By Elizabeth Gresosky
This morning, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem) shared an urgent joint statement from the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem condemning the “heinous attack” carried out this past Saturday by masked Israeli settlers in Taybeh, the last remaining Christian village in the West Bank.
“This wild attack on the Christian village of Taybeh and against its peaceful population is not an isolated incident,” the statement reads.
“In the past few weeks, the Palestinian villages of the WEst Bank have been exposed to a wide-scale terror by settlers, which is reaching a peak during this time of the olive harvest, when families go to their lands to collect what they need to live and renew their generations-long bond with their lands.”
بطاركة ورؤساء الكنائس في القدس يدينون اعتداء المستوطنين على الطيبة ويطالبون بتحقيق العدالة وتوفير الحماية. The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem Condemn Settler Attack on Taybeh and Call for Justice and Protection. https://t.co/uVRJo3Gjsu
— Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (@LPJerusalem) October 20, 2026
“In this regard, we consider the religious ruling recently published, allowing Jews to take the lives of Palestinians, as unfounded, very worrying and dangerous, and absolutely unacceptable. We very much appreciate that several rabbis and Jewish voices have publicly rejected it.”
A religious ruling from Israeli Rabbi Dov Lior was issued the Friday prior that referred to stealing the olives as “additional virtue” and encouraged settlers to “conquer the land” and “demonstrate our ownership.”
The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem is an ecumenical council of Christian leaders which includes the Catholic Church, under the local leadership of Cardinal Pizzaballa, as well as the local figureheads for the Orthodox, Episcopalian, and Lutheran churches.
