| Beit Fajjar | |
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| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | بيت فجّار |
| • Also spelled | Bayt Fajjar (official) Beit Fujar (unofficial) |
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Beit Fajjar
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| Coordinates: | |
| Governorate | Bethlehem |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | Umar Abdel Aziz Taqatqa |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 7,933 dunams (7.9 km2 / 3.1 sq mi) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 11,004 |
Beit Fajjar (Arabic: بيت فجّار) is a Palestinian town located eight kilometers south of Bethlehem in the Bethlehem Governorate, in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 11,000 in 2007.[1]
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Beit Fajjar is believed to have been a camping area for the Islamic Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab. Beit Fajjar was mostly farmland until the 19th century, when it gradually transformed into an urban settlement. The residents trace their descent to a semi-nomadic family from the Hauran. The lands formerly belonged to the village of Buraikut.[2] The site's high altitude was the highest point in the area and later the town expanded into other hills. During British rule in Palestine in the 1920s-1940s, Beit Fajjar was used as an observation point for the Bethlehem-Hebron area.[3]Under the State of Israel, Beit Fajjar has never suffered from Israeli military curfews or closures, reportedly because of its importance as a cut-stone provider. [4]
The primary economic sectors are agriculture and stone-cutting. Beit Fajjar is a major player in the stone industry, supplying meleke, widely known as Jerusalem stone, used in the construction of buildings in Israel and the Palestinian territories.[3]There are 138 stone production outlets in Beit Fajjar, out of 650 in the West Bank.[5]
On 4 October 2010, a mosque in Beit Fajjar was attacked by arsonists, who doused carpets with kerosene and ignited them at approximately 3am local time. The attackers left a "Star of David symbol and the words 'Price Tag'" over the doorway; the slogan is associated with militant Israeli settlers, who Palestinian residents accused of responsibility for the attack. Gush Etzion is close to the village.[6]
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