Bir ‘Awna: The Neighborhood Israel Snatched from Beit Jala
Before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, Bir ‘Awna (Arabic for Well of Assistance), roughly 326 dunums in size, was a neighborhood of the town of Beit Jala in the Palestinian Bethlehem Governorate, just 2 kilometers from Bethlehem’s city center. It comprised 29 percent of Beit Jala’s total area.The name Beit Jala originates from Aramaic, meaning “home of the grass carpet.” The city itself was founded in 1912.3 After 1967, Beit Jala retained only five neighborhoods, known in Arabic as haret: Haret al-Samana, Haret al-Sarar, Haret al-‘Iraq, Haret al-Deir, and Haret al-Kanees.
This entry is original published by Jerusalem Story.
