--- title: West Bank Brew: The Beer That Made Taybeh Famous | TIME description: The mayor's family owns the town brewery, but not everyone is happy about Taybeh's successful annual Oktoberfest and local beer canonical: https://time.com/video/VwivxpP5/ og:title: West Bank Brew: The Beer That Made Taybeh Famous og:description: The mayor's family owns the town brewery, but not everyone is happy about Taybeh's successful annual Oktoberfest and local beer og:url: https://time.com/video/VwivxpP5/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VwivxpP5/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: West Bank Brew: The Beer That Made Taybeh Famous twitter:description: The mayor's family owns the town brewery, but not everyone is happy about Taybeh's successful annual Oktoberfest and local beer twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VwivxpP5/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # West Bank Brew: The Beer That Made Taybeh Famous > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: West Bank Brew: The Beer That Made Taybeh Famous [Watch (HLS stream): West Bank Brew: The Beer That Made Taybeh Famous](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VwivxpP5.m3u8) (5:07)  _Published 2009-10-08. The mayor's family owns the town brewery, but not everyone is happy about Taybeh's successful annual Oktoberfest and local beer_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:14 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [This Company Uses Surplus Bread to Brew Beer](/video/LSizo4CE/) ### This Company Uses Surplus Bread to Brew Beer [From Construction Worker to Beer Hound Brewmaster](/video/vCWBbuC7/) ### From Construction Worker to Beer Hound Brewmaster [Beer Pong Strikes Back](/video/yWruaeEy/) ### Beer Pong Strikes Back --- ## Transcript >> Beer may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the West Bank, but maybe it should be. Welcome to Oktoberfest, Palestinian style. Forget the bratwurst and try a lamb skewer. And instead of Bavarian folk dancing, feast your eyes on the Levantine line dance known as Debka. Every year, the Palestinian Christian Village of Taybeh serves up nearly 10, 000 liters of ale to a multinational, multiethnic crowd who come here in support of two causes. >> There's two-- two things are the best in the world. Beer and Palestine. >> Yeah. >> When they meet together-- >> Together, this is the perfect thing in the world. >> Perfect. >> But there is a small minority in Taybeh who do not see it this way. >> As you can see, that's from the fire. >> Just a few days before Oktoberfest, while Mayor David Khoury was inside the municipal building, a Molotov cocktail was place in his vehicle engulfing it in flames. >> In Arabic they say, Ayn al- Hasud. It's the evil eye. >> Stone masons work to repair the chart front entrance to the building, also damaged in the blaze. >> What do you suspect? >> It must be from our Village of Taybeh. >> Even though alcohol is frowned upon in Islam, the Mayor recently negotiated a Sulha or reconciliation with the neighboring Muslim villages and doesn't believe they're to blame. Taybeh is an entirely Christian village, so there's no religious reason for a local to target Oktorbest, which also galvanizes the town's struggling economy. Taybeh's Greek Catholic parish priest believes the culprits to be insane. >> These are mad people. It's worse than occupation. >> Like many predominantly Christian places in the Middle East, Taybeh is a shadow of its former self. It has shrunk from 11, 000 to 2, 000 people with residents fleeing war, Israeli occupation and Palestinian Intifada. The Mayor himself immigrated to the United States, living in Boston for 30 years until he decided to return to the village of his birth. His plan for putting Taybeh on the map alongside his brother Nadim, was to create the first ever Palestinian Brewery. >> A lot of people thought that I'm crazy to open up brewery in a Muslim country. >> On the hills of the Oslo accords and with Yasser Arafat's blessing, the Khoury brothers did just that in 1995. Production stalled during the second Intifada in 2000. But as West Bank's stability has increased over the past several years, so beer sales. >> I want all Palestine to be proud of their product and to be proud of their beer. >> Over 600, 000 liters of Taybeh beer were sold last year. Half the Palestinians, 40 percent to Israelis, and 10 percent to international markets, most recently to Japan. Even the mecha of beer making itself, Germany is now importing Taybeh. The brothers see their brewery as a symbol for something much greater. >> Well, it's not just for me, for all Palestine I believe. It will boost the economy of Palestine that we can produce good quality product. This is how the city of Palestine can be built. We need to show the whole world that we can live with our neighbors, we could live in peace. >> Mr. Khoury's 24- year- old daughter, Madees, may very well be the only female brewer in Middle East. >> This is where we brew the beer, it's called the Brew House and it's where I am at 5 o'clock in the morning when we're brewing beer and this is our resistance and occupation, just to do beer and make people happy. >> The entrance to Taybeh's monitor 24 hours a day by this Israeli army tower. Israeli military control of the West Bank slows down the process of selling the beer. Raw materials take longer to come in and the final product takes longer to reach the markets. This sign states that it is illegal for Israelis to visit Taybeh. One of the organizers of Oktobefest partially covered it up. Thousands of Israeli, Arabs and scores of Israelis Jews defied the law to come and show solidarity with the village. Security forces made their presence felt at the event but they were not necessary. For at least these two days in October, fear and politics are replaced by kegs of beer and yes, Palestinian hip hop. Take it away, G- town. 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