Judea and Samaria Area
| Judea and Samaria Area |
| – transcription(s) |
| • Hebrew |
אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן |
| • Arabic |
يهودا والسامرة |
|
| Cities |
4 |
| Local Councils |
13 |
| Regional Councils |
6 |
| Administrative Center |
Ariel |
| Largest City |
Modi'in Illit (Jewish settlements only) |
| Area |
| • Total |
5,878 km2 (2,269.5 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1]a |
| • Total |
334,564 |
| a (Jewish settlers only) |
- This article refers to an Israeli administrative area called Judea and Samaria Area. For the geographical regions known by the biblical names Judea and Samaria, see Judea or Samaria. For uses synonymous with the term "the West Bank", see that entry.
Judea and Samaria Area (Hebrew: אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן, Ezor Yehuda VeShomron, also an acronym יו"ש Yosh or ש"י Shai; Arabic: يهودا والسامرة, Yahuda was-Sāmerah) is the official Israeli term roughly corresponding to the territory usually known outside Israel as the West Bank and to the Israeli settlements there that are not governed as part of Jerusalem.
Terminology
Samaria was the name of one of the administrative districts of the British Mandate of Palestine. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) Future Government of Palestine, adopted in 1947, referred to "Samaria and Judea" as part of a proposed Arab state to be carved out of the Mandate of Palestine but the boundaries of "Samaria and Judea" did not precisely coincide with the current Judea and Samaria area. Trans-Jordan (renamed Jordan in 1949) captured most but not all of the UN-described Samaria and Judea during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and Jordan referred to the area it captured as the "West Bank." The area was captured from Jordan by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. While the term "Judea and Samaria" was officially adopted by the Israeli government in 1967 it was not used extensively until the Likud assumed office in 1977.[2]
The name Judea, when used in Judea and Samaria, refers to all of the region south of Jerusalem, including Gush Etzion and Har Hebron. The region of Samaria, on the other hand, refers to the area north of Jerusalem. Much of the area of the West Bank closest to Jerusalem, including that part of the city that was under Jordanian rule, has been incorporated into Jerusalem District and is under Israeli civilian rule. That part of the West Bank is thus excluded from the administrative structure that is the Judea and Samaria Area.
Many Palestinians object to the term "Judea and Samaria" as a rejection of their claim to the area. In left-wing Hebrew media, such as Haaretz, it is also referred to as "HaGada HaMa'aravit" (הגדה המערבית "The West Bank") or "Hashetahim" (השטחים, The Territories).
Status
The Judea and Samaria area is administered by the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, and administrative decisions are subject to the command's chief. The incumbent chief of Central Command is Aluf Gadi Shamni.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, adopted after Israel captured the region from Jordan in the Six Day War, called for a "just and lasting peace" which should include Israeli withdrawal from "territories" captured in the conflict, in conjunction with the termination of all claims or states of belligerency and acknowledgement of the right of states in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." The future status of the region is a key factor in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It is currently one of the fastest growing regions across Israel and Palestinian Territories in terms of population, growing at an annual 5%. The West Bank and Gaza Strip are considered Israeli-occupied territories by the United Nations,[3] the United States[4][5] the Israeli High Court of Justice (West Bank only)[6] and the European Union,[7] and by various non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International,[8] Human Rights Watch,[9] and B'Tselem.[10] In addition to this, the International Court of Justice has stated in an advisory opinion that Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are Israeli-occupied territories.[11]
Administrative sub-regions
The district is further divided into 8 military administrative regions: Menashe (Jenin area), HaBik'a (Jordan Valley), Shomron (Shechem area, known in Arabic as Nablus), Efrayim (Tulkarm area), Binyamin (Ramallah/al-Bireh area), Maccabim (Maccabim area), Etzion (Bethlehem area) and Yehuda (Hebron area).
Municipalities
| Cities |
Local Councils |
Regional Councils |
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See also
References
- ^ [1].
- ^
- Ian Lustick (2002). The Riddle of Nationalism: The Dialectic of Religion and Nationalism in the Middle East. Logos, Vol.1, No-3. pp. 18–44. "The terms “occupied territory” or “West Bank” were forbidden in news reports. Television and radio journalists were banned from initiating interviews with Arabs who recognized the PLO as their representative."
- Myron J. Aronoff (1991). Israeli Visions and Divisions: Cultural Change and Political Conflict. Transaction Publishers. p. 10. "[...] “Judea and Samaria”, the biblical terms that the Likud government succeeded in substituting for what had previously been called by many the West Bank, the occupied territories, or simply the territories. The successful gaining of the popular acceptance of these terms was a prelude to gaining popular acceptance of the government’s settlement policies."
- Shlomo Gazit (2003). Trapped Fools: Thirty Years of Israeli Policy in the Territories. Routledge. p. 162. "[...] the Likud Government was not satisfied with the name ‘Administered Territories’. Even though the name ‘Judea and Samaria’ had been officially adopted as early as the beginning of 1968 instead of the ‘West Bank’, it has hardly been used until 1977."
- Emma Playfair (1992). International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories: Two Decades of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Oxford University Press. p. 41. "On 17 December 1967, the Israeli military government issued an order stating that “the term “Judea and Samaria region” shall be identical in meaning for all purposes . .to the term “the West Bank Region”. This change in terminology, which has been followed in Israeli official statements since that time, reflected a historic attachment to these areas and rejection of a name that was seen as implying Jordanian sovereignty over them."
- Ran HaCohen (1992). Influence of the Middle East Peace Process on the Hebrew Language. Undoing and Redoing Corpus Planning, Michael G. Clyne (ed.). pp. 385–414, 397. "During a short period immediately after the 1967 war, the official term employed was ‘the Occupied Territories’ (ha-shetahim ha-kevushim). It was soon replaced by ‘the Administered Territories’ (ha-shetahim ha-muhzakim) and then by the (Biblical) Hebrew geographical terms “Judea and Samaria”. The latter were officially adopted and successfully promoted by the governments (since 1977) and are still the official terms in use."
- ^ Česky. "United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia". En.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_242. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "CIA – The World Factbook". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "Central Intelligence Agency". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2070.html?countryName=Gaza%20Strip&countryCode=gz®ionCode=me&#gz. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "The High Court of Justice HCJ 7957/04 ruling on the fence surrounding Alfei Menashe". Haaretz. 15 September 2005. http://www.haaretz.com/news/the-high-court-of-justice-hcj-7957-04-ruling-on-the-fence-surrounding-alfei-menashe-1.169920.
- ^ "European Union – EEAS (European External Action Service) | Occupied Palestinian Territory". Europa (web portal). http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/occupied_palestinian_territory/index_en.htm. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "Amnesty International | Working to Protect Human Rights". Thereport.amnesty.org. http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/israel-occupied-territories. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "Israel and the Occupied Territories". Hrw.org. http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/israel-and-occupied-territories. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "Land Expropriation and Settlements in the International Law | B'Tselem". Btselem.org. http://www.btselem.org/english/Settlements/International_Law.asp. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1677.pdf