ORGANIZATIONAL / RELIGIOUS LEADER ENDORSEMENT LETTER
Subject: Protect Ancient Religious Site in the Palestinian town of Sebastia
As organizations and religious leaders concerned about the preservation of Palestinian land and the Palestinian people's internationally enshrined right to access and maintain guardianship, we call on the U.S. State Department and Israeli military to cease all plans aimed at unlawful theft and expropriation of the archeological site with historical significance to Christians, Muslims, and Jews in Sebastia, a Palestinian village in the West Bank.
On November 12, 2025, the Israeli Civil Administration – a branch of the Israeli military established in 1981 to carry out military commands in Palestinian occupied territories – issued an order to expropriate 1,800 dunams of Palestinian land on Sebastia’s archeological site and unlawfully place it under the control of the Israeli military.
Sebastia’s archeological site houses a Christian cemetery site as well as a Byzantine Church and Mosque honoring Saint John the Baptist, also known as Prophet Yahya.
The area listed in the military order is also home to eight Palestinian houses with approximately 40 residents, five businesses, and agricultural land consisting of two greenhouses and approximately 20,000 olive trees. Additionally, Sebastia’s larger population of 4,000 Palestinian residents will be impacted and possibly displaced by Israel’s illegal theft of the historical site.
The Israeli government plan would also connect the archeological site to Israel’s nearby illegal settlement of Shavei Shomron through highway Route 60 – reflecting the Israeli government’s intention of full annexation of the West Bank into Israeli territory. This mirrors the "City of David" project in Silwan, where archaeology is being weaponized to ethnically cleanse the indigenous Palestinian community and create an illegal Israeli settler-controlled tourist enclave.
Since 1975, Israeli settlers have had their eyes on Sebastia. In May of 2023, the Israeli government allocated 32 million shekels ($8.8 million) to turn Sebastia into an archaeological tourist park.
Then in 2024, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – who previously promised to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state – created a bureaucratic pathway for Israel to take over the West Bank under the guise of governing archaeological sites. In July of this year, the Israeli military ordered a separate seizure to install a military surveillance pole overlooking the village.
Just last week, the Israeli military closed off the entrance to a nearby town, Al-Masoodiyya, and installed fencing around it, preventing movement of the residents and isolating Sebastia and its nearby towns from one another.
The Israeli military claims this theft is for "archaeological preservation," but the facts reveal an illegal Israeli settlement expansion project that is part of Israel’s ongoing effort to steal Palestinian land and an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Palestinian people. Israel’s forcible theft of Palestinian land in Sebastia is a violation of international law.
Palestinian residents of Sebastia have long been the guardians of the archeological site, and they are calling out for help from the international community to protect this ancient heritage, launching a “Save Sebastia” campaign to attempt to stop Israel’s colonial project, which would severely impact them, potentially causing them to lose their homes and freedom of movement. Palestinians in Sebastia have expressed that Israel’s intention to steal their private land is anything but preservation; its purpose is to establish an illegal Israeli settlement that will install Israeli control and detach Sebastia's heritage from the town.
We call on the U.S. State Department to stop the Israeli military’s illegal land seizure of Sebastia and prevent further illegal settlement expansion across the West Bank.
Signed by:
Organizational Cosigners
American Friends Service Committee
Al Hub Forum
Jerusalem Academy of the Arts
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)
FOSNA
Peace Action Montgomery
InterReligious Task Force On Central America
Pax Christi New York State
Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore
Pax Christi Massachusetts
Pax Christi USA
Face to Face: Jewish Palestinian Reparations Alliance
Chavurah for a Free Palestine
Studer Somatics
Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church
United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)
Vigil4Gaza
Wellington UCC
Presentation sisters
Healthcare Workers for Palestine
California Jewish Artists for Palestine
Oil and Gas Action Network
Jewish Voice for Peace Bay Area
NorCal Sabeel
Friends of Wadi Foquin
Workers Party Palestine Branch (Brazil)
Tzedek Chicago
Faith Leaders
Hadia Mubarak, Resident scholar, Pillars Mosque
Rev. Dr. Jay R. Hartley, Christian Church in Arizona
Pastor John Wagner, Member of United Methodists for Kairos Response
Pastor Casey Crimmins, Project 658
Rev. Alicia T. Crosby
Rev. Dr. Jennifer Hosler
Reverend Breana van Velzen
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
Rev. Fr. Francis Gargani CSsR
Rabbi Cat Zavis
Retired Roman Catholic Priest Michael Perry
Catechist Lorin Peters, St Leanders Catholic Church
Reverend Jeffry T. Dillon
Fr. Frederick Thelen
Rev. Dr John S. Anderson, Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area
Donna Johnke, Palestinian Action Team, Oak Life Church
Fr. Aidan McAleenan, St. Columba Catholic Church
Rev. Sadie Stone, CA/NV United Methodist Church
Rabbi Brant Rosen
Dr. Rev. Beth Johnson
Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg
Rabbi Dev Noily, Kehilla Community Synagogue
Chaplain Adrian Bird
Reverend Amy Zucker Morgenstern, Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Santa Rosa