The Beit Jala Lions is a rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 club situated in the town of Beit Jala

Beit Jala

Beit Jala is an Arab Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank. Beit Jala is located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at altitude...

 near Bethlehem

Bethlehem

Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...

 in the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

.

The team was started in October 2007 by international rugby players and local guys and later encouraged by members of the Munster

Munster Rugby

Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...

 Supporters Club. Their first full match took place in March 2008 against the newly formed Ramallah

Ramallah

Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...

 Blue Snakes, in the town of Khader.

In October 2008, the team travelled to Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 to take part in the Paphos Tag Rugby Tournament 2008, and play against the Paphos Tigers

Paphos Tigers

The Paphos Tigers are an independent rugby union club based in Paphos, Cyprus. They are known as the first independent rugby club in Cyprus. They have been established since July 10, 2003....

 and Limassol Crusaders. The same month, the team had a tag rugby

Tag Rugby

Tag Rugby, also known as rippa rugby, flag rugby league or flag rugby, is a non-contact team game in which each player wears a belt that has two velcro tags attached to it, or shorts with velcro patches. The mode of play is based on rugby league with many similarities to touch rugby...

 match against the Ramallah Blue Snakes in the Taybeh

Taybeh

Taybeh is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, 35 kilometers north of Jerusalem and 12 kilometers northeast of Ramallah in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, 850 meters above sea level. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Taybeh had a population of 1,452 in 2007...

Oktober festival.

Plans are being made to host a Tag Rugby Tournament in the Palestinian territories, with some teams coming from Ireland.

Team

• Nicola Stefan ,(coach from October 2008), scrum half/flyhalf
• George Antonio Maria , second row/number 8
• Jason Pollack , flanker/scrum half
• Samer Tareh , second row
• Jamal Abu Farha, prop
• Saleem Moussa Anfous , prop/flanker
• Pari Gedeon , flanker/inside center
• Usama Khamis , wing
• Najeeb Makhlouf ,hooker/flanker
• Tony Ballout , wing
• Apo Sahagian , outside center/wing
• Dr. Nassar Khamis (Chairman)