In the Bethlehem district, as Christians celebrated the start of the Advent season, Israeli settler groups started bulldozing the lands in Beit Sahour to establish the Shidma settlement outpost. The settlement illegally confiscates Palestinian land, divides the Palestinian community, and makes it easier for Israeli settlers to attack Palestinians. Our Palestinian Christian partners at Kairos Palestine warn that, ”This plan threatens not only the land and people of Beit Sahour but also the future of the Christian presence in the Bethlehem area.”

In response to this escalation, the mayor of Beit Sahour issued this letter to our partners at Kairos Palestine, who, in turn, have asked us, as part of the global solidarity community, to respond.

Take Action:

As part of the Global Justice response, Christians for a Free Palestine and other U.S. partners ask you to write your members of Congress to demand they take action to stop Israeli colonial expansion in Beit Sahour.

We also encourage you to adapt the letter to send to your Church leaders, asking them to use their influence in both political and religious circles.

More information:

In outlining the key concerns of the Beit Sahour community, Rifat Kassis of Kairos Palestine said:

I kindly invite you to read the attached urgent appeal from the Mayor of Beit Sahour regarding the alarming steps now being taken to establish a new illegal settlement behind Osh Ghurab. This plan threatens not only the land and people of Beit Sahour but also the future of the Christian presence in the Bethlehem area. Its consequences, dispossession, heightened settler violence, and the forced migration of families, would be devastating and irreversible.
We turn to you in this critical moment to act. We respectfully ask you to raise this issue with your political representatives, church leaders, and public officials, urging them to put pressure on Israel to immediately halt this settlement. Your voice, your advocacy, and your moral leadership can help prevent what may become the last nail in the coffin for the remaining Christian community in this historic land.

A full briefing of the impact of the settlement on Palestinians in Beit Sahour and the wider geographical consequences in the Bethlehem area has been produced by the Balasan Initiative for Human Rights and can be found here: Update: New Israeli Settlement in Beit Sahour: From the Shepherds’ Field to a Settlement Corridor Reshaping Space, Memory, and Existence – Balasan Initiative For Human Rights.