Wings of Hope for trauma is located in the city of Bethlehem. Bethlehem is an ancient and historical Arab city that was built and inhabited by the Canaanites around the year 2000 BC. The meaning of the city’s name in Arabic is Bayt Laḥm, “House of Meat,” in the Hebrew language is ”Bet Leḥem” ‘The House of Bread’, and in ancient Greek named after the Canaanite fertility god “Lahmu”. Within the city lies the Church of the Nativity where Jesus Christ was born. The city of Bethlehem is 10 km south of Jerusalem, at an altitude of about 765 meters above sea level. The city itself has a population of nearly 30,000 people. It contains approximately 35 villages and towns, and is famous for being the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Three camps exist in the governorate; Dheisheh, Aida and Azzeh. The Bethlehem area also contains the towns of Artas, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour.
In Bethlehem, there are many churches, and perhaps the most important one is the Nativity Church, built by Constantine the Great (330) on the cave where Jesus was born. It is believed that this church is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity. A nearby crypt is believed to be where Jerome spent thirty years of his life translating most of the Bible into Latin (the translation that became known as the Vulgate). There is also the Omar Bin al-Khatab mosque which is situated opposite the Nativity Church. The mosque was named after Omar Bin al-Khatab who was the second Rashidun caliph of the Muslims. Omar had travelled to Bethlehem in 637 CE to issue a law that would guarantee respect for the shrine and safety for Christians and clergy. In addition, the important holy site of Rachel’s Tomb is at the northern entrance of Bethlehem.
The section of the separation wall built in Bethlehem by Israel is impossible to miss when traveling in the West Bank. It is a hulking, concrete snake that twists and turns its way throughout the land, lining highways, surrounding villages, and cutting through cities.
The city of Bethlehem is one of the most important Palestinian cities for conferences and international forums. It has witnessed many celebrations and events, including welcoming Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedictus XVI. The historical Bethlehem is still visible to the public even now with the same ancient buildings built of limestone some of them with Roman architecture style. Tourism is the backbone of the economy as it is visited year-round by pilgrims. It has many hotels and is famous for a variety of industries such as olivewood carvings and embroidery, and materials such as mother-of-pearl.
Israeli occupational authorities established 12 settlements in the District of Bethlehem; seven of these constitute an area of no less than 5 thousand Dunums each, and four settlements of more than 25 thousand Dunums. According to the Oslo agreement, transfer of civilian/security authority of the city into the hands of the Palestinian National Authority occurred in 1995.