Showing posts with label B. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B. Show all posts

Thursday, May 7, 2026

ATTACK ON WATERING JUDEA AND SAMARIA

 Nadene Goldfoot

Israel Guys report that 

IN JUDEA & SAMARIA
The land is divided into A,B,C areas with C for Jews on the east side (white) and yellow showing Palestinian side.  (West Bank, no longer; use Judea and Samaria)


The Jordan River runs along the eastern border of the region of Judea, flowing south into the Dead Sea. While the Judean highlands are arid, the region also features several smaller, seasonal streams (wadis) in the Judean Desert, such as the Brook Kidron and Wadi Qelt, which run toward the Jordan
 Valley.

 Israeli citizens in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) are approximately 500,000–700,000 Jewish residents living in over 185 communities, including cities like Ariel and Ma'ale Adumim. They are governed by Israeli law (via the IDF's Civil Administration), pay Israeli taxes, and vote in Israeli elections. 

                                                 


The map of Israel reflects the staged transfers of land from Israel to the Palestinian Authority since 1993. Area A refers to land that was transferred completely to the Palestinian Authority (“PA”). These areas became terrorist hotbeds of activity and it was only in 2003 that the Israeli army began entering these areas in order to combat the terrorism threat. Area B includes land that was jointly controlled by the PA and Israel; here, too, most of that cooperation was destroyed in 2000, although the PA is still responsible for all civilian issues in both areas A and B. Recently, the PA has begun to cooperate with the IDF to keep the area safe, for both Arabs and Jews. But it is clear to both Arabs and Jews that without a strong IDF presence, terrorism would once again rear its head with more power than ever before. Area C is still within exclusive Israeli control. All remaining Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as well as the main roads leading to them, remain within Israeli control, although many are isolated and surrounded by Palestinian-controlled areas.                   


For the ninth time in two years, water reservoirs of Jewish farms were poisoned by Palestinians. On Monday night, near the Allon road, terrorists broke locks to gain access to secured grazing areas and then dumped toxic substances mixed with oil into the water troughs. The oil, which floats on the surface of the water, held the poison at the surface where it was consumed first by the animals. A shepherd noticed the livestock starting to convulse and foam at the mouth and acted quickly to prevent more of the animals from ingesting the poison.


Which brings me to the subject of WATER in Israel.  Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.  Are we sitting in the middle of an ocean?  No,  practically sitting on an ocean of sand, though.                        


Israel has transformed from a water-scarce nation into a water-surplus country through heavy investment in technology, despite its arid climate. Over 85% of its domestic drinking water is produced via seawater desalination, supplemented by extensive wastewater recycling for agriculture. However, significant challenges persist regarding water equity in Judea and Gaza.


Resource:

israelAM

Israel Guys (love them)

https://cfoic.com/settlement-map/

Saturday, July 1, 2023

The Obstacle To Peace In The Middle East

Nadene Goldfoot                                   


The obstacle to peace in the Middle East are the Palestinians who have refused to make any peace with the Jewish State of Israel.  

    May 14, 1948 when Golda Meir and others made the announcement of their new state of Israel 

I'm tired of having this not acknowledged.  For 75 years, since May 14, 1948, when Israel was finally created after waiting since the year 70, Israel finally had become a state and within 5 minutes, were defending themselves against these Palestinians.   There were very few Palestinians living in the Ottoman Empire area of ancient Judea/Samaria.  Judea was one of the 12 tribes left alone by the Assyrian Empire in 721 BCE after forcefully taking the 10 other northern tribes.  Judea with some of Simeon and Benjamin were left, and Judea had in its center, Jerusalem.  In 1881, Jews came to live from Eastern Europe who had had it with the pogroms against them and knew that they were told to live in the land of Israel originally.  That was home.  They came on the 1st Aliyah of which about 5 more would later follow.  There were Jews still living there from ancient days, but not enough of them to create a country again.                                       

The 1880s saw sailing to Palestine for some Jews.  Later, more came  -a greater need was developing from being the target in pogroms to Nazis killing all Jews they could find.    
Year
Immigrants
1919
1,806
1920
8,223
1921
8,294
1922
8,685
1923
8,175
1924
13,892
1925
34,386
1926
13,855

World War I of 1914 to 1918 gave the Jews the impetus to regain their land.  Meetings with Great Britain took place.

The Balfour Doctrine was sympathetic and a Jewish Homeland was promised by Lord Balfour and the Brits.  The Brits then changed, giving 80% of this Promised Land to the Arabs of Jordan.  Brits then allowed Arabs to enter the land of Palestine but not the Jews--and the Germans wanted to kill Jews, not Arabs.  Go figure the British reasoning.  

1930s and Germany had created Hitler who in 1933 was powerful, using everything he had against the Jews.  Germany entered Poland in 1939 and went after the Jews living there.  The Holocaust murdered 6 million Jews, no war, just taking people and shooting them like a pigeon party, or gassing them in large groups.  Being alive when born in 1934 was because I was born in the USA, the only safe place on this planet at the time. My European cousins are no more.   

In 1967, after fighting major wars against one of the tiniest states in the world, Israel, Israel experienced  their own victory after victory in defense since :

1. The War of Independence : 29 November 1947-1949

2. The Sinai War:  29 October - 5 November 1956

3. The Six Day War:  5 June 1967-11 June 1967

4. The War of Attrition:  1968-7th, 8th August 1970

5.  The Yom Kippur War:  6 October 1973-25 October 1973

After losing the war in 1967, the Palestinians and other Arabs met in Khartoum, Africa and decided on the plan of No, No and No.  There is to be no Peace with Israel.  They plan to take all the land.  

Since 1973, there has been other attacks, big and little, constant and erratic.  Israelis have had to fight for the 4th generation of people with no peace in sight  except for the Abraham Accords that show hope, but it does not include either the Palestinians nor the Iranians, who are backing all the attacks against Israel today.  

 

All citizens, men and women, are enrolled in the IDF (Israel Defense Force).  Children have grown up knowing their fate.  Now we have a generation of experts helping other countries.  Yet, though the USA is helped the most as well as Israelis needing their help, Biden keeps going against all Israel stands for as a politician.  Out of one side of his mouth, he says he's such a great friend, but in so many important ways a friend helps, he goes the other way.  

The date for that auspicious occasion of dividing Judea and Samaria, as agreed upon by then-US president Bill Clinton, then-Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat, was to be no later than five years from the establishment of the PA in May 1994; that is to say, in 1999. 

  Judea and Samaria are divided into 3 sections;  A, B, and C where Jews may live.  The Palestinians have been illegally building in the C area and have not been stopped by Israel which is against the law.  Israel is also building in the C area now. 

Area on the right side, dark side, is C where Jews are allowed to build.                                          
Thin strip on the left along sea is Israel.  Rockets from West Bank terrorism can reach main cities on coast.   
 

Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) – A, B and C – were meant as a short-term fix until a real Israeli-Palestinian peace accord could be crafted. More than 20 years later, both sides have broadly infringed on these parameters. Israel regularly penetrates Area A for security reasons, while the PA (with EU support) is building illegally and dangerously in key parts of Area C that are critical to Israel. Israel should halt this encroachment with determination.

Area A is the space in which the PA has political and military jurisdiction over its residents, all of whom are Arab. This includes all the major towns and their immediate environs, with the partial exception of Jewish Hebron, which came under exclusive Israeli control in the 1997 Hebron protocol between Israel and the PLO. This area comprises approximately 18 percent of Judea and Samaria’s land mass.  Israeli citizens have the right to enter and pass through Area A unmolested, provided they are not involved in illicit activity, in which case the PA can only temporarily apprehend them until they are transferred to the Israeli authorities. Joint Israeli-PA patrols were intended to handle such cases.

Area B signified less built-up areas, many of which shared space with settlements created in the massive settlement drive in the 1980s launched by the Likud government. In Area B, which comprises approximately 22% of Judea and Samaria, Israel and the PA share jurisdiction. Israel enjoys exclusive jurisdiction over the Jewish inhabitants and exclusive authority over security for both its Arab and Jewish inhabitants.

Most of Judea and Samaria (60% of the area) is designated Area C, over which Israel has exclusive jurisdiction both administratively and in security matters. Area C’s distinguishing characteristic is that it is sparsely populated by Arab inhabitants and in which much Jewish settlement has taken place. Most of this area lies east of the populated mountain spine from Jenin in the north to Hebron in the south. The eastern slopes descending into and including the Jordan Valley are characterized by harsh climate and low to no rainfall.

Hebron is mentioned again.  It is the most important city of ancient Judah because Abraham bought it so he could bury his wife, Sarah.  He had to buy a whole plot of land with the Cave of Machpelah on it. Joshua in the Exodus assigned it to Calab and it became a Levitical city and a city of refuge.  David reigned there for 7 1/2 years before moving to Jerusalem.  Jews continued to live here through the Byzantine Period and even under Arab rule.  Jews numbered 1,500 in 1890 in this city alone  and had a yeshivot and religious schools.  The great Lithuanian yeshivah of Slobodka was transferred there in 1925.   

In the terrible year of 1929, the Arabs massacred 700 of the many Jews of the town and the survivors fled.  30 Jewish families returned in 1931.  There were Arab riots in 1936, possibly affected by the German attacks on Jews in Germany , and it became devoid of Jews.

By 1967 the population of Hebron was 38,310.  After the Six Day War in 1967, a number of Jews settled in Hebron and established the Kiryat Arba quarter east of the city.  The population was 3,700 in 1988.  Hebron was home to approximately 200,000 Palestinians, as well as 700 or so Jewish settlers. in 2022.  

Why are Jews living in Judea and Samaria now making the headlines by attacking Palestinians?  They are a new breed of Jews; fighters trained by Israel but more religious. They see Israel going along, being led by the USA, and Europe, being pushed into the idea of, of course there's to be a state of Palestine bordering Israel even though there's never been a state of Palestine nor a country of Palestine or an Empire of Palestine.  

These Palestinian Arabs, who have attacked their grandparents, parents and themselves will be rewarded with their own country that will by their own wishes will swallow up Israel. They have seen anti-Semitism and know that this is what determines their fate and they're not about to allow it to happen.  Judea and Samaria was once Jewish land; the history of Judaism which is the oldest of the three religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

 Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, the Jewish original homeland. Shomron means Samaria=capital of the northern kingdom of Israel founded in 880 BCE by king Omri of Israel. Benjamin was the area of King Saul, a Benjamite.  The territory was fought over with the kingdom of Israel and Judah after king Solomon died, then partitioned between the two.  These two made up Samaria, the whole area.  Judea shows Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council (Hebrewמועצה אזורית בקעת הירדןMo'atza Azorit Bik'at HaYardenlit. Jordan Valley Regional Council), also Aravot HaYarden (lit. Jordan Plains) is a regional council covering 21 Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank. The municipal territory of the council reaches from Mehola in the north, near the Beit She'an Valley, to Jericho in the south. 

Gush Etzion (Hebrewגּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹןlit. Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural villages that were founded in 1943–1947, and destroyed by the Arab Legion before the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, in the Kfar Etzion massacre. The area was left outside of Israel with the 1949 armistice lines. These settlements were rebuilt after the 1967 Six-Day War, along with new communities that have expanded the area of the Etzion Bloc. As of 2011, Gush Etzion consisted of 22 settlements with a population of 70,000.

The Har Hevron Regional Council (Hebrewמועצה אזורית הר חברוןMo'atza Azorit Har Hevron) is an Israeli regional council in the southern Judean Hills area of Mount Hebron, in the southern West Bank, administering Israeli settlements. The headquarters are located adjacent to Otniel. The council was established in 1983. The chairman of the council is Yochay Damri.

While Kiryat Arba is physically located within the territory of the Har Hevron Regional Council, it is an independent town.

The council provides various municipal services to AdoraAvigayilBeit HagaiBeit YatirCarmelEshkolotLivneMa'ale HeverMa'onMitzpe Asa'elNegohotOtnielSansanaShim'aSusyaTelem and Teneh Omarim.

Three of the settlements - Eshkolot, Sansana, and Beit Yatir - are in the so-called Seam Zone, on the Israeli side of the Israeli West Bank barrier, but still inside the West Bank.[

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli and US governments dispute this.

These Jews have experienced almost 100 years of Palestinians attacking their families living in Judea and Samaria in the most gruesome of manners;   and are left numb, frozen in the knowledge of these murders.   

Israel has tried to bring about peace since the very beginning with high hopes and plans.  All has failed.      

Resource:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/FMfcgzGtvsRHnCxtlpvgxRwpsqVhBhhV  from The Israel Guys

https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/06/10-things-know-bidens-approach-israeli-palestinian-conflict

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bik%27at_HaYarden_Regional_Council

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War#:~:text=The%20Yom%20Kippur%20War%2C%20also,led%20by%20Egypt%20and%20Syria.

https://emetonline.org/resource/fact-sheet-on-settlements/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:West_Bank_Access_Restrictions_June_2020.pdf

https://besacenter.org/abcs-judea-samaria-towards-breakdown/

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

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/4/26/microcosm-palestinian-struggle-one-familys-life-hebron#:~:text=Hebron%20is%20home%20to%20approximately,700%20or%20so%20Jewish%20settlers.


  

Friday, February 17, 2023

Israel Adding Homes In Judea and Samaria in Area C Dismaying White House

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

We're talking about a small area.  Look at the size of Israel compared to California.  8,550sq miles of land.  California is 163,696 sq. miles of land.  


The White House issued a statement yesterday saying that it was "deeply dismayed" at an Israeli Cabinet decision to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).  Israel has made the decision to expand settlements in Judea and Samaria. (What Washington calls "settlements" I call villages, town and cities.  New York was once a settlement but it's a city today.)  The West is not Woke to linguistics and their political use.                           

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) said they are concerned about the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorizing new West Bank settlements over the weekend. File Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo

 The United States opposes Israel's retroactive authorization of Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, adding that he was "deeply troubled" by the move that came less than two weeks after he raised U.S. opposition to such moves on a trip to the region.

"We strongly oppose such unilateral measures, which exacerbate tensions and undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution," Blinken said in a statement, reiterating his call for all parties to avoid actions that can further escalate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

Blinken said that Biden was not happy about this.  U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Blinken had made his opposition to the legalization of settler outposts clear during the visit to Israel and the West Bank that concluded on Jan. 31, 2023.

Asked what the United States would do about the Israeli move to go ahead with authorizations, Price did not outline any actions.

Israel's move on Sunday to legalize nine settler outposts in and build new homes within established settlements came after months of simmering violence in the West Bank.

I can see Israel's reasoning, maybe because I hold dual citizenship, but Israel cannot let Palestinians rule the roost in this decision.  They cannot destroy  Israel by terrorizing.  Israel must go ahead.  They've postponed development too long.  It's this government that Washington is exploding about because the religious are mighty adamant about living in their ancient land of Judea, and Samaria is just the outskirts of that.  To the orthodox who believe in G-d, they were told to live there by G-d as it is written in the Good Book, the Torah (5 books of Moses), and that is that. 

Netanyahu's government is for ALL Israelis, and he cannot refuse the Orthodox again as Labor has done.  It's just like Biden's party, Democrats, will have to recognize Republican wishes as well in order to be the president of ALL the people. 

Names of some towns are: Bik'at HaYarden, Gush Etzion, Har Hebron, Mateh Binyamin, Megilot Dead Sea, Shomron.  The population of Gush Etzion in 2004 was, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, approximately 44,000 residents, which includes the 3,300 residents living in the other six settlements of the Gush Etzion regional council outside of the main bloc.

Look at Gush Etzion:  The Etzion Bloc (“Gush Etzion” in Hebrew), which today consists of 18 communities and nearly 40,000 residents, is located between Jerusalem and Hebron. Because of its strategic location, the Bloc was heavily contested during Israel’s War of Independence in 1947 and 1948. Although the area was not granted to Israel under the 1947 partition plan, the commanders of the Haganah considered it an essential buffer against a southern attack on Jerusalem.

In early 1927, a small group of immigrants from Yemen, along with a few ultra-Orthodox residents of what was then Palestine, established a community south of Jerusalem named “Migdal Eder,” named after a site mentioned in the Torah in Genesis 35:21. The community failed to flourish due to constant economic problems and tensions with the nearby Arab villages. During the Arab riots of 1929, Migdal Eder was destroyed. The residents were spared by the villagers of the neighboring Palestinian community Beit Umar.


Map of Israel and the Golan 

Heights, with the Judea and 

Samaria Area (Israeli-occupied 

West Bank excluding East 

Jerusalem) highlighted in
 
peach

Coordinates: 31°45′N 35°00′E

Washington is working with partners at the UN in New York on "next steps," Deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel says.                                   
  Israel is allowing construction of 1,000 homes for Palestinians.      

The actual problem is that of pending a final status agreement. The divisions are valid, with Area A administered by the Palestinian Authority, Area C by Israel, and Area B under joint control.
The hold-up of a final status agreement is because the Palestinians have said their say and refuse to make a deal.  The fact of the matter is that they intend to take all the land and still, since 1947, intend to drive the Jews out of the land.  So they won't come to anymore meetings.                                     
      Israel allowing 2,500 homes to be built.  
TEL AVIV, Israel — Emboldened by Donald Trump's presidency, Israel approved 2,500 settler homes in the West Bank on Tuesday, a sign the new U.S. chief executive will tolerate construction that the Obama administration and United Nations only recently condemned.

Evidently they do not have a map in front of them showing the A,B, and C areas.  The C areas which are 60% part of Israel according to the Oslo Accords and that's where the building will be taking place.  

Israel has found that Palestinians have been sneaking into the C area and building for themselves.  This shows that they are not following the rules, not Israel that is breaking them.  Israel has the right to build in their ancient land of Judea and Samaria.                                

Al Jazeera complains:  It is estimated that more than 300,000 Jewish-Israeli settlers also live in Area C, in clear violation of international law. Illegal Israeli settlements are still expanding at a rapid pace on almost every hilltop throughout the occupied West Bank. In Area C, the problem is particularly pronounced. Doha, Qatar - January 7, 2012: Al Jazeera Support Services building in Doha, Qatar, Middle East. Al Jazeera is an international 24-hour english-language news TV channel located in Doha, Qatar

 It's the allocated Jewish area C, and what they're bummed out about it that they want all the  land to be turned over to the Arabs, but there has never ever been a word spoken about peace and they just won't meet with the Israelis.  So Israel has gone ahead and is using their own land.  It was to be theirs in the first place anyway as it's the eastern part of their promised Jewish Homeland.  

After waiting since 1967, after being attacked by ALL the neighboring Muslim states and winning the battle, Israel has waited long enough to be able to use the land they had won back through winning the battle.  It's been 56 years, and the Palestinian Arabs still refuse to make peace and talk to our leaders.  Enough!  Palestinians never lose an opportunity to lose an opportunity, said Abba Eban in 1973l    

Area C (Hebrewשטח CArabicمنطقة ج) is an Oslo II administrative division of the West Bank, defined as "areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B". Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory; the area was committed in 1995 under the Oslo II Accord to be "gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction" (with an option for land swaps under a final agreement), but such transfer did not happen.                                      


Area C (excluding East Jerusalem), which along with Area B is under Israeli military control since June 1967, is home to roughly a 400,000 Israeli population, and approximately 300,000 Palestinians; who live in more than 500 residential areas located partially or fully in Area C. The Jewish population in Area C is administered by the Israeli Judea and Samaria Area administration, whereas the Palestinian population is directly administered by the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (and indirectly by the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah). The Palestinian Authority is responsible for medical and educational services to Palestinians in Area C; however, infrastructure construction and supervision is done by Israel.

The Oslo II Accord divided the West Bank into three administrative divisions: the Areas A, B and C. The distinct areas were given a different status, according to the amount of self-government the local Palestinians would have over it through the Palestinian Authority (PA), until a final status accord would be established.

The 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; 

Area C was defined as "areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B, which, except for the issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations, will be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction in accordance with this Agreement."

 Area A comprises approximately 18% of the West Bank and Area B about 22%, together home to some 2.8 million Palestinians.

Area C was initially around 72–74% (first phase, 1995) of the West Bank. Under the 1998 Wye River Memorandum, Israel would further withdraw from some additional 13% from Area C to Area B, which officially reduced Area C to circa 61% of the West Bank. Israel, however, withdrew from only 2%, and during Operation Defensive Shield, it reoccupied all territory. 

As of 2013, Area C formally comprised about 63% of the West Bank, including villages and towns, outposts and declared "state land". Including or excluding East Jerusalem, no-man's land and the Palestinian part of the Dead Sea also determines the percentage.

On meeting to discuss a deal, ""Any solution to the conflict in Palestine must be political ... and based on ending the occupation," Shtayyeh said at a Palestinian Cabinet meeting. "The current financial crisis is a result of a financial war waged against us and we will not succumb to blackmailing and extortion and will not trade our national rights for money."

President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy, Jason Greenblatt, said it was "difficult to understand why the Palestinian Authority would reject a workshop designed to discuss a vision with the potential to radically transform lives and put people on a path toward a brighter future."

"History will judge the Palestinian Authority harshly for passing up any opportunity that could give the Palestinians something so very different, and something so very positive, compared to what they have today," Greenblatt said.

My comment is that they have done this before.  They've been offered the moon by Israel and they have refused it.  Ever since the start of the second Palestinian intifada, a row has raged over who was responsible for the breakdown of the peace process. Now, for the first time, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak has weighed in, accusing Yasser Arafat of being a liar who talked peace while secretly plotting the destruction of Israel. Interview by Benny Morris

Resource:

israelAM, 

https://www.anera.org/what-are-area-a-area-b-and-area-c-in-the-west-bank/

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-etzion-bloc-gush-etzion

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-deeply-troubled-by-israeli-settlement-move-after-blinken-visit-2023-02-13/

https://www.israelhayom.com/2023/02/17/us-dismayed-by-israels-decision-to-push-forward-with-settlement-building/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_C_(West_Bank)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/23/israel3

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/02/14/United-States-concerned-Israel-settlments/2561676343657/