[3] The French explorer Victor Guérin believed that Abu Dis was at the location of ancient Bahurim,[4] but this identification is not accepted today.

Wheat and barley formed the bulk of cash crops, but were supplemented by grapes, olives, fruit trees, beans, and products from goats and bees.

[7] In 1838 Abu Dis was noted as a Muslim village, part of el-Wadiyeh district, located east of Jerusalem.

[10][11] By the old village mosque, known locally as Maqam Salah ad-Din, there is a grave with a slab of marble, with a poem written in "elegant naskhi script", dated to 1878.

[12] In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "village of moderate size in a conspicuous position on a bare flat ridge, with deep valleys round it.

[13] In the late 19th century, the Sheikh of Abu Dis, Rasheed Erekat, promised to guarantee the safety of European tourists and pilgrims on the journey down to Jericho and the River Jordan.

[14] According to a 19th-century traveler, the "only way of accomplishing the journey to the Jordan ...(is) by paying the statutory tribute-money to the Sheikh of Abu Dees.

[24] According to the UN General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948, Abu Dis was to be the most Eastern part of the corpus separatum Jerusalem area.

[29] In 2000, the construction of a Parliament Building to possibly house the Palestinian Legislative Council was started in Abu Dis, but the project was never finished.

Israel has suggested to predestine the location as a substitute for East Jerusalem, the Palestinians' claimed capital.

[31] Because there are no hospitals in Abu Dis, residents often must travel to neighboring localities to receive medical attention.

[33] The Al-Maqasid Charitable Society operates Abu Dis's only health center, which lacks an ambulance or specialized healthcare professionals or services.

According to a 2007 poll, nearly 5% of the population is illiterate and 15% has not been formally educated, while only 17% of Abu Dis's residents have collegiate degrees.

[36] The Jerusalem Electricity Company has been the primary power source in Abu Dis since 1978, though it does not reach all residencies.

For wastewater disposal, Abu Dis's residents make use of cesspits because the village has no sewage system; this waste is discarded in unsettled territories.

The United Nations humanitarian affairs office charged that the barrier would severely disrupt access to schools, hospitals, and work throughout the West Bank.

[38] As a result of the western wall the Cliff Hotel owned by the Ayyad family of Abu Dis has been the focus of a legal dispute in the Israeli courts.

A High Court ruling in February 2010 was still unable to decide whether the law applies to property in East Jerusalem belonging to residents of the Palestinian territories.

[52] Controversy surrounded the landfill's establishment as critics argued the expropriation of Abu Dis's land violated International humanitarian law and the Oslo Accords by constituting an unwarranted seizure of an occupied peoples' private property; however the Israeli Supreme Court has argued that because the waste disposal site benefits Palestinians, the land seizure is admissible on account of legal precedent.

[51] Due to improper infrastructure and overfilling, the waste disposal site has caused pollution in Abu Dis, which has led the United Nations General Assembly to call upon Israel to "cease all actions harming the environment, including the dumping of all kinds of waste materials in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

"[53] Environmental externalities include a pervading stench in the surrounding areas, the emission of toxic gases when waste is burned, water pollution, the attraction of stray dogs which have been known to attack villagers' goats.