History of Jifna

was built in 1859, adjacent to the ruins of St. George's Church. St. George's Church has continued as a place of worship into the modern era and has been the site of archaeological excavation since the mid-19th century. Mass is still held at the altar on certain occasions. During the 1880s, Jifna was frequently taxed by Ottoman authorities. It also came into consistent armed conflict with another Christian village, Bir Zeit, which in one incident, resulted in the deaths of five men from that village. In retaliation, Bir Zeit residents uprooted and burned 125 of Jifna's olive groves.

Modern times

In 1917, during World War I, the Ottomans were defeated by British and Arab forces. After a brief period of military rule, Jifna and its region came under the control of the League of Nations British Mandate, in 1922. In 1947 the United Nations proposed the partitioning of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jifna being a part of the projected Arab state. However, after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War the whole West Bank region, including Jifna, was annexed by Transjordan to form the Kingdom of Jordan, and the Arab state was stillborn. In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank, after their victory in the Six-Day War.

After the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Israel, Jifna was placed in "Area B". Thus, its administrative and civil affairs were transferred to the PNA, while security matters remained in Israeli control. Throughout the ongoing Second Intifada, which began in 2000, Jifna has not experienced violence to the same extent as other parts of the West Bank, such as in nearby Ramallah, but its residents face travel restrictions and economic hardship