Judaea Samaria's Areas A,B,C and the Fight Over 70 Jewish Communities in Danger

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                     

                      Hebron was called Kiriath-Arba, a city in Judah in Abraham's time.  Now we have a Jewish community called Kiryat Arba, named for that period.  It has been taken over by the Palestinians today and is only 18 miles south of Jerusalem.  They're in the hands of the PA (Palestinian Authority).  The Hittites controlled this city before Joshua had arrived with Moses and 601,730 Jews, a people from Syria with a few living in Eretz Yisrael in Hebron.  Remember, it was the Canaanites who lived in Eretz Yisrael in small city-state communities, fighting each other.  Canaanites themselves were a mixture of Horites, Hittites and Hebrews divided into 11 peoples who were almost entirely obliterated by the  Israelites, Philistines and Arameans.  Those around during kings David and Solomon's day were absorbed.         

                                                                                   

Map highlighting Area C where the access is closed and restricted to Palestinians. Darker areas are Israeli settlements and military posts within Area C.

                                                          

Notice this is how Al Jazeera defines C.  C Is to be the Jewish living area., not Palestinian. 

When you do look at the map, the eastern side (C) is a thin area compared to B which is for both.   

Judea-Samaria is divided into areas A,B, and C.  C is the area that Jews have been given the right to populate.  Can you imagine?  The world government is allowing them a teeny strip of land to live on that was once a piece of their own small empire from the times of King David and Solomon?  This is because of the Palestinians who want all 3 sections as their new state-the state of Palestine.  The problem has been the constant attack on Israel with rockets, missiles and mortars that have been coming from Gaza, where the Hamas terrorists rule.  

Right now there are 70 small communities that have developed in area C under the name of the Yesha neighborhoods who feel unprotected by Israel as Israel hasn't thrown their umbrella of protection over them as yet.  25,000 Jews are afraid that in keeping the Palestinians at bay, Israel might act on their demands to order their evacuation and demolition as they did once to the Jews that had been living in Gaza.  And that turned out badly, didn't it?  Gaza is now a place where all the bombing comes from;  from Palestinians more interested in destruction of Israel rather than in making peace with them.

                                

Many of them are not even connected to standard water and electricity infrastructures because of their status.  

                                             

       Areas A,B,C with olive trees 

Community Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi has put forth a proposal whereby government ministers would agree to legalize 46 of the 70 communities, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has stated his intention to advance the plan.  The holdup, however, is Netanyahu's other PM, Ganz, who will not go along with it.  He's using his power to be noticed.  "Concurrently, Gantz is seeking to approve clusters of illegal Arab construction in Area C of Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu has not given a clear sign that he will oppose the initiative, which settler leaders say is “a national betrayal.”

The Palestinians do have area A.  Area B was to be used jointly by the Israelis and Palestinians.  The Palestinians have managed to get away with building in area C-and the government hasn't been there to stop them.  If it was like a Gentleman's Agreement, the Palestinians have no idea of being so.  They like being squatters better, and the Jews are pacifists in protecting their rights, trying to hold up their being the "good guys."   However, Yesha leaders have taken to have protests and now a hunger strike.  

Why is Ganz against Israel defending these Jewish communities?  Foreign elements invest massive financial support to leftist organizations abroad to isolate and boycott Israel. They also channel funds to leftist groups in Israel and “Palestinians” to use the court system to stymie the settlement movement.

In 1973, there were 23 municipalities and 31 rural councils in Judaea and Samaria.  Liaison officers of the Israel Ministry of the Interior approved their budgets, arrange to lend them funds at low interest, and audited their finances and administration.  Elections were held in Judaea and Samaria in 1972 in accordance with Jordanian law.  

Israel was waiting for a peace settlement which would determine the political future of the areas  with the objectives of keeping security for Israelis and Arabs alike;  letting the people live normal lives without losing contact with Arabs in other countries;  making rapid economic development possible, and to encourage co-existence and cooperation between the Arabs and Israelis.  

                                              

The Oslo II Accord was first signed in Taba (in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt) by Israel and the PLO on 24 September 1995 and then four days later on 28 September 1995 by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and witnessed by US President Bill Clinton as well as by representatives of Russia, Egypt, Jordan, Norway, and the European Union in Washington, D.C.

The agreement is built on the foundations of the initial Oslo I Accord, formally called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, which had been formally signed on 13 September 1993 by Israel and the PLO, with Prime Minister Rabin and Chairman Arafat in Washington, D.C. shaking hands, and officially witnessed by the United States and Russia.

                                                     

   Community considered "illegal" is Beitar Ilit  an ultra-Orthodox Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Jerusalem, in the Judaean Mountains of the West Bank.   Beitar Illit is one of Israel's largest and most rapidly growing settlements, and in 2019 had a population of 59,270.

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government and United States governments dispute this.  I ask, "How old must a city be to be called a city and not a settlement?"  This is a city.  Stop calling it a settlement!  

The Oslo II Accords decided that Area A is exclusively administered by the Palestinian National Authority; Area B is administered by both the Palestinian Authority and Israel; and Area C, which contains the Israeli settlements, is administered by Israel. Areas A and B were chosen in such a way as to just contain Palestinians, by drawing lines around Palestinian population centers at the time the Agreement was signed; all areas surrounding Areas A and B were defined as Area C.

                                              

     Mod'in Ilit is another city in  area  C.  It is a Haredi Israeli settlement (Haredi Judaism consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism characterized by a strict adherence to halakha and traditions, as opposed to modern values and practices.)and city in the West Bank, situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Modi'in Illit was granted city status by the Israeli government in 2008. It is located six kilometres (3.7 miles) northeast of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut and is often referred to as Kiryat Sefer (lit. "Book Town"), the name of its first neighborhood, established in 1994. It was built on the land of five Palestinian villages: Ni'lin, Kharbata, Saffa, Bil'in and Dir Qadis. Modi'in Illit encompasses the neighborhoods of Kiryat Sefer and Achuzat Brachfeld (Brachfeld Estates). In 2019 it had a total population of 76,374, making it the largest Jewish settlement in the area. Of course they also have the largest population of children as well.   

The international community considers Israeli settlements illegal under international law, but the Israeli and American government dispute this.

Notice those who have pioneered in Judaea and Samaria are orthodox Jews, cognizant of their religious history and the religious history of Judaea and Samaria, especially and having the need for a supportive community. Besides that fact, such places as Jerusalem and Safed are already full-up with a dense population as it is.  Israel proper is very very small!  

                                                             

Part of Area C was intended to be handed to Palestinians by the end of 1999. Israel promised to redeploy its troops from Areas A and B before the elections. After the inauguration of an elected Palestinian parliament, the Israeli Civil Administration would be dissolved and the Israeli military government be withdrawn. The Council would get some powers and responsibilities.

Within 18 months from the date of inauguration, Israel would further redeploy military forces from Area C in three phases, however, without transfer of any sovereignty to the Palestinians.

The relatively new phenomenon of building Palestinian settlements began in 2006, attempting to trace after the Israeli settlement experience beyond the 1967 Green Line, and in a media-driven counter-offensive. The most notable Palestinian settlement in the West Bank, defined by Israel as "illegal", was built in January 2013 on E1 Area East of Jerusalem. The settlement which was named "Bab al-Shams" consisted of about 20 tents, constructed by the Popular Struggle Co-ordination Committee. A few days after the evacuation, another "Palestinian settlement" was erected in the village of Beit Iksa near the planned Wall barrier, which they claim would confiscate Palestinian land. It was named "Bab al-Karama".

Responsibility for religious sites in the Judaea-Samaria and Gaza Strip was to be transferred to the Palestinian side, gradually in the case of Area C. The Palestinian side agreed to ensure free access to a specific list of Jewish religious sites   but due to the uncertain security situation the Israel Defense Forces limits visits by Jews to rare occasions.  In Area C, Nabi Musa was to be under the auspices of the Palestinian side and access to al-Maghtas on the Jordan River was promised for particular religious events.

Was it good news?  To this very day, Israel is still being shelled by the Gazans.  Peace?  That's not #1 in the Palestinian plan, or else they would have started being peaceful at least since 1995, wouldn't they?  For the past 25 years, now going on 26, they have not been peaceful, and Hamas and the PA are both "THE PALESTINIANS."                                                          

 They have joint plans.   Here are the Hamas and Fatah of the PA leadership.  They haven't agreed; breaking apart many times, vying for leadership of the 2 groups, incorrigible with each other as they are with the Israelis.                                

             Minister of Settlement Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi., photo from Yonaton Sindel.  

Community Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi has put forth a proposal whereby government ministers would agree to legalize 46 of the 70 communities, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has stated his intention to advance the plan.  Tzachi Hanegbi is an Israeli politician and national security expert. A member of Likud, Hanegbi is currently Minister of Settlement Affairs and also previously served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Minister of Regional Cooperation.

A month ago, Netanyahu had promised to make the 70 small communities legal and official?  What has stopped him besides Ganz? 

                                                

Susie Dym is a London-born, English-speaking Israeli. By profession, she's a patent attorney in Israel's private and defense industries. She also has over 20 years of experience in public affairs including introducing the Israeli parliament to the novel concept of achievement orientation by masterminding the Mattot Arim reports. She still serves as spokesperson for Mattot Arim, an Israeli NGO working toward peace-for-peace since 1992, and is well connected to Israeli public figures in government and media...

" It was the "election of the new U.S. president whose religion is two-statism. Like Obama before him, Biden has some type of overpowering, almost mystical feeling that having a Palestinian state – allied with Iran, with full state powers, a golf shot away from Ben-Gurion airport, G-d forbid – is a wonderful idea."  So explained a  hi-tech patent attorney and mother of 6, Susie Dym,  who lives in one of the small communities.  She has lived there since the Yom Kippur War of 1973 one month before it happened at age 11 with her family.  

Since then, she has served as the volunteer spokesperson for Mattot Arim, an Israeli NGO which has promoted “peace for peace” since the early conception of the Oslo Accords. "Tiny Israel doesn’t have much territory, so you don’t need to be a mathematician to understand that if you subscribe to “land for peace” – surrendering chunks of Eretz Yisrael for the fantasy of peace with the so-called Palestinians – within a short time we Israelis will run out of land-gifts and will find ourselves without peace, swimming around in the salty Mediterranean".

She continued.  "On Election Day, you vote for the best there is, and the rest of the time you do your best to make the best there is into something much better, much safer for the Jewish people". This is why Netanyahu has had Judea-Samaria Jewish community support.  

Professor Kontorovich, my "go-to in matters of International law, explains why Israel rule is legal in Judaea Samaria.  https://jcpa.org/why-israeli-rule-in-the-west-bank-is-legal-under-international-law/  He gets into it quickly by saying, "Israel was created, like most countries, after a successful war where no one came to its aid. In international law, there is a clear rule regarding the establishment of new countries: the country’s borders are determined in accordance with the borders of the previous political entity in that area. So what was here before? The British Mandate. And what were the borders of the British Mandate? From the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.  

Resource: 

https://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/felafel-on-rye/fighting-for-70-yesha-communities/2021/01/21/ with picture.  

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/facts-about-jewish-settlements-in-the-west-bank

facts about Israel;  Oct. 1973, Information ministry for foreign affairs, Jerusalem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bank_Areas_in_the_Oslo_II_Accord

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/susie-dym/