This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.Beit Jala (Arabic: بيت جالاⓘ) is a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of Palestine, in the West Bank.

Conder and Kitchener identified Beit Jala with Galem or Gallim (Γαλλιμ) of the Septuagint,[4] a place in the 9th district of the inheritance of Judah; homonymous with a settlement in Benjamin NE of Jerusalem.

[6] In the Crusader era, the village was called Apezala, and the Church of Saint Nicholas was possibly rebuilt during that time.

By virtue of this report, whether true or false, the Christians keep the Village to themselves without molestation; no Turk being willing to stake his life experimenting the truth of it.

[13] Beit Jala's inhabitants participated in the 1834 peasants' revolt in Palestine against Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian governor of Syria.

[14] In 1838, it was noted as a Greek Christian village, located in the Beni Hasan area, west of Jerusalem.

[17] The establishment of the parish faced fierce resistance by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the inhabitants of Beit Jala, leading to several skirmishes and official complaints to the Ottoman authorities by both sides.

[19] The Jerusalem Society, a Protestant movement struggled to maintain a presence in Beit Jala in the late 19th century.

[23] In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Beit Jala as: "A large and flourishing village of white well-built stone houses, on the slope of a steep hill.

There are remarkably fine groves of olives round and beneath the village, and the hill is covered with vineyards which belong to the place.

[27] In the 1931 census the population had decreased to 2,731; 2,529 Christians, 198 Muslims, 3 with "no religion" and 1 Jew; in a total of 631 inhabited houses.

The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) began relief operations for refugees in the West Bank in 1950.

They also worked with Palestinians who had retained their houses and so were not technically refugees, but who had lost their land or means of making a living because of the war.

[34] In 1952, an Israel Defense Forces reprisal raid in Beit Jala killed seven civilians; one man, two women and three children.

[37] According to ARIJ, after the war Israel confiscated 3,147 dunums of Beit Jala land in order to expand the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, later taking further land for the two Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo, the West Bank barrier and bypass roads.

[38] During the Second Intifada, militants from the Fatah-affiliated Tanzim group used Beit Jala as a base for launching sniper and mortar attacks[39] on the Israeli settlement of Gilo.

[41] The Israeli government built a concrete barrier and installed bulletproof windows in homes and schools facing Beit Jala.

[42] Militants were reported to have used the houses of Palestinian Christian residents to fire on Israeli targets in Gilo.

[44] In August 2001, the Israeli Army occupied the northeastern corner of Beit Jala, declaring that it would only leave when the gunfire on Gilo stopped.

[46] Palestinian militants subsequently increased their attacks, adding mortars and heavy machine guns.

According to Time magazine, the Palestinian militants were not locals, but took up positions in Beit Jala due to its proximity to Gilo.

Local church leaders - Latin Catholic and Greek Orthodox - have been involved in the campaign to prevent the construction of the barrier.

[citation needed] Beit Jala is home to educational institutions run by a variety of Christian denominations, including the Arab Orthodox Benevolent Society.

[62] The school has developed an environmental education program and operates the only bird-ringing station in the Palestinian sector.