignity and safety…. We call for an immediate and transparent investigation into why the Israeli police did not respond to emergency calls from the local community and why these abhorrent actions continue to go unpunished.
“The attacks by the hands of settlers against our community, which is living in peace, must stop, both here in Taybeh and elsewhere throughout the West Bank. This is clearly part of the systematic attacks against Christians that we see unfolding throughout the region.
Furthermore, we ask diplomats, politicians, and church officials worldwide to provide a prayerful and outspoken voice for our ecumenical community in Taybeh, that their presence may be secured and that they can live in peace to worship freely, grow crops without danger, and live in a peace that seems to be in far too short of supply.”
Picture: Bishop Graham taking a communion service in a West Bank cave church