Beit Jala
Beit Jala (Arabic: , possibly from Aramaic 'grass carpet') is a small town in the Palestinian territories. It is located about 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at about 825m altitude. Beit Jala has about 15,000 inhabitants, predominantly Christian with a Muslim minority, while a far greater number of mainly Christian persons descended from former inhabitants of Beit Jala live abroad, especially in South and Central America.
Beit Jala, like Bethlehem, is home to educational facilities from different religious denominations, including a Russian Orthodox school founded in 1870. The Latin Patriarchate Seminary, responsible for the liturgical education in the Jerusalem Patriarchate, moved to Beit Jala in 1936. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and Palestine runs Talitha Kumi School, which has close links to German Lutherans. The school grounds also include an environmental education project and Palestine's only bird-ringing station.
Beit Jala has a hospital and three societies for the disabled: Bethlehem Arab Society, Lifegate Rehabilitation, a German-Palestinian rehabilitation project, and House Jemima, a Dutch-founded home and daycare-center for children with mental restrictions.
3500 acres (14 km²) of land are planted with olives, grapes and other crop. Cremisan Cellars, located in the convent of Cremisan, is an important local winemaker.
The Beit Jala skyline is made up by six churches, of which Virgin Mary is the oldest and St. Nicholas the most important, where it is believed that Saint Nicholas spent four years of his life visiting the Holy Land (both are Orthodox), and by two mosques.
Beit Jala is famous for its olive wood artifacts. Other industries in the city are tobacco, textiles, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
See also: List of cities in Palestinian Authority areas