Beer Festival Highlights Accomplishments of Palestinian Town

Oct. 6, 2009

TAYBEH - Not everything that shimmers in this West Bank town is golden. In fact, at Oktoberfest one of the brews is amber and another is as dark as Guinness, providing a spectrum of choice for consumers of the only micro-brew beer in the Middle East.

The Taybeh Brewing Company proudly hosted its fifth annual Oktoberfest last weekend. In addition to Taybeh beer on draught, Middle Eastern food, dancing and specialty goods were displayed in a fest

ive celebration of Palestinian culture.

Taybeh, the only 100-percent Christian town in Palestinian territory located about 5 miles from Ramallah, is surrounded by 16 Muslim villages. The population was 12,000 just a decade ago, but has dropped to 2,000. Mayor David Khoury blames Israel’s military presence for the town’s economic hardships, but his town has become an example of producing a good thing in a difficult situation. Khoury and his brother Nadim, the brewery’s founder, after living in Boston for 30 years, returned to their hometown of Taybeh to invest in the economy, create jobs and forge a reputation that Palestine as a nation can create excellent products. Nadim founded the brewery in 1995 after the Oslo Accords were signed.

“Nadim thought, ‘If we have a country, we’d make excellent products,’” explained Maria Khoury, David’s wife. “After the first uprising (in the 1990s), the image was very bad. We came here to change the image.”

Taybeh has been successful despite a second intifada beginning in 2000 that severely curtailed i

ts export ability. The company sold more than 150,000 gallons last year and in 1998 the beer became the first Palestinian product to be produced in Germany under the Taybeh license. It is made from the German formula that uses no preservatives or additives, rendering the beer 100 percent natural with malts from Belgium, hops from Bavaria and yeast from the United Kingdom. Taybeh produces four brews: golden, light and dark and just last year unveiled a nonalcoholic version, a beverage more marketable to the town’s Muslim neighbors.

But because of its natural ingredients and lack of preservatives the beer spoils quickly and long delays at Israeli checkpoints threaten to ruin kegs-full of beer as Taybeh trucks wait to pass into Israel. This challenge to get the beer from Taybeh to Jerusalem--a mere 20 miles away--prompted a new strategy: If the beer can’t get out, the town will bring the outsiders to them. Thus Oktoberfest was born.

“We are trying to find creative ways to boost the economy,” Maria, who has voluntarily taken on promotion for the beer and the town itself, said. “We can’t afford to go three hours to (the) checkpoint and other businesses cannot afford that. So we entice people to come here. The whole theme behind Oktobebrfest is to promote local products. Its a nonviolent way to resist harsh conditions.”

Each year the festival attracts thousands of people, including Palestinians, foreigners and a few Israeli citizens who defy the official warning posted outside the town prohibiting their entrance under Israeli law. The festival also features homegrown products such as honey, olive oil and embroidery. Maria Khoury said some local merchants sell more in these two days than they do the entire year.

Oktoberfest has remained largely unopposed by surrounding Islamic villages and a rising fanaticism in the region, Maria said. But this year the mayor’s car was firebombed during a meeting at the municipality. Maria Khoury said authorities have no idea who did it and whether it was a personal attack against the mayor or related to the beer festival. David Khoury was lightly injured. Relations have been more tense since three years ago when 14 Christian houses were burned down and a Muslim woman was killed in an “honor killing” after residents of the neighboring Muslim town accused a Christian in Taybeh of having an affair with the woman.

Called Ofra in the Old Testament and later Ephraim in John 11:54, the town has been occupied by Christian Arabs for hundreds of years, Khoury said. His own family claims about 12 generations there. The village has kept its unique identity as Christian for 2,000 years. Khoury wants to keep it that way and to improve life for its citizens.