Nadene Goldfoot
The WEST BANK is a new political name after 1947 for JUDEA and SAMARIA, states created about 3,000 years ago by Joshua and Moses's 600,000 Israelites, freed from Egypt's bondage of 400 years. Judea was one of 12 states created by the tribe of Judah, and Samaria was simply the hill of land surrounding their capital (Samaria) of the Northern kingdom of ISRAEL, the compilation of the 12 states of Jacob's sons. It was Joshua who delegated land sites to each tribe, decided by what he knew each tribe was capable of holding and using the land. Canaan was land that Abraham had lived upon. It was their original home before the draught that forced them into Egypt. Now they were returning, better late than never. In Hebrew, Samaria was called Shomron. It was founded in 880 BCE by Omri, king of Israel. In 1947, the terminology was noted by the United Nations in the Partition Plan for Palestine with the statement: "the boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River...
Judaism was born through Moses' s laws from G-d during the Exodus. The Israelites spent their lives studying and practicing it wherever they lived. Jerusalem was built by David and his son, Solomon. Jews have considered this land THEIRS, even after they were exiled. They prayed 3 times a day for the time to return. Judaism went forward, spawning Christianity and then later, Islam. Now their two "children" have decided that they are Judaism's replacement theories or religions, but the Jews are faithful to the parent.
Israel (Yellow) with Shechem, the northern land made up of 10 of the tribes, that was conquered by Nebuchadnezzzar II who inherited the Assyrian Empire and after he conquered Judah in 597 BCE and again in 586 BCE, exiled the people to Babylon; and Judah, the southern land with the power source of Jerusalem, was left with 3 tribes; Judah being the largest with Simeon and Benjamin. The hilly land was even bought from its owner, Shemer (I Kings 16:24) originally. Heb. shemer, guard). Shemer was the owner of a hill in central Israel that Omri king of Israel, bought, fortified, and named Samaria after its former owner (1Kgs.16.24; 1Chr.6.46). This man’s name is Shamar in KJV of Chronicles.
The site, 7 miles NW of Shechem, today's Nablus, was on a hilltop giving them a view of the wide countryside. The city was composed of 25 acres. Omri was king of Israel from 887 to 876 BCE and was founder of a dynasty. When young, he was a general against the Philistine city of Gibbethon. He had subdued Moab. The Assyrians called the kingdom of Israel by his name for the rest of its existence. Note that this was recorded and known by all as a purchased land owned by the king for his kingdom.
Some of the Jews never left the land, but the last king of Israel was Hoshea (730-721 BCE. From then till 70 CE, other Jewish obeying rulers for other lands were sitting on the throne. The Romans burned down the Temple and Jerusalem. Bar Kokhba tried to take Jerusalem back in 132 but lost the battle after 3 years.
Britain held a 30 year mandate to be responsible for Palestine-named by Romans for Philistines, enemies of Israel that started on April 24, 1920. No one took care of the land, and it died, turning into swamps for mosquitoes and flies and such. Only when Jewish escapees from pogroms attempted a return to their native land did the land actually flourish. They bought land from Arabs who couldn't afford to pay the taxes to the Turks of the Ottoman Empire and wanted to leave for better cities such as Paris. So the land had a short respite, lying fallow, waiting for the Jews' return.
Arabs follow Mohammad (570-632). He thought he was the Arab prophet and so had revelations caused by the angel Gabriel of which later was dictated into the book, the Koran. It should be known that Mohammad would go on the Meccan trade caravans and often met Jews and Christians and would discuss life. He could not read or write. Many Jewish tribes lived in Arabia near Mecca and Medina.
To Arabs, it was land they wandered through on camels. They did have one occasion when Mohammad, who knew many of the Jewish tales told outside their tents to groups of listeners, knew about the Temple.
In Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad's flight to Jerusalem and through the heavens on his winged horse, Buraq, is known as the Isra Isra: was the night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem on his flying horse, Buraq. The Buraq: was a supernatural creature with the head of a human and the body of a horse. The name "Buraq" may come from the Arabic word bariq, which means "shine" or "brilliance". Mi'raj: The ascent through the seven heavens. This is the Arab claim of Jerusalem belonging to the Muslims.
In 1947, the United Nations proposed partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem under international control. However, fighting between Jewish and Arab militias broke out in Jerusalem immediately after the plan was adopted. The conflict led to the establishment of Israel on May 14, 1948 and the first Arab-Israeli War.
Prince Abdullah of Arabia needed land and the British gave him Jordan. The period started during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, when Jordan occupied and subsequently annexed the portion of Mandatory Palestine that became known as the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Jordanian administration of the West Bank officially began on 24 April 1950, and ended with the decision to sever ties on 31 July 1988. The territory remained under Jordanian control until it was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War and eventually Jordan renounced its claim to the territory in 1988.
During the December 1948 Jericho Conference, hundreds of Palestinian notables in the West Bank gathered, accepted Jordanian rule and recognized Abdullah as ruler.
The Judea and Samaria Area is administered by the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, and military law is applied. Administrative decisions are subject to the Command's chief. The incumbent chief of Central Command is Aluf Nitzan Alon.
The future status of the region is a key factor in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Judea/Samaria (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip are considered occupied Palestinian territories by the United Nations, the United States, the International Court of Justice, the European Union, and by non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and B'Tselem. The Supreme Court of Israel has considered the section of Judea/Samaria which excludes East Jerusalem to be Israeli-occupied territories.
On 13 May 2012, a bill to extend Israeli law to the Israeli settlements in the Judea and Samaria Area initiated by Knesset member Miri Regev (Likud) first approved by the majority of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation was rejected in a second round of votes after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed his ministers to vote against the bill.
We have 6 major Jewish populated towns in Judea and Samaria. ARIEL, BELTAR ELLIT, MA'ALE ADUMIM, MODI'IN ILLIT, EFRAT, and HAR BRACHA.
In 1967, the Six-Day War saw Israeli forces capture the Jordanian-annexed West Bank, marking the beginning of the ongoing Israeli occupation of the territory. Following its capture, the right-wing Israelis began to refer to the territories by their Hebrew-language names and argued for their integration into Israel on historical, religious, nationalist, and security grounds
Areas A, B, and C:
The West Bank was divided into Areas A, B, and C through the Oslo Accords, with Area A under full Palestinian control, Area B under shared Palestinian and Israeli control, and Area C under full Israeli control, essentially splitting the territory into zones based on administrative and security jurisdiction; Area C comprises the largest portion of the West Bank, encompassing around 60% of the land. Arabs have been encroaching on the C land, building without permits,, etc. squatting. Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel, won a 2006 West Bank parliamentary election over the Western-backed Fatah faction, led by Mahmoud Abbas, which had been administering the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Hamas victory brought sanctions and boycotts by the U.S., the EU and Israel of the new, Hamas-led joint Palestinian leadership.
In 2007, Abbas dissolved the Hamas-led administration in the West Bank and created an emergency cabinet that favored Fatah. The power struggle between the two Palestinian factions led to a split between the West Bank and Gaza, with Western powers supporting the Fatah-administered West Bank diplomatically and economically, while blockading the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Ever since then, Israel has had their hands full fighting off terrorists, and trying to protect Judea and Samaria along with Israel proper. Everyone has been so quick to want to take Judea and Samaria away from the Jewish country and turn it into an Arab country named Palestine. May I remind the world; there is but one Jewish state in the world; ISRAEL, while there are at least 49 Muslim majority states in the world that does not need another in the UN! There are 57 Muslim countries in the world, according to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) member list. Among these, 49 countries have a Muslim-majority population.
Some of those who do not support the creation of an independent Palestinian state do support Israel's annexation of the West Bank, including members of the current far-right Israeli government led by Netanyahu.
Resource:
Tanakh, Stone Edition
New Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanian_annexation_of_the_West_Bank
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judea_and_Samaria_Area
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/muslim-countries-in-the-world-2024/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-israel-annex-west-bank-after-trump-takes-office/
