Christian town in west bank attacked and burned

[smallglassbottle]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLsIanHxtrC/?igsh=MXZsMnlvM2Fxa3Iycw==

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/265035/priest-warns-christian-town-of-taybe-in-holy-land-no-longer-safe-amid-settler-attacks

https://www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/taybeh

I'm an Orthodox Christian. It has just occurred to me that we might lose all of our sacred places in the Holy Land if this hostility by israel continues.

The IDF. Of course. It wasn’t said by anyone actually there.

And let's not forget the destruction in Taybeh, a mistake as well I presume. Or the commitment doesn't quite stretch to the West Bank.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-ambassador-visits-christian-town-in-west-bank-targeted-in-recent-settler-attacks/

As if things weren't bad enough for the people of Taybeh, Huckabee is visiting them .

Poor people of Taybeh, having to endure him.

The IDF attacks on Churches has actually made the news in America this week and a lot of American Christians are extremely angry. With support for Israel falling (even amongst Republicans) Huckabee us likely engaging in damage control.

Poor people is right..

I think yes damage control because after his message about Ireland this week it is clear where is loyalties still lie.

Struck by shrapnel?
The eye witness account was that the tank fired at the church.

Interesting that Israeli weapons appear to be designed to kill by shrapnel, which is more deadly than bullets:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/11/israeli-weapons-shrapnel-children-gaza-injured

I wonder if we will find out the outcome of Israeli investigations. We hear the IDF are going to investigate but rarely hear the details of what they find.

Would there be any point ?

I think it’s important. People are really concerned about what’s happened. There were 3 people who were killed, 9 injured, and it’s hard to appreciate how a church could be struck accidentally. If that is what happened, and we understand how- it might also explain other deaths of innocent people.

Because they want to drive everyone out of the West Bank, including Christians. Nobody is welcome. Nobody is safe.

We have had several bombing and shooting mistakes by Israel. Could even be hundreds. Whenever there has been a condemnation (of children being shot collecting water, bombing church etc) it's always an error. Always.

The God in the Old and New Testaments is pretty different too! But still the same Christian God. Jesus certainly thought he was talking about the Jewish god. If the Old Testament prophets are also prophets in Islam, and Jesus is also seen as a prophet, it is all the same god. Just described differently.

They never find anything. They know exactly what has happened already, the “investigation” is just fobbing the media off. Occasionally a lower-level military commander has a stern talking to. Nobody is ever actually punished.

I think that’s the point- we need to know why these mistakes keep happening.

If the genocide trial goes ahead- will they look at incidents separately or try to understand what the systemic issues were - which I think more likely.

We have been told that there has to be intent- would continued reckless disregard for Palestinian lives count as this? Not changing protocols so that these mistakes are less likely to happen? For example when people continue to die collecting aid, and a failure to reconsider how aid is distributed.

Its no more a mistake than any other Israeli attack on gentiles in the region.

Netanyahu's government, police force, army facilitate, fund and arm ethnic cleansing of all non Jews in the region. His warmongering ways are not about peace, humanitarian aid or Israel's security. They are about religious violence, ultra nationalism and chaos. From the IDF to the empowerment of violent Jewish settlers, to Netenyahu arming Islamist terrorists who were part of the 7th October attack.

We are witnessing genocide. And genocide apologists.

Netenyahu is committing today's genocide and funding, feeding, creating tomorrow's attacks on Israel.

Powerful words sister but every word is sadly,terribly true.

Trauma is the bad apple that spreads its poison down through the generations. Those who’ve had harm done unto them often pass that harm along sometimes knowingly, sometimes not.

And in Israel, we see maximum trauma creating maximum trauma in others—a chain reaction of pain. Deep wounds from the past fuelling fresh harm in the present. History echoing forward, louder each time.

But the cycle can be broken. Damaged people need to recognise they are damaged not to wallow, not to double down, but to choose something better. Healing begins with honesty. Without it, the hurt just keeps moving forward, looking for someone new to burn.

And that’s where we are: can’t move forward, can’t go backwards, and can’t stand still except now we’re doing it with 2,000-pound bombs dropped on the most populated city on earth.

And the tens of thousands of tattered and bloodied bodies are testament to that - it's a genocide even Piers Morgan finally gets it at long last.

They said it was a result of stray ammunition. Where did the ammunition stray from?

Did it walk out of the tank in the firing position to bomb the church? No it didnt.

The IDF member in the tank deliberately fired on the church.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-ambassador-visits-christian-town-in-west-bank-targeted-in-recent-settler-attacks/

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited the Christian Palestinian town of Taybeh in the West Bank on Saturday, which has been the scene of several attacks by settlers in recent weeks.

Taybeh residents and local church leaders said the town had experienced an upsurge in settler harassment recently. They pointed to an arson attack, which they said was committed by extremist settlers, next to the ruins of the Church of St. George in the town last week, as one of the most serious incidents so far.

On Monday, the most senior church leaders in the Holy Land toured the Palestinian town and alleged that Israeli authorities have facilitated the ongoing harassment.

“Desecrating a church, mosque or synagogue is a crime against humanity and God,” Huckabee wrote Saturday on X after touring Taybeh.

“I work for ALL American citizens who live in Israel-Jewish, Muslim or Christian. When they are terrorized or victims of crime I will demand those responsible be held accountable with real consequences,” he added.
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In a separate statement issued by the State Department, Huckabee denounced the arson attack as “an act of terror” and demanded “harsh consequences” for the perpetrators.

He also appeared to take a shot at Israeli authorities over the lack of enforcement against settler violence.

“We will certainly insist that those who carry out acts of terror and violence in Taybeh – or anywhere – be found and be prosecuted. Not just reprimanded, that’s not enough,” Huckabee said. “People need to pay a price for doing something that destroys that which belongs, not just to other people, but that which belongs to God. That is a sacrilege. It’s against the Holy.”

Israeli officials have yet to condemn the attacks on Taybeh and have also been mum on last week’s killing of two Palestinians, including a US citizen allegedly beaten to death by settlers near the West Bank village of Sinjil.

Huckabkee’s visit to Taybeh came amid growing concern from the US over Israeli actions toward Christians.

Some replies in the comments.

We are at the "yup there are Christians in Gaza but they're all Hamas" stage of justification.

Joel Berry works for the Babylon Bee (a right wing American satire publication). In response to pushback he actually saw fit to post the below.

They're all Arabs too, but of course Mr. Berry will be careful not to say that.
amazing how all these people become experts suddenly.

Even 'Commie' Pope Francis was in on the act, ringing in every day. (Irony very much intended.)

Wow this is interesting.

https://x.com/breeadail/status/1947265262685749754

So it seems more lies and blood libels against the Jewish people.

How absolutely dumb do they think people are to fall for this time and time again? I’d be insulted actually if I was one of them!

Let's assume that the Times of Israel doesn't deal in blood-libels and Netanhayu and his toxic fellow traveller extremists is destroying Israel's good standing in the world more than Hamas ever could.

Alienating many of Israel's most important, fervent friends
Causing strategic, moral harm, Netanyahu lets others dictate Israel’s ties with Christians
Last week underscored how little control the PM, a longtime friend of evangelicals, exerts over key relationship, as extremists undermine support and army focuses on tactical fight

https://www.timesofisrael.com/causing-strategic-moral-harm-netanyahu-lets-others-dictate-israels-ties-with-christians/

The three incidents — which followed years of harassment of Christians in Jerusalem and vandalism of sites by Jewish extremists — come at a time of growing international condemnation of Israel and rising antisemitism, when Israel should be embracing its friends.

Instead, Israel continues to allow citizens to violate the country’s principles while causing irreparable damage to its image and standing.

What’s worse is that all of the recent events could have been prevented. Instead, Netanyahu and his government are afraid to assert their authority, allowing extremists and those who have no understanding of the importance of Israel’s ties with Christians to set the agenda and inflict strategic damage on the Jewish state.

Despite the passionate support, evangelical Christians have also been the target of harassment in recent years. In May 2023, hundreds of religious Jews, led by Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King, protested angrily near the Western Wall as Christians taking part in a 21-day fast and prayer gathering arrived on its final day.

In a subsequent Hebrew-language Maariv article, ICEJ president Juergen Buehler described the events as unprecedented. “It was one of the few times in Israel where I feared an assault. I’d never experienced such hostility before,” said Buehler, a German-born ordained minister and physicist who has been living in Israel since 1994, and whose two sons served in IDF combat units.
The vitriol in May “was directed at people who spent a lot of money on a trip to Israel and it was a very bad experience for them in the Holy Land,” said Buehler.

More rubbish from x? One of the biggest trash sites on the internet? Please.