Taybeh
Taybeh
الطيبه | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 | |
| Governorate | Ramallah and al-Bireh |
| Elevation | 850 m (2,790 ft) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Total | 1,452 |
| Website | www.taybehmunicipality.org |
Taybeh (Arabic: الطيبة) is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 35 kilometers North of the city of Jerusalem and 12 kilometers Northeast of Ramallah in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate. The village is at an elevation of 850 meters. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 1,452 inhabitants in 2007.[1] Taybeh is a Christian village, with Roman catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Melkite Eastern Catholic, Protestants and Evangelicals.[2] It is the last all-Christian community in the Occupied Palestinian territories.[3][4] The town is considered to be the site of the biblical Ophrah, which is mentioned in the Book of Joshua (18,23). However the word "Ophrah" was close in sound to "afrit" (Arabic: عفريت) meaning "demon" in Arabic. Under Saladin, the name was changed into the more reassuring "Taybeh", "Good name".
History
According to the Bible, Jesus, after Lazarus' resurrection, retired with his disciples to this town. John says, "Since that day on, they (the Pharisees) made the decision to kill him. Jesus did not walk in public among the Jews anymore. He went away to a region near the desert, to a city called Aphram, and it was there that he and his disciples dwelt" (John 11: 53-54). This happened during the first days of Nissan in the year 30. It was at this point that Jesus retired on a rocky hill which was situated 8 km from Taybeh towards the Jordan, in order to fortify his spirit, pray, fast, and expose himself to temptation. That is why this rocky hill is known as (Qarantal), from the Latin root "Quarenta" (forty), which alludes to the forty days Jesus fasted. According to the Evangelist, Taybeh-Aphram is the isolated place where Jesus found the diaphanous quietness to prepare himself and his disciples for the great sacrifice.
In the 5th century, a church, known today as St. George's Church, was built in the east of the town. In the 12th century, another church was built by the Crusaders, in attachment to the first one. In 1185, Balduinus IV, King of Jerusalem, gave Boniface de Montferrat the castle of St. Elias, placed in the higher part of the city.[5]
The local tradition says that during his wars against Crusaders, Saladin met a delegation of Aphram inhabitants, and being affected by their goodness and by the beauty of their faces, ordered to rename the village to Tayyibat al-Isem (Beautiful of name) instead of what sounded like Afra (full of dust).[5]
In 1596, Tayyibat al-Isem appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 63 Muslim households and 23 Christian families. The village paid taxes on wheat, barley, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives.[6]
At the time of the 1931 census, Taybeh had 262 occupied houses and a population of 1038 Christians and 87 Muslims.[7]
Charles de Foucauld
Charles de Foucauld (1853-1916), an explorer and French hermit, passed through Taybeh for the first time in January 1889, during a pilgrimage. In 1898, visiting evangelical place in Holy Land, he returned to Taybeh-Aphram. A result of his staying is the "Eight Days in Aphram, retreat of 1898, from Monday after IV Lent Sunday, (March 14) through Monday, after IV Lent Sunday (March 21)." 45 pages of his "Spiritual Writings" were inspired by this evangelical place.[5]
de Foucauld's retreat in Taybeh-Aphram continues to induce his followers to come to this place to spend some days immersing themselves in a climate of evangelical spirituality.[citation needed]
In 1986, The Charles de Foucauld Pilgrim Center, a pilgrim's hostel which construction was funded by the French Lieutenancy of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, was opened in the village.[8]
September 2005 Muslim Riots
For ten years, a Muslim woman named Hiyam from the village of Deir Jarir had been working at a sewing shop in Taybeh owned by a Christian man named Mahadi Khourieh. Thirty-two years old, unmarried and pregnant, Hiyam was found dead from poison on Wednesday, August 31, 2005. It was later established that Hiyam was murdered by her family as an "honor killing".[9]
As a result of the Muslim woman being "defiled" by Khourieh, on Sept 3, a violent mob of armed Muslim men from Deir Jarir carried out a revenge attack. Some 400 men raided the Taibeh between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., burning down houses, cars and looting. Taybeh residents evacuated their homes in fear. The attackers also torched stores, a farm and a gas station. The latter fire was put out before fuel tanks exploded. Palestinian Authority policemen who arrived on the scene also managed to save the village’s beer factory.[10]
On Sunday, September 4, the mayor of Ramallah went to Taybeh to investigate. Mahadi Khourieh confessed to having an affair, but denied being the father of the unborn fetus. The elders of Taybeh again went to Deir Jarir to ask for another hudna because of the confession. Elders of other villages, including the mayor of Ramallah, were present. These community leaders all condemned the acts of mob violence in Taybeh. The hudna was agreed to with the following stipulations:
- Residents of Taybeh, with the exception of Mahadi Khourieh's two brothers, are allowed to pass through Deir Jarir (the only road out of Taybeh, due to the Israeli closure at the other end of town).
- The thirteen young men from Deir Jarir are released without charges being filed.
- The usual penalty to the Khourieh family of $100,000 for such an affair will be waived. In exchange, the extended Khourieh family is responsible for the repair to their homes.
David Khoury, the Mayor of Taybeh, later said that the attack would not have occurred if Taybeh were a Muslim village instead of a Christian one. Khoury said: "It has happened many times between a Muslim and a Muslim; and what they did was, most times, just marry the girl off. Had they given us a chance, and proved this pregnancy was by the man from Taybeh, maybe we would have married him to that girl."
These violent riots were similarly confirmed by the United States' State Department (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor)[11], the BBC [12], and the British Telegraph newspaper[13], among others.
Education
The Taybeh two schools grade K-12 and serve students from Taybeh and neighboring villages. The Orthodox Patriarchal School serves over 270 students, and the Roman Catholic (Latin) School serves over 400.[14]
Brewing
Taybeh is the home of Taybeh Brewery, brewers of the only Palestinian beer.[15]
Oktoberfest
Since 2005, an Oktoberfest celebration is held in Taybeh, aiming at promoting local Palestinian products and attracting tourism. The celebration offers beer competitions, cultural, traditional and musical performances and other attractions.[16] This festival is an annual tradition that brings together visitors from all over the world, Israelis, and Palestinians.
Birthrate
In 2008 Taybeh had a low birthrate and residents feared that the population would entirely disappear.[17]
Footnotes
- ^ 2007 PCBS Census. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.114.
- ^ Taybeh Parish website
- ^ "A Palestinian Brewery Grows in the West Bank". Time (magazine).
- ^ "Twilight Zone / Taybeh revisited". Haaretz.
- ^ a b c Jaser, Hanna. "A village called Taybeh". United Taybeh American Association. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
- ^ Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth and Kamal Abdulfattah (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. p. 116.
- ^ E. Mills, ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine. p. 51.
- ^ "THE CHARLES DE FOUCAULD PILGRIM CENTER". Taybeh's Latin parish website. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
- ^ What Happened in Taybeh?
- ^ Muslims torch 14 Christian homes near Ramallah
- ^ Israel and the occupied territories, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor 2005: March 8, 2006
- ^ A frightening family feud
- ^ 'Islamic mafia' accused of persecuting Holy Land Christians
- ^ "Taybeh's Schools". United Taybeh American Association. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
- ^ Taybeh Brewing Company
- ^ Khoury, Maria C. (18 July 2008). "Taybeh Oktoberfest Boosts Economy". Palestine News Network.
- ^ Gee, Robert W. "WEST BANK GHOST TOWN / Arab Christians attempting to revive Holy Land village / Leaders work to attract more tourists, residents." Cox News Service at Houston Chronicle. Sunday December 21, 2008. Retrieved on April 22, 2009.
