Today’s commentary is a compelling fact sheet on the legal ownership of Judea and Samaria in modern Israel. I have reprinted it in its entirety for accuracy. Enjoy!
The ancient lands of Judea and Samaria, east of Jerusalem, have been part of the Jewish homeland for 3,000 years. Today Arabs demand all of it.
Judea and Samaria, the land where Jewish ancestors Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rachel, David and Solomon created Biblical history, was renamed the “West Bank” during Jordan’s brief, illegal 19-year occupation. Today, some 380,000 Jews own land and live in the territory, yet their rights are denied by Palestinian Arabs.
What are the facts?
“Israel has an irrefutable legal claim to these territories backed by the 93-year-old Mandate for Palestine.”
Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the Allied Powers, which were the only parties with the right or power to resolve ownership of vast tracts of the Middle East, allotted to the Jewish people the land west of the Jordan River, including Judea and Samaria. This resolution, made at the San Remo Conference, was effected through the Mandate for Palestine, which was adopted by the League of Nations in 1922 and assumed by the United Nations in 1948. This document, based on “the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine,” secured “the establishment of the Jewish national home.” Nothing since 1922 has changed the legal status of those internationally binding documents.
Much of the land allocated to the Jews, including most of Judea and Samaria, was taken from them by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria following Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, when the Jewish state was attacked by those Arab nations—the latter three of which were also established by the Mandate for Palestine. Jordan illegally seized the “West Bank” and east Jerusalem, and expelled all Jews from these Biblical homelands.
In fact, the territories of Judea and Samaria have never been part of any nation except the Jewish state. In 1967, when it was again attacked by Arab armies, Israel defeated the invaders and recovered the occupied “West Bank” from Jordan. It should be noted that during Jordan’s occupation of the “West Bank,” no Arab Palestinian movement emerged in favor of independence. Indeed, it wasn’t until Israel reclaimed the land and Jews returned to their ancestral home that claims of Jewish “occupation” were raised.
Today, most land in present-day Judea and Samaria is not privately owned, but rather is unsurveyed—without proven ownership. Israel claims about 30% of the public land in the territory. However, the Supreme Court of Israel has ruled that unsurveyed land in Judea and Samaria can be acquired by Arabs who cultivate it consistently. Arabs, through deed and cultivation rights, own about 95% of private land in the territory. Jews, however, are not granted similar rights, so Jewish farming on unsurveyed land does not entitle Jews to private ownership. Nonetheless, Jews own about 5% of all private land in Judea and Samaria.
Israel offers land for peace. Israel has a clear, millennia-old historical claim to Judea and Samaria, and it reacquired the territories defending itself against an aggressive war. In addition, Israel has an irrefutable legal claim to these territories backed by the 95-year-old San Remo Resolution. Nonetheless, recognizing that its claims are disputed by Arab neighbors, the Jewish state has shown uncommon willingness to share the land.
Starting in 1967, following the Six-Day War, Israel has offered to give up almost all the land it controls in the “West Bank”—plus a Palestinian capital in the eastern part of Jerusalem—in exchange for peace. Unfortunately, despite numerous such land-for-peace overtures by Israel, including two most recently in 2000 and 2008, the Arabs have consistently rejected them.
Not only do the Arabs reject any Jewish claims to land in Judea and Samaria, they have also insisted during peace negotiations that the territory be made judenrein—free of Jews. Worse, many Palestinian Arabs, such as the terror group Hamas, maintain that the entire land of Palestine—from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including all of Israel and the “West Bank”—belongs only to Arabs. Today, official Palestinian maps do not depict the state of Israel.
How will the dispute over Judea and Samaria be resolved? Over Israel’s 67 years, it has become a world-class cultural, economic and military power. Its standard of living is among the highest in the Middle East. Clearly the Jewish state is here to stay. Yet despite its strength, Israel has shown willingness to negotiate and exchange land for peace. Sadly, this willingness has not been matched by Palestinian leadership. Until such negotiations are consummated, the “West Bank” will remain in dispute—a no-man’s land in which claims of ownership remain cloudy and contested.
While Israel has clear rights to ownership of Judea and Samaria—also known as the “West Bank”—it has taken a practical position, offering to trade those rights and that land for peace with its Arab neighbors. As of yet, however, tragically, no Palestinian leader has been willing to compromise his people’s unrealistic expectation that all of Palestine—from the river to the sea—belongs only to Arabs. Flame: Facts and Logic about the Middle East
I make this case in my latest book, Blessing Israel. Please order a copy today.
You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, has come. For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favor to her dust. So the nations shall fear the name of Yehovah, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. For Yehovah shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory. Psalm 102:13-16
Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists (READ MORE)
David’s Sling – Israel’s New Missile
1 03 2016So, what is David’s sling? You may be familiar with the Iron Dome system which has proved 90% effective in shooting down short-range rockets and missiles. David’s sling is a mid-range defense.
The David’s Sling System is the middle tier of Israel’s multi-layer defense layer. The lowest layer is the Iron Dome system, capable of intercepting short-range missiles. David’s Sling is intended to engage missiles with a range of 70-250 kilometers; and the Arrow-2 (operational) and Arrow-3 (under development) are intended to engage long-range missiles.
“After a series of concluding trials of the David’s Sling aerial defense system, Israel’s Missile Defense Organization at the Defense Ministry, together with the US Missile Defense Agency, began delivering major components of the system to the Israeli Air Force,” the ministry said in a statement.
“David’s Sling will allow Israel to more effectively defend against the wide range of current and future threats to its civilians,” the ministry added. Times of Israel March 1, 2016
Netanyahu: Palestinian terrorism not motivated by despair Prime minister says Arabs’ frustration caused not by their inability to build but their inability to destroy Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said attempts to explain Palestinian terrorism as motivated by despair were “incorrect.” Terror attacks, he said, “don’t come because of their despair and the frustration over the inability to build. They come because of their despair and the frustration over inability to destroy.”
He took issue with the desperation claim, saying it “exonerates the Palestinians from being responsible for their actions.” He noted that Arabs had attacked Jews in Israel “before the state was founded and afterwards, before there were territories and settlements and afterwards, when there was a peace process and when there wasn’t one.” Times of Israel February 29, 2016
I love how Netanyahu always manages to speak with such moral clarity. As the US slogs through a shameful political election season debating spray-on sun tans and insults, Israel has no time for such frivolity. Its very existence is at stake. He is spot on to say frustration is not the Palestinian motive. The reason he is clear is because he is a Bible student. Here is how the Bible describes the terrorists’ motive.
“Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end, therefore, as I live,” says the Lord Yehovah, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you. Ezekiel 35:5-6
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists (READ MORE)
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Tags: David's Sling, Elisha Vision, Israel, Jerusalem, Middle East, Netanyahu, Yehovah
Categories : Israel Commentary