Showing posts with label Nahal villages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nahal villages. Show all posts

Friday, June 23, 2023

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
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)



Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The Promised Land and The Outposts

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

  1920 and Israel/Judah-renamed Palestine by Romans: 120,466 sq. km. or 46,512.1826 sq. miles which included  Judea and Samaria as it had always been.  Samaria was the northern section and Judea the southern.  Israel's total surface was 17,500 sq miles  of which 45% was in Transjordan. 
 The cattle-keeping tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh lived in Transjordan.  King David conquered the whole Transjordan including the rich copper mines of the Arabah.  under the weak successors of Solomon, this area was lost or only held temporarily.  Western Ammon was held for a time by a Jewish family, the TOBIADS.                                            

The extent of the Promised land reached the Pelusium arm of the Nile Delta, the Gulf of Elath, and the Euphrates opposite Aleppo in the East: It included most of Syria and altogether covered 58,000 sq miles.  This entire area was occupied by the Israelites under David and Solomon.                       

                     Israel, now only 8,550 sq. miles in size.  

Israel's Border Police forces evacuated and demolished an illegal outpost near Shilo in Samaria (the West Bank).  A group of 20 masked people arrived at a nearby hill and began throwing stones at the Border Police, damaging a patrol vehicle. 

                                             

Evacuation of Beit Dror outpost, July 27, 2021
(photo credit: CHANA IVGI)

"Masked demonstrators arrive at Geulat Zion and begin throwing stones at Border Police, damaging patrol car; evacuation takes place amid uptick in violence between settlers and Palestinians."                                      

The Border Police then continued to another nearby illegal outpost, Ramat Migron, where five people were arrested during clashes with police and four patrol cars were damaged. The evacuation comes amid continued violence between settlers and Palestinian in the West Bank.

Those that dare to live in their previous homeland are usually orthodox Jews who have great respect and awe of the land, so intricately woven into Judaism.  Israel has dared to allow living space under different PMs.  This is the land most dearly loved in our religion and it's hard to deny Jews to live there when they are a stone's throw away from it.  

                                                

By 135 CE, a Jewish General, Bar Kokhba,  had held Jerusalem for the past 3 years, taking it from the Romans who had taken it from the Jews in 70 CE by burning down the Temple with the city.  Palestine was the name the Romans gave to the land to get even with the Jews for retaking the land as it is giving praise to the Philistines, the worst enemy the Jews had fought.                            

The Jews had held the land ever since Joshua b: c. 1350 BCE of the tribe of Ephraim and the 601,730  Israelites had entered it and helped to create an empire.  That was an empire for 1,420 years that had been of the Israelites before the greedy Roman conquerors. The USA is only 245 years old.  Israel was 5 1/2 times older than the USA.  Can you imagine what the USA will be like in the year 3441?  

It wasn't just a country to the Judeans, who lived in the southern end of Israel.  It had religious underpinnings.  The Israelites were led there by G-d, and told to live there and that it was to be their home.  The Temple had been a very important part of their religious beliefs.    

The Israeli-occupied territories refers to the land won back by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. It was a terrible 6 days when all the surrounding Arab armies attacked Israel, and a miracle happened.  Israel won.  After attacking Israel from 1947 to 1949, and again in 1956 and losing, this was the Arab chance of retribution.  It didn't work.   It was a hard win for Israel.  776 soldiers died and 5,293 were injured, a far more serious war than previous ones.  The started with Syria, Egypt and Soviet Union spreading rumors of concentrations of Israeli forces on the Syrian frontier, still believed by some.  They ignored on the spot reports by the UN that no such concentration existed.  The Arabs tried so hard to bait the Jews into starting the war even while they were all lined up on the border.                                               

The 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors shocked the world and resulted in an Israeli victory that created the boundaries of the modern Middle East.

The war started when Egypt spread rumor for concentrating the bulk of the Egyptian army in Sinai-90,000 men and 900 tanks.  Egypt then closed the Straits of Tiran to all destined for Israel, AND CALLED FOR WAR.  Led by Egypt, the Arab States formed a war pact against Israel.  Jordan, Iraq, Syria had their armies along the border with Israel.  They made public speeches saying their intention was to destroy Israel.             

Israel Defense Forces Former Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz salutes Yom Kippur War of 1973 casualties at an official annual memorial service for fallen soldiers.

 It also sometimes refers to areas of Southern Lebanon where Israeli military was present to support local Lebanese militias during the civil war and after it. Originally, the sole governance of the territories were as the Jordanian-annexed Judea-Samaria, land first promised to the Jews and won back in the 1967 war, the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip (given to Palestinians in the name of peace that has never come) , the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula (given back to Egypt in the name of peace), and the Syrian Golan Heights.            

Israel Signs Second Disengagement Agreement With Egypt


If you want to know about occupied territories, ask the Jews how they suffered under the Syrian Greek  Occupation during the days of Judah the Maccabee, and then again by the Roman Occupation, equally as bad.  Nobody has suffered more than the Jews from 'OCCUPATION."  The Jewish morality is the Golden Rule, not to do to others that which they find repugnant to themselves, clarified by Hillel born in Babylonia of 1st century BCE before Jesus was born.  

The first use of the term 'territories occupied' was in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 following the Six-Day War in 1967, which called for "the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East" to be achieved by "the application of both the following principles: ... 

1.Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict ... Israel withdrew from Gaza completely and look what it got them; rockets landing into Israel.  Ask Ashkelon's hospital how they like it; having to go to the basement to operate.  

2.Termination of all claims or states of belligerency" and respect for the right of every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries.  The Palestinians, followers of Arafat's Fatah and Hamas terrorists certainly haven't been following that rule, and are still firing rockets into Israel.  Syria and Lebanon are now being taking over by Iran and Russia is also involved there with plenty of Russians in the population.  

In addition to the territories won by Israel following the Six-Day War, Israel also controlled portions of Southern Lebanon following the 1982 Lebanon War, and maintained a military presence there until withdrawing in 2000.

What are Israeli outposts?  In Israeli law, an outpost (Hebrew: מאחז‎, Ma'ahaz lit. "a handhold") is an unauthorized or illegal Israeli settlement within Judea and Samaria ( the West Bank), constructed without the required authorization from the Israeli government in contravention of Israeli statutes regulating planning and construction. 

In Israeli law, outposts are distinguished from settlements authorized by the Israeli government. This distinction between illegal outposts and "legal" settlements is not endorsed by international law, which considers both a violation of the norms, governing belligerent occupations, applicable to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.  

They started as military outposts.  In theory, military outposts are temporary occupations for military strategic purposes, not for the settlement of civilians. In the Israeli held areas in Judea and Samaria, this were typically Nahal settlements, and they became a principal way to start civilian settlements.           

Outposts were originally Nahal villages established by the Israel Defence forces.  Nahal is a corps which combines military training with farm work;  its members become farmers when their service ends.  The villages are, in substance, military points, like those held by any other unit of the Israel Defence forces. 

There are villages that were made up of  civilians established in areas which Israel hopes may be assigned to the jurisdiction by peace treaties.  Israel has declared again and again that, in peace talks, everything will be negotiable.  

There are communities established in areas where the political future is not covered by Israel's positions.  The assumption has been that they may even go to Arab sovereignty under a treaty of peace.

                                              

Israelis dismantle structure in illegal outpost.  

So while everyone else is breaking previous plans for peace, Israel's law is after those religious folks living in Judea and Samaria's countryside illegally.  


Resource:

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

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

facts about Israel, Division of Information, ministry for foreign affairs, jerusalem