Samaria: Coveted and Given to Palestinians By World Opinion?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                        

      Aerial photograph of Evyatar in June 2021, being fought over today

The land of King David and Solomon's and Omri's Empire, Israel, was made up of Judea and Samaria and other states, and is being held for the Arab Palestinians by world opinion and its interpretation of International Law;  but not according to the Old Testament that tells all of this history.  It's holy Jewish land that is being given to Arab Muslim Palestinians as the Orthodox Jewish builders see it.  Second reasoning is that Israel per se is so small, there is no room for the Jews.  They need the land.  Most all must live in high-rise apartment buildings.  

Before 1948, both Jews and Arabs were both called Palestinians because they lived in Palestine-land that had been held by the Ottoman Empire for the past 400 years and which they had lost due to siding with the Axis in WWI. Now they're being rewarded for why?  There never was a country called Palestine.  It was the Roman name for Israel, showing their strength to the world. 

After the Six Day War of June 1967 and until December 1972, Israel had established 6 settlements or villages in Judaea and Samaria.  There were 3 different types;  Nahal villages by the Israel Defense Forces that combined military training with farm work;  villages intrinsically civilian-places hoping to sign peace treaties and Communities-whatever, allowed to continue.  These were all established in Israel's Administered Area; result of 67 War.

          Judea and Samaria have been renamed as West Bank-to erase it's Jewish heritage by Jordan and the rest of the world has followed right in line without complaint.  The Jewish Homeland was divided by the givers almost as soon as it was promised.  

        Kingdoms that became part of Israel like Moab.  David had defeated Edom.  They became vassals of Assyria in 8th century BCE.  Amnon (Transjordan) David annexed Amnon, who's king later murdered Gedalia.  

Samaria (Shomron) was land of Northern Israel.  It had become the capital in 880 BCE of King Omri, king of Israel 887-876 BCE, founder of a family dynasty.  The site was 25 acres of land sitting 7 miles NW of Shechem (Nablus) on an isolated elevation dominating a wide countryside. Today Samaria is viewed as:  territory largely corresponding to the biblical allotments of the tribe of Ephraim and the western half of Manasseh. It includes most of the region of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, which was north of the Kingdom of Judah. The border between Samaria and Judea is set at the latitude of Ramallah.

 Samaria had withstood the siege of the Syrians but fell in 721 BCE to Sargon II of Assyria who resettled it with Cutheans who of course intermingled with the remnants of the Jewish population left behind the kidnapping of the best of the Jewish population and taken away as slaves.  Samaria remained through the Persian (Iran) period.   and then became a Macedonian colony in 331 BCE.  John Hyrcanus , son of Simon the Hasmonean who ruled from 135-104 BCE, rescued it as he was also holding Jerusalem.  John and the Pharisees broke off of their friendship as he abolished several Pharisaic regulations and suppressed the uprising following. He calmed the country and his last years were peaceful.  

Omri had been a general under King Elah of Israel, directing operations against the Philistine city of Gibbethon.  The army itself proclaimed him king after the murder of Elah-king of Israel and son of Baasha who ruled for 2 years from 886-885 BCE. The murderer was Zimri; the captain of Elah's chariots, when the Israelite army was besieging Gibbethon. 

Omri's kingship was totally recognized after a 6 year struggle with Tibni who tried to take the throne.  Tibni (Hebrew: תִּבְנִי  was a claimant to the throne of Israel and the son of Ginath.  Albright has dated his reign to 876–871 BC, while Thiele offers the dates 885–880 BC.  It was Tibni who had partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. (I Kings, 16:16-27).  

Omri had subdued Moab.  He had been a strong king.  The Assyrians even called the kingdom of Israel by his name for the rest of its existence.  (Israel=The Land of Omri).

It is as if the Philistines have been replaced by the Palestinians these days, trying to take over Samaria which was left out of the original divide at the end of WWI.  What did those men know about the Old Testament and the history of King David's territory?  What did anyone know or care, for that matter when they were offered an acre of holy land that they had waited 2,000 years for?  What did they know about the struggle it was to create Israel that the Jews held for over 1,000 years?  

Emotions run high for Jews who see what they feel and know from reading history is that Samaria is their land.  The most religious Jews have dared to try and live in this holy land when being attacked by Arab terrorists.                        

In Eli, Samaria, 4 Jews were killed and 4 wounded in a Palestinian attack at the Eli gas station.  The four Israelis killed in the attack have been identified as 18-year-old Elisha Antman of Eli, 21-year-old Harel Masoud of Yad Binyamin, 17-year-old Nachman Mordof of Ahiya and 63-year-old Ofer Feierman from Eli.

Top R-L: Ofer Feierman, Nachman Mordof, Down L-R: Harel Masoud, Elisha Antman

Eli, named after the Biblical high priest of the Israelites, was established on 11 September 1984, when three families moved into recently placed buildings. It was the first settlement to be attempted without a core group of families. Several families from Ofra, Kokhav HaShahar, and Shilo were persuaded to come for at least a year while more families would be found. 

In response to this senseless murder is Evyatar's retaliation: 

Evyatar (Hebrew: אביתר, is an Israeli village outpost in Samaria  located in a  rural area on Mount Sabih, in lands of the town of Beita, south of Nablus. Israeli outposts in the Samaria like Evyatar, are considered illegal both under international law as well as under Israeli law because of the promise to the Palestinian Arabs that they would have their own state-using the former Jewish land.  

The Israeli outpost at Evyatar was established in 2013 as a reaction to the 2013 Tapuah Junction stabbing in which Evyatar Borovsky was killed. The outpost has been destroyed several times by Israeli officials. It was re-established in May 2021. Residents of the outpost, illegal under Israeli law, were to be evicted on 4 July 2021.

It was built rapidly in a few days in May 2021, before the Israeli military stopped the activities. Israeli soldiers helped to build the outpost, although they were not authorized to do so. As of May 2022, the buildings are still standing but the settlers have not been allowed to return. It has been described as "the most famous outpost established in recent years".The building of the outpost, and the subsequent legal process intended to make it permanent, sparked regular Palestinian protests; as of May 2022, 8 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers during the protests.                         

The right-wing march to the Evyatar outpost, near the Samarian city of Nablus, during the Passover holiday, on April 10, 2023. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)  

The rally, including far-right ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich, goes to Evyatar settlement in campaign to legalize the outpost, stretching already strained security forces.  

Dozens of Israelis went up to the Evyatar settlement in Samaria on Tuesday night in response to the terror attack in which four people were killed, according to Israeli news.  Among the Israelis who went up to Evyatar were Knesset member Zvi Sukkot, one of the founders of Evyatar and Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council.

On August 14, 2021, Palestinian rioters demonstrated putting up a swastika inside a burning star of David. The building of the outpost, and the subsequent legal process intended to make it permanent, sparked regular Palestinian protests; as of May 2022, 8 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers during the protests. In October 2021, 60 dunams (15 acres) was appropriated as state land, and in February 2022 then-attorney general Avichai Mandelblit approved forming a legal settlement there, encouraging the position of settler leader Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council for populating Evyatar and other outposts. The supporters of populating the outpost expect the new government will promote this position.  So as far as the people know, they have, legally speaking, 15 acres in which to build Evyatar.  

Hundreds ascend West Bank hilltop demanding government make good on its promise to legalize the settlement and expand building in response to Palestinian terror.  Hundreds of settlers, including leaders of the movement and members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, traveled to the illegal West Bank outpost of Evyatar overnight, urging the government to approve a new permanent settlement there in response to a deadly terror shooting Tuesday.

Pro-settlement activists, including teens and families, arrived at the West Bank hilltop saying they were returning for good, after years repeated efforts to re-establish a community there being stymied by the military.  Settler leaders, including Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot, Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan and Chief Samaria Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, were among those urging the expansion of settlement activity to punish Palestinians following a shooting attack at the nearby settlement of Eli that killed four people.

Though Israel had its problems, no other country compares with its 1,000+ year reign.  The USA is only 247 years old since its birth in 1776.  England was birthed in the 927, already 1,096 years old.  Saul created Israel in some years before 1010 BCE- well over 3,000 years ago and it lives.  The emotional and historical connection its descendants have is more than any feeling for one's country that any other people can conjure up.  To top it off, Samaria is becoming a hot-bed of terrorism against the Jews who are trying to settle in, illegally by others but legal in their own mind.  So far, there's no meeting of the minds between the Jews and the Palestinians as Abbas has lost control.  This isn't just a struggle between 2 lands;  its a struggle of Jews versus Muslims and their history as well as religious belief.  

Resource:

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

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_(Israeli_settlement)