MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
While the world's focus is on the war in Gaza, violence has surged in another Palestinian territory, the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A new wave of Israeli settler attacks has reached a Christian village there, and it has drawn the attention of U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who is actually a vocal supporter of Israeli settlers. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from the West Bank.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: In the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh are the ruins of a Byzantine church.
JACK ABED: It's the most holy place in the village.
ESTRIN: Father Jack Abed is a priest.
ABED: When sometimes we are in war or attack, we come here to pray to ask God to protect us.
ESTRIN: Next to the church are the charred remains of a field that burned two weeks ago. The flames also reached the wall of a Christian cemetery. U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, paid a rare visit to the Palestinian community and spoke to reporters there.
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MIKE HUCKABEE: To commit an act of sacrilege by desecrating a place that is supposed to be a place of worship - it is an act of terror, and it's a crime.
ESTRIN: Palestinians in the village say they saw Israeli settlers light the fire. Ambassador Huckabee is an evangelical Christian who supports Israeli settlers. He believes the ancient biblical heartland belongs to Israel.
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HUCKABEE: We will certainly insist that those who carry out acts of terror and violence in Taybeh or anywhere be found.
ESTRIN: Some settlers say Palestinians set the fire, and settler community spokeswoman Eliana Passentin released a video.
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ELIANA PASSENTIN: So I'm here to reach out to our Christian friends who know us and believe in us. This land was given to us by God. There is no reason for us to burn a church or to disrespect anyone else's religion.
ESTRIN: When we visited, Israeli police were there, flying drones above the ancient church, investigating the source of the fire.
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ESTRIN: Police say in a statement, if it's arson, they'll prosecute, no matter who is responsible. Father Jack Abed doesn't take the police investigations seriously. He's filed about a dozen police reports about recent Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian residents of the village, but he's seen no progress. He says Israeli authorities have turned a blind eye to a wave of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank since the Hamas attack on Israel October 7, 2023.
ABED: They work slowly, pretending that we don't know what they are doing. But they know exactly what the settlers are doing.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: This is a recent podcast by Israeli settlers, discussing a method they're using to stake a claim to land, shepherding. They set up small ranches with livestock and send the animals to graze on land, competing with Palestinian herding communities. Settlers have attacked their homes, sending Palestinians fleeing. Dror Etkes is an Israeli researcher who monitors settler activity.
DROR ETKES: They have been able to empty the area and to displace, I think, somewhere around 10, 11, 12 Palestinian communities and clusters, and they finished. So what they're moving to the next Palestine destination, which is Taybeh.
ESTRIN: We visit Taybeh Brewery, a well-known Palestinian beer label. Brewer Madees Khoury.
MADEES KHOURY: I think everyone's lives changed 180 degrees since October 7. It's been very difficult and more challenging to live in the West Bank.
ESTRIN: Settlers recently took over a nearby natural water spring, destroying water-pumping equipment, disrupting the flow to villages like Taybeh, according to the Palestinian water company in the area.
KHOURY: What gives the beer its uniqueness is the water. And when you don't have water coming from the source, how are you going to function? How are you going to make beer?
ESTRIN: The ripple effects touch all aspects of life for Palestinians in the West Bank, from a successful beer business to people's very lives. Palestinian officials have documented more than 1,000 Palestinians killed in the West Bank by Israeli settlers or soldiers and a sharp rise in settler attacks on Palestinians amid the Gaza war. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Taybeh. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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