The last entirely-Christian town in the Israeli-controlled West Bank is enduring a wave of attacks by violent Jewish settlers, a local church leader says, prompting families to flee and leading clergy to declare the town is "no longer safe" for its inhabitants. Ominously, settlers have also set up an "outpost" on the fringe of that town -- Taybeh, Ramallah -- a 4,500-year-old community with huge significance in the story of Jesus Christ. 

“The town, which the Gospel of John (11:54) refers to as ‘Ephraim’ — the place Jesus withdrew to before his passion — is no longer safe for its people today," Father Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of Taybeh's Church of Christ the Redeemer, told the Catholic, Arabic-language ACI MENA news service. "We do not live in peace but in daily fear and siege...Since last October, more than 10 families have left Taybeh due to fear from ongoing violence and harassment."   

This and other videos embedded below are circulating on social media, purportedly capturing the settlers' latest attacks on Taybeh this week (BBC confirms an attack took place on Wednesday): 

This is only the latest in an ongoing pattern of aggression directed toward Taybeh's inhabitants, a pattern that has also included stealing farm equipment, and destroying crops with fire or by releasing settlers' cattle to devour them, Catholic News Agency reports.  

Settlers have established an outpost on the town's eastern edge, on the remains of a farmhouse abandoned by Christians who'd fled about a year ago under the growing settler campaign of violence and intimidation. An "outpost" is a Jewish settlement on Palestinian land that's not authorized by the Israeli government. Outposts typically begin with something as small as a tent or a van, and are frequently situated on hilltops or agricultural land. In the case of "herding outposts," settlers will bring livestock that they allow to graze over a wide area with the goal of establishing a larger claim. Despite outposts' lack of government permission at the outset, the Israeli government often legalizes them retroactively, cementing the Palestinians' loss of the land. (Note, there are both Christian and Muslim Palestinians, and both varieties experience the iniquities associated with being non-Jewish in the West Bank.)

The settler outpost on Taybeh's periphery sits in an economically-essential agricultural zone that comprises 4,200 acres out of the town's total 5,900 acres. The land is used for olive groves and seasonal crops, along with raising poultry and sheep. In the usual sequence of events, Jews in the outposts begin harassing the Palestinians whose families have long lived off that land, preventing them from accessing it. Such behavior is often carried out as Israeli security forces stand by and watch -- often intervening only when Palestinians fight back.  

Local Christians say this agricultural-deprivation tactic is exactly what's playing out in Taybeh: 

During the latest olive harvest season, for the second year in a row, farmers were barred from accessing their land near the Rimmonim settlement — which was built on confiscated Taybeh land — resulting in either theft or complete spoilage of the olive crop. Approximately 20 families were physically assaulted while trying to reach their land.... 

“These days, settlers are grazing their cows on a hill planted with olive and barley fields right next to people’s homes. Locals see this as part of a systematic effort to strangle them economically and push them out,” [said Father Fawadleh] -- ACI MENA / Catholic News Agency

Here, a Palestinian Christian explains how he, his family and fellow Taybeh residents are preyed upon by West Bank settlers seeking to take over the land: 

The terrible treatment of Taybeh's Christians helps explain why Israel-catering Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was booed of a stage in 2014 as he delivered a tin-eared keynote address at a gala hosted by In Defense of Christians (IDC), a nonprofit that seeks to counter persecution and mistreatment of Christians throughout the Middle East -- including Israel. Video of the incident went viral again last week in the wake of Cruz's disastrous interview with Tucker Carlson -- in which Cruz insisted the Bible commands Christians to support the modern political entity that is the State of Israel.

At that 2014 IDC event, things quickly went south when Cruz dished out the Israel-pandering rhetoric that reliably draws applause when he's addressing crowds with no knowledge of the plight of Christian Palestinians in Israel-controlled territory, in Taybeh and elsewhere. "In 1948, Jews throughout the Middle East faced murder and extermination and fled to the nation of Israel," said Cruze. "And today, Christians have no better ally than the Jewish state," he added -- triggering murmurs and boos. Cruz attempted to plow on, saying, “Let me say this: those who hate Israel hate America. And those who hate Jews hate Christians.” The booing and heckling endured, forcing Cruz to abandon the event, saying, "If you will not stand with Israel and Jews, then I will not stand with you." 

Fifteen kilometers northeast of Jerusalem and 12 km northeast of Ramallah, Taybeh was established by the Canaanites between 2500 and 2900 BC. Three Christian communities live there harmoniously: Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Melkite Greek Catholic. With beautiful whitewashed homes, the original Church of St. George built by the Byzantines in the 4th century, the ruins of a Crusader castle, and described in the Bible (using the name "Ephraim") as the place where Jesus sought refuge before being crucified, it has been an attractive destination for Christian tourists -- though it's unclear how much longer that will be the case.   

One thing is certain: Ted Cruz and groups like Christians United For Israel won't be speaking out on behalf of Taybeh's besieged residents anytime soon.