Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 8, 2026

Not in Christ’s Name:
Palestinian and American Clergy Stand Together Before Congress

The priest of Taybeh, Palestine's last all-Christian village, joins American church leaders in Washington, DC. A second Palestinian priest, from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, was denied a US visa.

WASHINGTON, DC (November 8, 2026) – Fr. Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of Taybeh, the last entirely Palestinian Christian village in the occupied West Bank, will speak at a press conference on Monday, November 16, at 10 am, less than a month after masked Israeli settlers attacked his parishioners during the olive harvest. He will be joined by Palestinian and American Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant clergy, along with the sister of the Orthodox priest whom the United States refused to let in. Together they will urge Congress to hold violent Israeli settlers and the Israeli military accountable and to stop sending Israel U.S. weapons used in war crimes against Palestinian civilians, Muslim and Christian alike.

"Our families are not leaving Taybeh because they have lost their love for their homeland. They are leaving because fear is becoming part of their daily lives. Our farmers are afraid to reach their olive trees, our children are growing up surrounded by insecurity, and our elderly are witnessing the gradual disappearance of the world they have known. We are not asking for privileges. We are asking for the fundamental right to live in dignity, security, and peace on the land of our ancestors,” said Fr. Bashar. “If the Christian presence in Taybeh disappears, it will not simply be the loss of one village. It will be a profound loss for the Holy Land and for the Universal Church.”

On October 17, during the Palestinian olive harvest, mobs of violent masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian Christian families in Taybeh, along with European diplomats visiting in solidarity. A day earlier, in the nearby village of Abu Falah, Israeli settlers beat Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, an American, as she documented the harvest on Palestinian land. The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem condemned the Taybeh attack and warned that it was not an isolated incident.

Fr. Issa Thaljieh, parish priest at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, was denied a U.S. visa. His sister, Palestinian football pioneer Honey Thaljieh, will speak in his place.

“My brother could not enter America to tell you what is happening in Bethlehem. But you cannot deny a visa to a truth. You cannot silence a people by keeping one priest outside the room. I will stand in Washington, DC, not only as his sister, but as a daughter of Bethlehem, carrying the voices of families determined to remain on the land where their roots run deeper than walls, checkpoints, and politics. We are not asking for pity. We are asking for justice, dignity, and the right to stay in our homes," said Honey Thaljieh.

In the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s genocide has killed more than 75,000 people, one of the world’s oldest Christian communities has shrunk from about 1,000 to about 600 people. Twenty-three Christians have been killed in attacks on churches, 18 of them sheltering inside the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius. Meanwhile, Christian Zionist leaders in the U.S. lobby for more weapons for Israel and fund the illegal settlements driving Palestinians off their land. The Christians for Palestine Coalition, led by the Orthodox Christians for Palestine (OCP), rejects Christian Zionism and says Palestinian suffering cannot be defended in Christ’s name. Its members stand with all Palestinians, Muslim and Christian.

According to Mother Agapia from the Orthodox Christians for Palestine (OCP) initiative: “The Christians of the Holy Land are the living Church of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, which has kept the faith on that land since Pentecost. Yet, in America, Christian Zionists have claimed to speak for Christianity while supporting the weapons and settlements that are destroying Palestinian lives and driving the indigenous Church from its land. We are here to reclaim that narrative. As Orthodox Christians, we say clearly that this is not done in Christ’s name.”

Pressure in Congress is building. In September, 46 Democratic senators and Republican Rand Paul voted for Senator Chris Van Hollen’s measure demanding a State Department report on Israeli abuses in the West Bank, including the killings of nine Americans there since 2022.

“This is not simply a Palestinian tragedy or a loss for Christians in the Holy Land. It is a loss for the entire Christian Church. As Christians, we cannot proclaim the love of Christ while remaining silent when our brothers and sisters are denied their fundamental rights to live in safety, dignity, and peace. Their suffering calls for more than our prayers. It calls for our solidarity and our action,” said Bishop Philip Hirsch of the Metro D.C. Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

During the program, clergy and families will also read names from the Gaza Children's Shroud, a 120-yard cloth bearing the handwritten names of more than 20,000 children killed by Israel in Gaza.

Speakers include:

• Fr. Bashar Fawadleh, Latin (Catholic) parish priest of Taybeh, Palestine, joined by Fr. John Heagle, Coordinator of Priests Against Genocide, USA

• Honey Thaljieh, for her brother Fr. Issa Thaljieh, Church of the Nativity, joined by Mother Agapia, Greek Orthodox nun who just returned from Palestine with American actor Jonathan Jackson

• Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, Palestinian Lutheran pastor and founder of Dar al-Kalima University, joined by Bishop Phil Hirsch of the Metro D.C. Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

U.S. elected officials concerned about Palestine are also expected to attend, along with former Biden administration officials who resigned in protest over Gaza, and members of the 2026 U.S. Freedom Convoy, which recently drove from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, to expose Israel’s theft of Palestinian land and build ties with evangelical Christian communities

The press conference closes a weekend of Christian witness in Washington, including November 14th events on the National Mall, Orthodox Christians for Palestine (OCP)’s Not in Christ’s Name Summit in Potomac, Maryland, keynoted by CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, an interfaith vigil at the United Methodist Church, and Priests Against Genocide’s November 15th gathering at Holy Trinity Parish. On the afternoon of November 16th, attendees will meet with members of Congress.

Presented by the Christians for Palestine Coalition, which is led by Orthodox Christians for Palestine (OCP), the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine (AFRP), Doctors Against Genocide (DAG), the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace (PCAP), and Priests Against Genocide.

When: Monday, November 16, 2026, 10:00 am

Where: United Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002, Capitol Hill

Interviews: All speakers are available for interviews before and after the press conference

Media Contact: Laila Mokhiber, Orthodox Christians for Palestine (OCP), [email protected]