"The number of attacks on Christians in the West Bank is increasing,"
Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of Jerusalem told EwtnNews.com on 20
March.
Israeli settlers have prevented Palestinian Christians
from accessing their land by making various threats and using physical
aggression and causing property damage, including burning cars.
"This
has mainly happened in the Christian village of Taybeh, and we have
reported this to the whole world, even to the American ambassador in Tel
Aviv. He came to visit the area and promised to take action, but not
much has been done," said Monsignor Shomali.
In Birzeit, a
Palestinian Christian town located approximately six miles north of
Ramallah in the West Bank, Bishop Shomali reported that settlers have
been arriving "almost daily to intimidate individuals in their homes or
workplaces."
Israeli settlers have also occupied land belonging
to a convent of nuns in a village near Bethlehem called Urtas: "The
sisters have a hill where they grow olives and other crops," he said.
"The settlers came to occupy this hill and make it theirs. They intend
to build a new settlement there."
Monsignor Shomali also
mentioned plans to build a settlement on Shepherds’ Field in his own
village of Beit Sahour, which he said belongs to local Christian
families: "They put up an Israeli flag to claim this land as Israeli
territory, even though there is a deed of ownership for this land
belonging to a Christian family from Beit Sahour."
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