This morning, gunmen riding a motorcycle fired shots at four stores that sell alcoholic beverages in the village of Zababdeh.
Zabadeh, near Jenin, is the only Christian-majority town under PA rule north of Nablus. About two-thirds of its residents are Christian.
This was reported in Ma’an Arabic but not its English edition. Ma’an tries to frame the attack as anti-alcohol, and doesn’t mention the religious angle, although of course only Christians sell alcohol in the territories. This is meant to send a message to the entire population of the town, not just the store owners.
In general, Zabadeh Christians downplay any suggestion of friction with their Muslim neighbors, although Christmas trees were burned by Muslims there in 2015, and one source notes that there are sometimes fights when Muslims make lascivious comments to Christian women in the village.
This is the sort of low-level yet overt intimidation that have prompted the vast majority of Christians under Arab rule in the West Bank to flee since 1948.
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