Abu Ghosh is a local council in Israel, located 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) west of Jerusalem on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. It is situated 610–720 meters above sea level. It takes its current name from the dominant clan inhabiting the town, while the older Arabic name used to be Qaryat al-‘Inab (“Grape Village”). Abu Ghosh is part of the Jerusalem District. The Population is at 7,000. Abu Ghosh mayor Salim Jaber attributed the good relations with Israel to the great importance attached to being hospitable: “We welcome anybody, regardless of religion or race.” According to a village elder interviewed by the Toronto Globe and Mail: “Perhaps because of the history of feuding with the Arabs around us we allied ourselves with the Jews…against the British. We did not join the Arabs from the other villages bombarding Jewish vehicles in 1947. The Palmach fought many villages around us. But there was an order to leave us alone. The other Arabs never thought there would be a Jewish government here…During the first truce of the War of Independence, I was on my way to Ramallah to see my father and uncles, and I was captured by Jordanian soldiers. They accused me of being a traitor and tortured me for six days.”
The Crusader church at the historical entrance to the village, now at the centre of the Benedictine Monastery, is one of the best preserved Crusader remains in the country. The Hospitallers had built this late Romanesque/early Gothic church in 1140 and it was partially destroyed in 1187. It was acquired by the French government in 1899 and placed under guardianship of the French Benedictine Fathers. Since 1956, it has been run by the Lazarist Fathers. Today a double community of nuns and priests continue the worship in the church and offer hospitality, reflecting the ancient story of the couple on the Jerusalem–Emmaus road. Edward Robinson (1838) described it as “obviously from the time of the crusades, and […] more perfectly preserved than any other ancient church in Palestine.” Excavations carried out in 1944 confirm that the Crusaders identified the site as the biblical Emmaus. The church is now known as both Church of the Resurrection and Emmaus of the Crusaders.
The Abu Gosh Music Festival is held twice a year, in the fall and late spring, with musical ensembles and choirs from Israel and abroad performing in and around the churches in Abu Ghosh. The Elvis Inn, a restaurant in Abu Ghosh, is known for its large gold statue of Elvis Presley in the parking lot.
Abu Ghosh is popular among Israelis for its Middle Eastern restaurants and hummus. In 2007, it was described as the “hummus capital of Israel.” In January 2010, Abu Ghosh secured the Guinness World Record for preparing the largest dish of hummus in the world. Jawdat Ibrahim, owner of Abu Ghosh hummus restaurant, organized the event, which brought together 50 Jewish and Israeli-Arab chefs. The winning 20-foot (6.1 m) dish weighed 4,087.5 kilograms (8992.5 pounds), about twice as much as the previous record set by Lebanon in October 2009. In May 2010, Lebanon regained the Guinness World Record, more than doubling Abu Ghosh’s January 2010 total.
