Beit Sahour General Overview

Beit Sahour is pronounced Bayt Sahoor (بيت ساحور) in Arabic which means “Place of the Night Watch”. The origins of the name stems from the Canaanite language – The House of the Shepherds, which reflected the importance of the area for shepherds especially for its fertile fields that contain large caves as shelters for the shepherded and their flock at the nights.

Beit Sahour is a Palestinian town situated in fertile fields to the east of Bethlehem and south east of Jerusalem in the Holy Land. It has a population of about 14,500, 80% of it are Christians and the rest 20% are Muslims. The town contains ruins that belong to the Byzantine, Islamic and Crusaders periods. In addition, the fields of Beit Sahour are believed to be where the Angel of the Lord appeared to the Shepherds that were keeping watch over their flocks at night and informed them of Jesus’ birth.
These fields are also believed to be where Ruth and Naomi, the Hebrew matriarchs, gleaned in on their way to Bethlehem from Moab.

The Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholics and the Protestants each have their own enclosures in the eastern part of the town to be the actual Shepherds Field. (See The Church of the Shepherd’s Fields for more information)

Beit Sahour suffered from cruel conditions due to Israel’s military occupation after the war in 1967. Many residents were imprisoned, properties were confiscated, factories and workshops were shut down and some areas required a rebuild.

In 1989, during the first Intifada, the people of Beit Sahour raised the call “No taxation without representation” and carried out an organized citywide tax strike which was supported by the United Nations Council.

After the Oslo Accords (1993), the town’s economy was largely based on tourism and related industries. There have been extensive renovations of hotels, historic sites, hotels and other businesses like olive-wood carvings (Crosses & Crucifixes, Ornaments, Nativities...) and mother of pearl carvings. However, this situation didn’t last long and it was seriously disrupted since September 2000 due to the events of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. All local family businesses which depend on tourism were severely damaged. Even the locals who were working inside Israeli territories in agriculture and construction were forced to stop working in Israel. The unemployment percentage exceeded 60%.
In a try to overcome this crisis, local workshops are seeking for alternative marketplace abroad to sell their carvings. HolyLand Gateway is trying its best to help those “forgotten faithful” make a living.

Sites in Beit Sahour

The Church of the Shepherd’s Fields

More photos of Haifa sites are available at HolyLand Photo Gallery