The Peace FAQ:
The West Bank
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the West Bank?
- The West Bank refers to the region of land west of the Jordan River that was occupied by the Kingdom of Jordan between the years 1948 and 1967. There is no other significance to its borders. Since 1967, Israel has not annexed that land, but rather let the inhabitants of that land continue to keep their Jordanian citizenship. The world, however, no longer refers to its inhabitants as Jordanians; they have since become 'Palestinians'. The 'West Bank' contains the two most important cities to Jews: the Old City of Jerusalem and Hebron, the latter contains the tombs of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The West Bank contains the heart of the Jewish people, the tribal lands of Judea and Samaria.
- It is illogical to think that a bank of
such a narrow brook as the Jordan should spread out over tens of
kilometers, from the Allenby Bridge to Elkanah. In Arutz-7 we say Judea,
Samaria, Binyamin, and Gaza. This is much more accurate from a geographic
and historical standpoint.
- Arutz-7
Shouldn't Israel give the PLO the 'West Bank' in exchange for a promise of peace?
- "No Jew has the right to yield the rights of the Jewish people in
Israel. No Jew has the authority to do so. No Jewish body has the
authority to do so. Not even the entire Jewish people today has the
authority to yield any part of Israel. It is the right of the Jewish
people over generations, a right which under no condition can be
canceled. Even if Jews in a specific period proclaim that they are
relinquishing this right, they neither have the power nor the
authority to deny this right to future generations. No concession of
this type is binding or obligates the Jewish people. Our right to the
country - to the entire country - exists as an eternal right, and
until the full and complete redemption is realized, we shall not yield
our historic right."
- David Ben-Gurion, in his speech at the Basle Zionist Congress, 1937
Is Israel obligated by any agreements or U.N. Security Council resolutions to give the entire West Bank to the PLO?
- The Oslo 2 Accords make no mention of percentages or the size
of territory from which Israel is to withdraw. There is no basis in
the accord for the Palestinian claim that Israel must pull back
from all or most of Judea and Samaria.
-
Nowhere in the Oslo Accords does it state that the extent of
each withdrawal is to be a subject of negotiations between the two
sides. Israel has the sole authority to decide the extent of the
withdrawals. This position is supported by the United States. A
statement issued by the State Department spokesman on January 15,
1997, at the time of the signing of the Hebron Accord, said, "The
Note for the Record, prepared by the United States at the request
of the parties, makes clear that further redeployment phases are
issues for implementation by Israel rather than issues for
negotiation with the Palestinians."
- The Oslo 2 Accords make no mention of percentages or the size
of territory from which Israel is to withdraw. There is no basis in
the accord for the Palestinian claim that Israel must pull back
from all or most of Judea and Samaria, nor is there any basis for
asserting that each of the FRDs must encompass a certain percentage
of territory.
- Nowhere in the Oslo Accords or the Hebron Protocol does it
state that the extent of each withdrawal is to be a subject of
negotiations between the two sides. Israel has the sole authority
to decide the extent of the withdrawals.
A statement issued by the State Department spokesman on January 15, 1997, at the time of the signing of the Hebron Accord, said, "The Note for the Record, prepared by the United States at the request of the parties, makes clear that further redeployment phases are issues for implementation by Israel rather than issues for negotiation with the Palestinians."
At a press conference in London on May 5, 1998, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said it is "obviously up to the Israelis to decide what their security requirements are."
- Source for the above: CAMERA
- RELATED SECTIONS:
"the Occupied Territories", Jordan, Jerusalem, Palestine, Palestinians, the Arab World, The Golan Heights, The Six-Day War, Arab East Jerusalem, Expansionism, Jews, The Phased Plan, Double Standards
- WWW RESOURCES:
- BOOKS & PRINTED MATERIAL:
- Reply, by Eli E. Hertz
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Jewish Continuous Presence in the Land of Israel and The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, by Harold J. Margolis
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine, by Joan Peters
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - The complete idiot's guide to Middle East conflict, by Mitchell G. Bard
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - The Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Battleground: Fact & Fantasy in Palestine, by Samuel Katz
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Routledge Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by Martin Gilbert
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israel Conflict, Second Edition, by Mitchell Geoffrey Bard
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - The Mideast Peace Process: An Autopsy, by Neal Kozodoy, Mark Helprin
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Roadmap To Nowhere: A Layman's Guide to the Middle East Conflict, by Yitschak Ben Gad
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege, by Kenneth Levin
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism, by Conor Cruise O'Brien
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - A Durable Peace: Israel and Its Place Among the Nations, by Benjamin Netanyahu
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Right to Exist: A Moral Defense of Israel's Wars, by Yaacov Lozowick
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Israel: A History, by Martin Gilbert
[VIEW BOOK HERE]
- Reply, by Eli E. Hertz
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