How Israeli colonization disrupts the Palestinian social fabric in the West Bank
An encampment of Bedouins expelled from their herding lands established at the edge of the village of Taybeh, June 2025
Qassam Muaddi writes in Mondoweiss on 14 July 2025:
The burned soil spits out tails of smoke through the thick layer of black ash covering its surface, stretching from the stone crosses dotting the tombs of the village cemetery to the ancient walls of a 4th-century Byzantine church. Israeli settlers were here last Monday, July 7, inside the urban perimeter of the village. They left their mark by setting fire to the surroundings of the historic Church of al-Khader (Saint George), the most sacred site for the people of the village.
Situated northeast of Ramallah, the town of Taybeh is the last remaining predominantly Christian village in Palestine in the occupied West Bank. The attack on the Palestinian village sets a deadly precedent for its residents, but they were not surprised. This eventuality has been decades in the making, ever since Taybeh began to lose its lands to Israeli land grabs and settlement expansion.
On top of a hill facing sunset sits the home of Abdallah Abu Fazaa at the edge of Taybeh. Outside of the town, less than five minutes away from its center, Abu Fazaa continues to live as a Bedouin in a prefabricated home, as he and his family have for generations — or at least he tries. With less than ten sheep in a small stable beside his house, the open space of the hill is barely enough to herd what remains of his small flock.