Nadene Goldfoot
Judea was the land of one of the 12 tribes of Jacob in the bible, son of Isaac, son of Abraham. It was Judah, the largest of the 12, called Judah, and is where Jews came from. When the Romans conquered in 70 CE, it was then called Judaea. Jerusalem lies in Judea.
Samaria was a city and capital of the Northern kingdom of Israel which came about after the split between their North and South after King Solomon died in 920 BCE which created the kingdoms of Israel and kingdom of Judah. The capital of Samaria replaced Jerusalem for these 10 northern tribes. Samaria was founded in 880 BCE by their king Omri, on a hill bought from Shemer (I Kings 16-24). The site was about 7 miles NW of Shechem, today's Nablus, and was on an isolated elevation dominating a wide countryside. The city was 25 acres in size.
When people speak of Judea and Samaria in connotation of the West Bank, they are referring to not only the city but the entire northern region of the central highland of Palestine which would surround the city. Israel had been the land of the Jewish Empire since the end of the Exodus, around 1500 BCE. after they had entered Canaan. With 1500 years up to Jesus, and 1917 days since then, that adds up to Jews living in the land for 3,417 years at least, and a small population that continued and had never left. Adding to that population have been many groups of Jews and individuals who have returned despite the dangers of getting there.
Actually, The Roman conquest of 70 CE cuts the time down to 1,570 years of having an actual home of Judea, as the Romans took over their home, causing Jews to become homeless, wandering the earth ever since then, trying to fit into various countries with little success being their religion was different from others, as they do not worship Jesus.
Jews were people with ONE invisible G-d while living among polygamous religious peoples, and continued to have the strict concept of ONE invisible G-d, that seems to have disturbed others. Their concept of religion was very different from the Greeks and Romans, teaching ethics and behavior over their worship. Its elements were more aligned with that of Hammurabi of Babylon's legal code of life (1728-1686 BCE) than Roman worship of many gods controlling the world.
By the 300s CE, Romans were concerned that Jews were their competitors in gaining followers of their "new religion of Christianity" for they finally became followers of the new Christians due to the emperor's mother, Helena, who converted her son. This fear of competition caused all sorts of rules against Jews, the start of anti-Semitism.
The "Bank"as in the bank of a river, is the western side of the Jordan River that divides the land. It had been called Transjordan, part of the deal that Britain made with Chaim Weizmann, spokesperson for the Jewish leaders trying to get their ancient lands back at the end of World War I that started in 1914. Britain then held the 30 year mandate over Palestine, decided by the League of Nations in 1917, the end of the worst war the world had ever seen.
Britain had promised Jews in 1917 that a Jewish Homeland would be created out of Palestine. Then along came Prince Abdullah of Arabia who was the 3rd son of the ruler of Arabia and he needed land since all would go to the 1st son of Arabia, and his brother, Feisal, was already promised land by the British. They gave Abdullah 80% of what had already been promised to the Jews, the land East of the Jordan River, the Transjordan.
The Jews could do nothing about it, accepting what they could as things were getting worse than ever for the Jews with pogroms (vicious attacks against them) were going on in Eastern Europe where Jews were often killed). They needed a refuge. They needed their own land back that held the cemeteries of their fathers, where they could pray and commute with G-d as they wished without fear of being killed.
Since President Clinton's meetings of the Oslo Agreements (1993-2001), the land of Judea-Samaria has been divided into 3 sections; land for the Palestinians and land for the Jews of Israel and land that both would share, designated as A, B, and C. The Israeli area is C. The 1995 Oslo II Accord established the administrative division of the West Bank into areas A, B, and C as a transitional arrangement, pending a final status agreement. The divisions persist, with Area A administered by the Palestinian Authority, Area C by Israel, and Area B under joint control. The Palestinian Authority has administrative control over Area B but shares security control with Israeli authorities. The majority of Palestinians in the West Bank live in areas A or B.
U.N. Resolution 181, The 1947-1-49 Partition Plan, explicitly refers to part of the area as Judea and Samaria.
Israelis refer to the region either as a unit: "The West Bank" (Hebrew: "ha-Gada ha-Ma'aravit" "הגדה המערבית"), or as two units: Judea (Hebrew: "Yehuda" "יהודה") and Samaria (Hebrew: "Shomron" "שומרון"), after the two biblical kingdoms (the southern Kingdom of Judah and the northern Kingdom of Israel — the capital of which was, for a time, in the town of Samaria). The border between Judea and Samaria is a belt of territory immediately north of Jerusalem sometimes called the "land of Benjamin". The name Judea and Samaria has been in continual use by Jews as well as various others since biblical times. This name carries an emotional meaning to many Jews as the cradle of Jewish Nation is derived from the time of King David in the region, the main religious sites and tombs are present there, and continuous Jewish communities were concentrated in the area throughout the years.
And just who are Palestinians? Both Jews and Arabs were referred to as "Palestinians", people born and raised in Palestine. The Arabs did refer to themselves as Syrian Palestinians. They didn't all come from Syria, though many did, being it was a neighbor sharing a border. Before borders, the peoples wandered back and forth. Writer and researcher Joan Peters relates in her book, FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL, the origins of the Palestinian conflict by showing where the Arabs involved really came from. She shows that they came after the 1880s, following the building of the Jewish immigrants who were creating towns and cities, the Aliyah movement of Jews fleeing there from the atrocities of Europe. These Arabs needed jobs and got them from the Jews.
Mahmoud Abbas is the President and Chairman over the West Bank (Judea-Samaria). At age 86, he's held these reigns since 2004. Before him, Yasser Arafat was king of the terrorist group, the Palestinian Liberation Organization - the PLO and leader of Fatah. that started in 1959. Fatah terrorists took over the PLO in 1968. Fatah is a revolutionary, nationalist liberation group, the PLO's largest faction. The PLO of Arafat were true terrorists that were hijacking planes, taking hostages, bombing restaurants, etc, and assassinating Jews. They operated from 1968 to 1982.
In Judea and Samaria, there is land to build a small home. Most people of Israel, such as those living in Tel Aviv, live in apartment complexes. I lived in Safed in an apartment, but never in Oregon where I always lived in a house. Homes were as scarce as hen's teeth. It's no wonder that the religious sector of Judaism sought out land in Judea and Samaria, being that is the most holiest, and also because of the chance to live in their own home.
Since Judea and Samaria are the origins of our people, many religious folks have wanted to live there, as our ancestors had put down our roots there, to be with our history. Jewish communities resumed after the 1967 Six Day War. Today the bloc is home to over 40,000 Israelis in two urban centers and 18 towns and villages.. Land around Jerusalem has always been "prime land."
The Promised Land (Hebrew: הארץ המובטחת, also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey") is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament), God promised and subsequently gave to Abraham and to his descendants. In modern contexts the phrase "Promised Land" expresses an image and idea related both to the restored homeland for the Jewish people and to salvation and liberation.
God first makes the promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:18–21:
Judea and Samaria are described in the Mosaic description of what G-d promised. He later confirms the promise to Abraham's son Isaac (Genesis 26:3), and then to Isaac's son Jacob (Genesis 28:13).
The Book of Exodus describes the Promised Land in terms of the territory from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates river (Exodus 23:31). The Euphrates River was where Abraham had started from for Ur of the Chaldees, his city, was on the Euphrates River.
The Israelites conquered and occupied a smaller area of former Canaanite land and land east of the Jordan River after Moses led the Exodus out of Egypt (Numbers 34:1–12), and the Book of Deuteronomy presents this occupation as God's fulfillment of the promise (Deuteronomy 1:8). Moses anticipated that God might subsequently give the Israelites land reflecting the boundaries of God's original promise – if they were obedient to the covenant (Deuteronomy 19:8–9).
As an example of today's Jews living in Judea or Samaria, I give you Alon Shvut, one of 7 cities and 3 kibbutim under the regional council of Gush Etzion. .
All of the communities in the historic Gush Etzion area are on the Israeli side of the West Bank Barrier, except for Carmei Tzur. None of the settlements in the Judean Mountains area are, except for Kedar, which is located far north of the others, very close to Maale Adummim and is within the eastern Jerusalem section of the barrier.
Alon Shvut (Hebrew: אַלּוֹן שְׁבוּת) is an Israeli settlement located southwest of Jerusalem, one kilometer northeast of Kfar Etzion, in the West Bank. Established in June 1970 in the heart of the Etzion bloc, Alon Shvut became the prototype for Jewish communities in the region. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council, and neighbors the communities of Kfar Etzion, Rosh Tzurim, Neve Daniel, Elazar, Bat Ayin, Midgal Oz, and Efrat.] In 2019, its population was 3,098.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. This biased International law is disputed by Professor Kontorovich, outstanding
International Law expert. . This is the running problem between real law and the
UN's version.
Seems like the descendants of Jacob were blessed to have Moses in their family of
future descendants who was the adopted son of an Egyptian princess, daughter of
a pharaoh, educated along with all the other princes and could read and write. He
not only became somewhat like a radio receiver, receiving words from G-d that he
wrote down and was the beginning of the Bible, the Tanakh, consisting of the 5
Books of Moses-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. To Jews,
this is what is called THE TORAH, a most venerated set of scrolls of sheepskin. If
this isn't vetting the authenticity of Law, what is? This is something handed down for
thousands of years and meant to last.
In today's age, what with UFO's being spotted by normal, sane and experienced US
pilots, Moses receiving information is not all that impossible. The proof is in the
Pudding, as the say. What he received in his mind is so logical; so amazing;-even
for its day and age-that rabbis still study the intelligence of it. It's what we Jews
still go by and it has shaped our religion.
Reference:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Abbas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gush_Etzion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gush_Etzion_Regional_Council
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Judea_and_Samaria_Area
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