Pope Leo accused Israel of persecuting Christians in the West Bank of Sunday, stating: “I renew my appeal for an end to the ongoing violence against the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank.”

The context: The pope’s statement amplifies a narrative Catholic leaders have been voicing for weeks: Israel is persecuting Christians in the West Bank.

• Taybeh, located near Ramallah, is the last remaining fully Christian town in the roughly 2,000-square-mile area of the Jordan River’s West Bank. Israeli settlers there are accused of intimidating local Palestinians. The Israel Defense Forces have declared it a closed military town, blocking the movement of Israelis while leaving Palestinians free to come and go.
• Qusra is a little further north. Extremist settlers have been accused of targeting at least two families there. The idf has entered the area to remove the settlers and protect the Palestinians.

Several Catholic leaders have drawn attention to these attacks, often blaming Israel in general rather than a minority of settlers—settlers whom Israeli forces are actively opposing for the benefit of Palestinians.

• Bashar Fawadleh, a local priest in Taybeh, said on August 10 that the town was the victim of “a deliberate strategy of harassment designed to create a climate of fear and pressure Palestinian families into leaving their land.”
• James Curry, the lead bishop for the Holy Land for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, implied Israel was being disingenuous in closing access to the town: “This ban will lead to a vital loss of income from tourism and pilgrimages and, thereby, international scrutiny on the situation.”
• Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a cardinal and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, visited Taybeh the day before the pope’s comments and urged residents to confront evil.

Lies have been spread about Taybeh before. Last summer, settlers were accused of trying to burn down the Church of St. George in Taybeh.

• “Radical Israelis from nearby settlements intentionally set fire near the town cemetery and the church of St. George. … This is not only a violation of property, but a targeted attack on a community that has long been a symbol of coexistence and peace,” Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III said as he visited the site.
• Pizzaballa stood by his side in Taybeh as he gave his speech. The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem said “settler violence” was responsible, “both facilitated and enabled by state policies.”

The truth: Palestinian Arabs started fires to stop Israeli settlers from grazing their livestock. Video footage purported to show settlers fanning the flames actually showed them running with fire extinguishers to put them out. The church itself was not damaged at all.

Given that the same people claiming Taybeh is under attack were caught lying about it just a year ago, skepticism of their claims and a look at their motivation and agenda are warranted.

Catholic media skipped the question-asking and instead held this up as proof that Israel persecutes Christians. Consider some of the headlines from Crux’s “Church in the Middle East” section:

• “Israel’s Christians Rely on Faith and Allies as They Fear Rising Harassment”
• “Israeli Settlers Creating ‘Climate of Fear’ for West Bank Christians”
• “‘Disheartening’: Attacks Against Christians Nearly Double in Israel, Territories, Says Report”
• “Lebanese Christians on the Edge of Israel’s Occupation Live With Fear and Rising Tensions”

Entirely missing was the most dramatic attack on Christians in the Middle East over that period: July’s lynch mob attack on a Coptic Church in Egypt. It was only halted when police arrived—and arrested some of the Christian victims.

These articles, and even the pope’s statements, present a noticeably one-sided account of the news, describing Israel’s response but often omitting the Palestinian attacks that triggered it. Statistics are given about settler attacks on Palestinians, for example, but the far larger number of Palestinian attacks on settlers is ignored.

The most powerful people in the Catholic Church are laying the foundation for a call for Europe to return to the Middle East to defend the region’s Christians—not simply from their far more numerous Muslim persecutors, but also from Jews.

• Israel holds Jerusalem, so it is actually the Jewish state and Jewish people who are the main targets of these papal propagandists.

Pizzaballa has condemned “Christian Zionism” as heresy. Catholics want to unite Christians against the Jews. Last summer’s incident of the church in Taybeh shows they are willing to lie to do it.

These lies are building toward a new Catholic crusade to retake the Holy Land. The Bible says it is coming. To understand why, read Gerald Flurry’s article “Reviving the Dark Ages.”