The United States ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, went to the village of Tayba on Saturday to see the damage caused to a historic church, describing this desecration of “crime against humanity”.
In a message published on his X account, the American ambassador wrote: “Tayba is a peaceful Christian Palestinian village in the south of Jerusalem, with many American citizens, which has been vandalized – including fires lit in an old church. I have visited this village today. The desecration of a church, a mosque or a synagogue is a crime against humanity.”
During his visit to the site, Mike Huckabee made firm remarks: “One thing on which we are categorically agreed is that any desecration of a holy place – whether it is a church, a mosque or a synagogue – is unacceptable. To commit an act of sacrilege by desecrating a place which should be a place of worship, it is an act of terrorism, and it is a crime.” The ambassador has also insisted on the need for sanctions: “There must be consequences, and they must be severe, because it is one of the last bastions of our civilization, the places where we pray.”
According to the newspaper “Al-Arabi al-Jadid”, residents would have entered the Al-Khadr church of the city of Tayba on Thursday, located east of Ramallah in Judea-Samaria. Residents have reported to the newspaper that “residents accompanied by a herd of around 80 cows have burst into the church.
The inhabitants claim that there are about a month ago, residents established an outpost on Tayba lands, mostly populated by Christians, and began to carry out attacks including the fire of the area around the church, its agricultural land and the city’s fields.
The municipality of Tayba said in a press release that “the Al-Khadr church is one of the oldest historic churches in the region, and it has a great religious and historical symbolism for the inhabitants of the city and Christians across the country.”
