Escalating settler violence and illegal settlement threaten our Lutheran partners and neighbors in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem in the West Bank.

Beit Sahour residents benefit greatly from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour, and its adjoined Lutheran school (The Evangelical Lutheran School of Beit Sahour), which serve all members of its community—Christian and Muslim- through high-quality K-12 education, community service programming, and support of the local scouts troupe. These are ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), a close partner to the ELCA.

The Yatziv Settlement was erected on land belonging to Beit Sahour families, and its construction dispossesses them from this land. This illegal settlement cuts off much of the Beit Sahour community from one another, farmlands, schools, work, medical sites, and the main road which connects the entire southern West Bank from the northern West Bank. There is an incredibly high likelihood of extremist settler violence occurring against the residents of Beit Sahour. On Jan. 25 in a different historically Christian town in the West Bank, Birzeit, extremist settlers trespassed on private land before attacking and violently beating four members of the Christian family landowners. This is the reality for Palestinian residents when settlers illegally move in. 

The West Bank Violence Prevention Act, H.R. 3045/S.2667, provides Congress with the ability to push back against pervasive settler violence in the West Bank. As people of faith concerned with this situation we can urge passage, and also urge our elected officials to participate in sending a letter on these matters to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff demanding U.S. government action to protect Palestinian Christians who are a persecuted religious minority in the Holy Land.

As Christians, we are called to promote justice. Let us not stay silent when our siblings in Christ face this further infringement on their right to freedom of religion and freedom of movement, as well as increased danger to their physical safety.  Regarding international peace, the ELCA social statement For Peace in God’s World says, “we strive to strengthen our global perspective as individual Christians and as a church body, in spite of strong currents that push us to turn in on ourselves.”  Customize this Action Alert with your message to U.S. elected leaders.