In our small village of Taybeh this last Monday it was April 23rd on the Julian calendar, the official feast day of our patron saint of the village, St. George. Less than a hundred people gathered to celebrate the liturgy at the St. George Orthodox Church archeological ruins in the middle of the village. The Great Emperor Constantine and his faithful mother Saint Helen built this fourth century church when they also built the Holy Nativity Church in Bethlehem. St. George’s Church was built on a high hill in the village looking down at the Jordan valley. It sits in the middle of Biblical Judea and Samaria. Ramallah is the nearest city to the village.
In our small village of Taybeh this last Monday it was April 23rd on the Julian calendar, the official feast day of our patron saint of the village, St. George. Less than a hundred people gathered to celebrate the liturgy at the St. George Orthodox Church archeological ruins in the middle of the village. The Great Emperor Constantine and his faithful mother Saint Helen built this fourth century church when they also built the Holy Nativity Church in Bethlehem. St. George’s Church was built on a high hill in the village looking down at the Jordan valley. It sits in the middle of Biblical Judea and Samaria. Ramallah is the nearest city to the village.
It is amazing that thousands of years later we can gather and pray at the same site in a sort of unbroken tradition of Christian heritage and value. Fr. David, our parish priest led the liturgy with the assistance of Fr. Tawfik, the retired priest in our village. And please don’t confuse Fr. David P. Khoury with the famous founder of Taybeh beer, David C. Khoury, although they are first cousins. Everyone in the village almost has the same last name “Khoury.” In some way or another all residents are related. The word “Kkoury” in Arabic means priest. And the true Khourys, not the ones that just changed their name to be called “Khoury” are the families that dedicate family members to serve the church as priests and nuns for many generations.
The village is currently suffering from being newly under a severe siege. Residents cannot take their cars out to any other city. It seems like we are sealed off from humanity. People try to walk by the mountains and the valley to get out because there is a limit to how much village arrest you can take. The Israeli army has newly closed the main roads with large dirt piles and because the Palestinians kept opening the road, the Israelis closed it off in three layers, one of dirt, one of thick cement blocks and another row of thinner cement blocks to discourage anyone from removing the blockade.
I have tried several times to take my car from the valley and severely damage it from the terrible holes and large stones in the road. In the mean time, the nearby settlements are enjoying every freedom of movement possible under the sun. I feel we are so caged up. I feel we are treated like animals. How can human beings do this to other human beings? How can the chosen people of God act this way? It is not enough these Israeli settlers illegally built their settlements on Palestinian land now they want to completely just get rid of the Palestinian people as well. If they make our lives miserable each and every single day, if they continue to humiliate us, if they continue to treat us like last class citizens, if they continue to keep us as prisoners in our own village surely we will go anywhere else in the world to live. Many people need the city not just for work and school but also for medical care. It is so frustrating month after month just to find more and more roads blocked. Instead of the situation getting better it just gets worse and worse. Especially since the day Arafat was freed from his compound, our village particularly was sealed off from the world.
As Christian people in the village, we are peaceful and we have harmed no one. This collective punishment Israel is carrying out the last nineteen months is totally out of control and not to mention very brutal and cruel. The frustration, the anger and despair among the people can not be explained in simple words.
This week following the Orthodox Easter is a totally frustrating and aggravating situation in our area. Just imagine how awful our life is that we hope they will take away the roadblocks and put back the four-hour checkpoints because at least it is a way to move around. Even if you walk out of the village by the mountainside there are no taxis available to take you anywhere just settlers fully armed to shoot people as they wish. We are not people to them actually. They treat us as sub-human. The international media just reports that the tanks have moved out of Ramallah and the situation on the ground is worse than ever. The daily suffering and pain of Palestinians just keeps intensifying. It has been a cruel and devastating week for me. I wanted to write a pleasant story about receiving the holy light from Christ’s tomb on Holy Saturday but rage and anger have taken over my spirit because we could not get the Holy light to our church from these roadblocks. The Easter celebrations came and went in deep mourning instead of joyous celebration for a new life in Christ.
My friends that are priests here have a difficult time teaching people to see Christ’s light and to put their hope in God. Some people are just fed up. The anger and the rage just run so deep on both sides. Palestinians just can’t seem to forget their loved ones killed in cold blood or the destruction that has devastated this country. It is not easy for people to embrace their enemies. It is easier said than done. And the bombs inside Israel are the worst of all. They accomplish nothing except more collective punishment.
It is shocking to me that across the Holy Land this week the centuries old traditions of celebrating the Holy Light could not take place as the usual joyous occasion. Our Christians forefathers became martyrs so our Christian faith can be preserved and their courage in Christ could help others. The values and traditions passed down from generation to generation are all of a sudden forbidden for us to carry out. What is happening in the land of Christ’s Birth? Are you aware of the total destruction and devastation that has taken place of an entire population with American tax dollars? How can Americans support a war of terror being fooled under the slogan that it is a war against terror? American tax dollars should not be used to ethnically clean the Holy Land.
We must work together, talk together, sit together, and negotiate a way to live together. Christians, Muslims and Jews must find a way to share this little sacred spot on the earth. As Christians, we seek the right to be witnesses for Christ in the land of His birth. We seek the right to preserve our century old customs and traditions that have Christ at the center. We seek the voices of our brothers and sisters across the world to help us maintain our Christian legacy in the Holy Land.
