December 3,2024

We now take a break from my regularly scheduled rant about Gaza in the south and Lebanon in the north. It’s time to look at the heart of Israel.

They call it the West Bank. We call it Judea & Samaria. Many of our Israeli friends, cousins, brothers and sisters live there with their families. I have never heard the following on the news, and I doubt if any of my North American friends know this either. How about you?

In the first six months of 2024, Judea and Samaria saw more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average. During that period, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases of rock-throwing, 456 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 299 explosive charges, and 109 shootings.

No one talks about this. Ever. Well, it’s time to talk about Judea and Samaria.  Here we go:

1. The terms “Judea and Samaria” date back to biblical times. They appear many times in both the Jewish Bible and the Christian Bible.

2. In 1922, when the League of Nations created the Mandate for Palestine, they allocated the entire region of Judea and Samaria for Jewish settlement.

3. From 1949 – 1967, Jordan illegally occupied the region, cleansing it of Jews, and prohibiting them from returning.

4. The term “West Bank” was introduced by the Kingdom of Jordan, to refer to Israel’s occupation of the land from 1948-1950. It was the land west of the Jordan River. 

5. In 1967, the region was liberated by Israel following a defensive war.

6. Experts maintain that Israel has the most valid claim to the area. This is because Israel is the only national entity to populate, develop, and administer the area for the last 3,000 years. (Not a typo. Three Thousand Years.)  Israel has withheld annexing Judea and Samaria, though, because they recognize that the international community considers the region “disputed.” 

7. In 1995, the Oslo II Accord Interim Agreement between Israel and the Palestinians established Palestinian interim self-government in Judea and Samara. This was in anticipation of an eventual comprehensive peace agreement. The peace agreement never materialized. 

8. The Oslo Agreement divided the region into three categories.
Area A – 18%, exclusively administered by the Palestinian National Authority
Area B – 22%, administered by both PA and Israel
Area C, which contains the Israeli settlements. Administered by Israel. By agreement, 70% of Area C is off-limits for Palestinian development, but the Palestinians have not honoured this agreement and build profusely in contravention of Oslo.

9. The Palestinian Authority openly encourages their citizens to move to Area C, and the European Union funds illegal Arab construction. There is essentially no Arab construction being carried out in Areas A and B.

10. The built-up areas of Israeli settlements cover around 2% percent of all the land in Judea and Samaria. That’s TWO PERCENT.

But wait, there’s more.  Stand by. I’ll save it for another day.

Am Yisrael Chai!