Editing Latrun (section)

===British Mandate===
In the [[1922 census of Palestine]], conducted by the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate authorities]], ''Latrun'' had a population of 59, all [[Muslim]]s. In addition, ''Dair Latrun'' ("The monastery of Latrun") had a population of 37 Christian males.<ref name=Census1922>Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n23/mode/1up 21]</ref> In the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] they were counted together, and Latrun had a population 120; 76 Muslims and 44 Christians, in a total of 16 "houses".<ref name=Census1931>Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 22].</ref>

[[Image:Latrun-Police-Building.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Tegart fort|Tegart police fort]]]]

During WWI the monastery sustained significant damage. Latrun and its environs saw heavy fighting during the [[Sinai and Palestine campaign]], an offensive launched in the fall of 1917 by the Entente powers against the Ottoman Empire and its allies. The monastery's interior furnishings, as well as all of its windows and doors, were either looted or destroyed as a result of the conflict. After the war, a new monastery was built at Latrun in 1926, and the crypt was completed in 1933. However the church was again damaged during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, and required further restoration. This work was completed, and the church officially consecrated, on 21 November 1953.<ref name=Latroun/>  The monastery was designed by the community's first abbot, Dom Paul Couvreur, and is an example of [[Cistercian architecture]]. Many of the stained-glass windows were produced by a monk of the community.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}

A Juniorate, a school for young boys, ran from 1931 until 1963 and provided many vocations for the community, especially of Lebanese monks.<ref name=LatrounAbbey/>

Following the [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine|1936–39 Arab revolt]], the [[United Kingdom|British]] authorities built a number of police forts (named [[Tegart fort]]s after their designer<ref>Note that the forts commonly called "''Taggart''" forts in Israel are named after Sir Charles ''[[Charles Tegart|Tegart]]'' - a [[misspelling]] apparently from [[transliteration]] of the name from [[English language|English]] to [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and then back to English.</ref>) at various locations; Latrun was chosen due to its strategic significance, particularly its dominant position above the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem road. Many members of the [[Yishuv]] who had resisted the British administration were imprisoned in a detention camp at Latrun. [[Moshe Sharett]], later Israel's second Prime Minister, and several other members of the [[Jewish Agency]]'s Executive Committee, were held at Latrun for several months in 1946.<ref>{{cite news|last=Clifton|first=Daniel|title=Britain Launches Army Drive to End Palestine Terror|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/06/30/107142654.pdf|access-date=3 June 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=30 June 1946|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=British to Release 700 Interned Jews|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/11/02/archives/british-to-release-700-interned-jews-dedicating-new-library-at.html|access-date=3 June 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2 November 1946|agency=AP|page=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=8 Jewish Leaders Freed by British|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB071FFD3A5C107A93C4A9178AD95F428485F9|access-date=3 June 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=6 November 1946|page=18}}</ref>

As of the [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 statistics]], the population of the Latrun village had grown to 190 Christians,<ref name=1945p30>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p30.jpg 30]</ref> with a total of 8,376 [[dunam]]s of land.<ref name=Hadawi67>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945''. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/al-Ramla/Page-067.jpg 67]</ref> Of this, a total of 6,705 dunams were used for [[cereal]]s, 439 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards, 7 for citrus and bananas,<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/al-Ramla/Page-116.jpg 116]</ref>  while 4 dunams were classified as built-up public areas.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/al-Ramla/Page-166.jpg 166]</ref>
[[File:Latrun.jpg|thumb|Latrun Monastery 1948]]
[[File:Latrun 1942.jpg|thumb|Latrun 1942 1:20,000]]
[[File:Latrun 1945.jpg|thumb|Latrun 1945 1:250,000]]